GameBanshee Forums

I was wondering what the minimum number of programs that need to be running for a computer to run correctly. My problem is that my wife has installed all kinds of crap on my comp and now when I start-up there are a ton of things running in the background. I can turn some of them off but I am unsure about some programs. I would like to be able to use msconfig and regedit to permanently delete these programs. All help would be welcomed.

Thanks,

Slacker

You can actually delete everything from the msconfig startup menu and your machine will still run fine, with fewer features than you're used to. Basically, if it's not a system application (Scan Registry, Task Scheduler, etc.) or something absolutely vital to your computer's operation (Norton Anti-Virus, ZoneAlarm, etc.), shut it off.

Things like the AOL tray icon, RealTray, QuickTime, Gator, etc. can all be unchecked and your computer will be all the better for it. If you have a question about what an application does, do a Google search or go to a website like Annoyances.org and see what it does. If you don't think you need it, you probably don't.

In addition of HLD reply

and to make sure there's no spyware in your PC get Ad-aware and you can get more details on spyware progs here. Be sure to update your Ad-aware often - those spyware makers are keep updating their techniques

On a somewhat related note, I was wondering if anyone know if Windows XP has a program similar to MSConfig in Windows 98. I couldn't find any program like this on Win XP.

Windows XP has it's own version of MSConfig, but you need to have administrative rights to use it.