How to Change Startup Files

Computer technology has advanced tremendously since its inception. Computers are faster, the Internet is widely accessible even for mobile users and there are many low-cost PC options for thrifty consumers. With this technological advancement, new programs are continually released to give consumers more computing options and ability to capitalize on the growing tech market. Underscoring this growing lucrative market, Software Top 100 reported in 2007 that software sales made up 87 percent of the revenue share for the Microsoft computing giant. Unfortunately, many new, flashy programs are installed with auto-startup enabled, meaning that your computer will run very slowly when it starts up, struggling to deal with the plethora of newly initialized programs. Luckily, it is pretty easy to change your startup programs to better reflect your true software needs.

Things You'll Need

• Windows Vista operating system

Instructions

1. 

   Click on the "Start Menu"; then click on "Control Panel." This will open the Control Panel in a new window.

2. 

   Click on "Change Startup Programs" underneath the "Programs" heading in your Control Panel. A new window will open, titled "Windows Defender," with a heading reading "Software Explorer." By default, the explorer will be set to "Startup Programs."

3. 

   Scroll the list of programs in the Software Explorer to find programs you want to remove from or add to the startup list.

4. Highlight any unwanted startup files and click "Disable" to prevent the application from starting up when Windows loads.

5. Highlight any new files you want to begin at startup and click "Enable" to have these programs automatically start.

Tips & Warnings

• The process for changing startup programs is fairly similar for older versions of Windows, but the steps will vary slightly.

References

• Software Top 100: The World's Largest Software Companies