Here's another tip:
If you go into msconfig, you'll see a services tab. Click it and then check "hide all microsoft services". That'll get ya everything you've personally put onto your computer and what's starting up automatically with your computer. Many people have crap such as messenger automatically starting with their computer. WHY??? Unless that's all you use your computer for, there's no reason to have it booting MSN every time you startup.
: This is also a good way to check for spyware and other unwanted applications. Most malicious software will appear here, but some of them don't. Just look up what the service is on google if you don't know what it's supposed to do. A good site to look up what the services do is
www.castlecops.com. They don't have a search function so just go into google and type something like "adobe LM service castle cops" into google. Getting rid of all but microsoft applications is not recommended because some printers and other devices require a program at startup to work. Basically, if you see something you obviously don't need, get rid of it. It'll save you loads of startup time.
Here is an example of what adobe LM service is:
http://www.castlecops.com/o23list-23.htmlAs you can see, it's rated L for legitimate and it's required by photoshop. It's harmless.
Here's something I can get rid of. Windows live setup service.
:
http://www.castlecops.com/o23list-2886.htmlIt's for compiling blogs for christs sake.
If you remove all unnecessary items from the services and startup tabs, you'll see a great decrease in startup time. This test computer has a 2.4ghz processor, 2gb of ram, and a 120gb hard drive. It's been crammed full of crap for years now. It used to take nearly 6 minutes to boot, but after doing all this stuff to it that's been discussed in this thread, the startup time is less than 25 seconds without having to wipe the thing!
