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What loads when I start my computer up?
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Cleaning the Boot Process in Windows XP
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Views:24800
Comments [10]
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The Windows Components
Every time when Windows starts up, a bunch of programs are executed and they stay in the memory until the system turns off. Some of these programs are windows services and components like the explorer.exe, a program which is in charge with all the icons and the start menu.
3rd Party Applications
Besides Windows components the memory also contains security programs like an antivirus and a firewall, instant messaging applications and whatever programs we activated ourselves by double-clicking on the corresponding icon.
You might have too many startup entries if you have a lot programs installed. Lately almost every single program on the market will add itself to the startup. The system can become very slow and the memory can become overloaded. You don't actually need these programs to start with Windows unless they are security programs or drivers. You can always launch a program that you need by double-clicking on its icon.
Malware
When a virus or spyware program infects a computer it will request to be launched every time when the computer starts, without our knowledge. The malicious program will register itself as one of the startup entries in order to accomplish that. This way it will always be active and cause problems.
All these programs are usually visible in the task manager under the Processes tab
The task manager can be accessed by pressing the Ctrl+Alt+Del key combination or by right clicking on the taskbar and choosing Task Manager. If the amount of processes that you see in here is higher then 30 you might need to do the clean boot.
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Submitted by Paul Ionescu
Last modified 2006-12-08 | |
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