All the stuff running in the background.

Hey, Joe. I wanna know that, too.

Why are you up so early???

I get every morning to write.

Sometimes I write.

Sometimes I sit here and wonder about things that aren't that important so that I don't have to write.

Joe

LOL! I hear ya. I'm up early to work before the rest of the house starts moving... And, here I am on A2K!

Hope someone comes along to answer this soon.

Re: All the stuff running in the background.


Start > Run > Type: msconfig

Tab: services

Uncheck any that you do not wish to start with your computer.



That depends on more than just your operating system, if I gave you just a list of OS tasks you might end up killing a task that, say, your internet connection depends on.

If you'd like to ask about any specific ones we can help, or you can search the web as there are many sites dedicated to tracking processes (note that many of those sites are trying to sell anti-spyware software so they'll sometimes give misleading info about tasks to try to motivate use of their products).

In WinME, MSCONFIG won't show a "Services" tab, but you will see a "Startup" tab. Anything that is check markeed there will load when Windows starts, and a lot of what wants to load is totally unnecessary.

What I'd recommend would be first to take a look at the Startup section, and note what's there, writing it all down. Of what will be listed, all Windows really needs is Explorer (which may in fact not even be listed), but it is a good idea to have Systray load as well. For most folks, it is a good idea also to allow all security and privacy software to load at startup as well ... antivirus, firewall, anti-spyware, anti-spam applications. ScanRegistry, LoadPowerProfile (if you use power management features ... there should be 2 very similar entries), StateMgr and LoadQM (necessary for System Restore), and, if you use sheduled tasks, Scheduling Agent, are needed or recommended as well. There might also be stuff related to mouse and/or keyboard, enabling certain functions of either device, as well as maybe some stuff specific to your individual machine, particularly if its a laptop. All in all, I'd leave that stuff alone ... if its there, its usually there for a reason. Uncheck everything else. Click "Apply", then "OK", but don't reboot when you're promted to do so.

Next, open My Computer and navigate to the Startup folder, usually at C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp and delete the shortcuts to any unwanted programs you find there ... don't worry, those are only shortcuts, as shown by the bent arrows on their icons, and by the label "Shortcut" under "Type".

Finally, refer to the list of programs you wrote down when you checked the Startup Tab under MSCONFIG, and, using Start > Programs, open each one, find its configuration or setup routine (the program's Help function should show you where that is), and uncheck "Run at Startup" or "Run With Windows" or anything similar, then close the program.

Now reboot. When your machine restarts, you'll see a notification that you're using the System Configuration Utility. Just put a check in "Don't show this again" and close the notification.

A somewhat less effort-intensive method to achieve the same thing would be to use a startup manager. There are plenty of them out there, free and otherwise. Spybot Search and Destroy, a free, and very highly recommended anti-spyware program, includes an effective and simple to use startup manager, along with a bunch of other usefull stuff for tweaking and securing your machine. Be sure to Read the Tutorial and the FAQ to get a handle on how to do what, and why and when you might want to do it. If you do elect to use a startup manager, use only one ... you don't want a couple or more of 'em arguing with one another over which loads first and does what

If you do this, and if you regularly defrag, clear your caches, recycle bin, and the deleted email and Temp folders, as well as stay current on all updates, your machine will boot more quickly and run both faster and more stably.

timber's advice has been great for all these sorts of things, Joe.

I was using the Ctrl+Alt+Delete keys upon booting up and then deleting items there (according to the guidelines in his previous post), but that got tiresome, so I found a program called Windows Startup Inspectorthat lets me manage this a little more efficiently (for example, the Hotsync Manager associated with my Palm PDA only shows up in the tray when I start that program, instead of all the time).

I hope that wasn't too technical...

If you're like me, the "Rundll" and "Realevent" crapola just need to be gone, and it's really pretty easy to make it go away.

Thank you, Craven.
Thank you, Timberlandko.
Thank you, Pdiddie.

It's just like having three brother-in-laws who know everything about computers helping me, only in this case you guys actually know something.


Going to try all this on Friday.

Joe