If your computer seems to be running slow, it is likely because of startup programs. These are programs, often unnecessary, that boot up automatically when the computer does. New computers are notorious for having this problems as vendors reduce the price of their computers by making deals with software providers to preinstall their programs. These programs are often worthless, and are usually trials and not even the full program. These programs are normally referred to as bloatware.So which programs would you want to run at startup? Typically just your antivirus software, or any other critical tool that you use. This said, below is an outline of ways to remove these unnecessary start up programs.

1. The easy way to remove startup programs is to just remove the program itself. Obviously you should just do this if it is a program that you don't want or need. If you have a new computer, I recommend using PC Decrapifier (www.pcdecrapifier.com). It removes many unnecessary bloatware applications that are bundled with new computers. After using this you can remove other programs that you don't want by using add/remove programs. Go to Start>Control Panel>Programs>Uninstall a program and then select the application that you wish to remove.

2. If you have a program that you still want/need but you don't want it to run during startup you have two options. You can first go to the preference/options of the application itself and check the "run at Windows startup" box. However, many programs do not have this option. If that is the case you can manually tell them to stop running using the Vista Control Panel. To do this go Start>Control Panel>Change startup Programs. You can then select which programs to allow to startup.

3. A third option that is much more extreme can remove all the startup programs that you have. This option would be to reinstall Vista. Only do this if you know what you are doing and have the install discs.

Both of these methods should greatly speed up your Windows Vista machine. Your computer will use much less RAM and should boot up much faster. Also, don't be afraid to uninstall programs that came with your machine. Many will claim they will provide you some benefit, but for the majority of them this is untrue.

Learn more about this author, Charlie Cloud.
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