Hi there,

I've had my computer for a while now. Upgraded to XP about a year ago. I'm just concerned with the start-up taking so long. I suspect, there's lots of processes running in the background, which I don't really want there.
My question is: How can I "fiddle" with the start-up sequence, i.e. only start up the programs I actually need...
and also, on Task Manager, there's always loads of processes. How do I find out which ones I need, and how do I keep the other ones from re-appearing.

Basically, I want to give my PC a spring clean. Any suggestions on the best way forward?

Thanx, franny.

There are many ways to do this. Windows itself utilizes msconfig which you can open from start/run. There is a startup tab that lists programs that start.

Since you mention clean-up CCleaner is a great little app that shows the same startup list as well as add/remove programs as well as a Temp File Cleaner as well as a Registry cleaner. Startup list is under Tools | Startup:

http://www.ccleaner.com/

If you really want to see absolutely everything that happens on start-up this little app will show it all:

http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/fr...autoruns.shtml

As to Services info this is a good guide:

http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm

Here are links to startup managers which can be used to manage your startup processes, they are freeware
http://www.wheresjames.com/index.php?page=startupmgr
http://mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml
Another link on how to disable startup items ( which Jephree has already told you about) in detail-
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php
To improve all round performance, after your disk cleanup, chkdsk and defragment your HDD.
Some links
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/OptimizeXP.html
http://www.microsoft.com/AtWork/getstarted/speed.mspx/