what is needed on start up mine seems to take forever
there is 19 on my start up
harry

You can go to: > start > Run... msconfig | startup

Anything you see here is not necessary yet your anti-virus and firewall are probably here as well.

But nothing in this list is necessary to start XP.

You can also use CCleaner > Tools > Startup

http://www.ccleaner.com/

Or if you really want all the info use Autoruns.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb963902.aspx