Speed Up Your Computer by Limiting Startup Programs

Click the “Start” button and type “msconfig” in the text box on the Start menu. Press the “Enter” key to launch the “System Configuration” tool. You will see a number of tabs on this window. Both the “Startup” and the “Services” tabs are important to this process.

Click the “Startup” tab to view a list of programs that start up with Windows 7. Some programs may be obviously named, while others you may not recognize. As a rule of thumb, you should only disable programs you are certain about to prevent unexpected software failure. Placing a check in the box next to the program name causes the program to launch with Windows 7. Removing the check in the box prevents the program from launching.

Click the “Services” tag, then select the “Hide all Microsoft services” option in the bottom left corner. This ensures you don’t disable a service required by Windows. You will now see only the third-party services that launch when Windows 7 starts. Remove the check in the box next to any services you know that you don’t need. Click “OK” to make the changes, then reboot your Windows 7 computer when prompted.