TECH CHAT FAQ - SYSTEM RESOURCES

Managing Startup Programs in Windows 98

First of all there's two things to determine:

Which version of Windows are you running? Msconfig doesn't work on Win95.

How many icons do you have next to your system clock?

I should explain what those icons on the right side of your taskbar are. Those are all running programs that drain your system resources. So no wonder you get the "out of system resources" messages. You can check what's running on your system when you hit ctrl, alt & del ONCE.

There are 2 basic ways of controlling which programs will startup on your computer. (programs running in the system tray and programs running in the background)

1. Go to Start, Run, then type in MSCONFIG. Then click OK. Make sure that "selective startup" is selected on the "general" tab Then click on the "startup" tab. Uncheck the boxes next to the programs you wish to disable from startup. Then click on Apply then click on OK. It will prompt you to restart your computer so the changes can take effect after you restart.

I know that the list is probably pretty long, to make sure you're not unchecking necessary programs, send an email to me with a list of ALL programs that are listed in your startup tab. Please remember to ALWAYS leave system tray and scan registry CHECKED. Send the email here.

2. Right click on the Start button and click on open. Then click on programs and then click on the Startup folder. Then you can delete the shortcuts to the programs that are contained in this folder, therefore these programs will not startup.

(You can also get to the startup folder by click on Start Run, and then type in, C:\Windows\StartMenu\Programs\Startup and then click OK.