The StartUp Mystery

[rowan]

Ok folks.

I have a "memory leak." My system is running at about 75% and it's a 1gig Athlon with 128 MB RAM @ 133.

My question is this: For your system to run correctly do ANY items in the startup config window need to be checked? Can I uncheck every single one and still have a functional system? If this is the case, why even bother to have apps in the start up menu at all?

I just don't want to do any damage to my system. The OS is MS ME.

Thanks!

r.

[phecky]

If you're talking about startup tab in msconfig then you could uncheck all but system tray, power profile and statemgr and you'd be safe.

[RenaissanceMan]

Hello, I don't know about the ME operating system but for win9X, explorer is the only necessary startup device, systray, I believe relates to the speaker icon on the taskbar.
http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[rowan]

Is it wise to uncheck so many? What does your startup tab look like. Screen shots would be most appreciated.

r.

[Comtech]

The only thing one needs in the Startup tab of msconfig is....NOTHING!
It may be wise to keep the scanreg option (that's what makes your 5 day backups for you), but everything else can be unchecked.
systray will remain (or create a new entry) if you have the speaker icon active, but disable that in audio properties, and you can uncheck systray as well.
Here's more (http://members.cnx.net/reboot/tocache.htm[/url) on how it all works.

[darkmallard]

Comtech is correct. You can uncheck EVERYTHING, including state manager, powerprofile, and all the rest. You can also uncheck Scanreg and run it manually whenever you want. No need for it to take up resources all the time when it only takes a snapshot of your registry once a day. System Tray takes up nothing, so just leave it.

ALSO, be certain to check START > PROGRAMS > STARTUP afterwards as some tray items will remain regardless if it is removed from MSConfig (America Online 5.0/6.0 Tray, for example)

Your system will run much more efficiently and performance will be substantially improved, not to mention that your swap file will be used less often. After all of this is done, your resources will be at about 96%.

[rowan]

Excellent, folks.

That was exactly the information I was looking for!

Cheers,

r.

[Mr.Goodbytes]

Uhhh, I recommend leaving scanreg checked. It backs up your registry when it runs. If you FUBAR your registry, you'll want something recent to back up to.