Where is the STARTUP folder?

[DollyH]

I'm using Windows XP and want to change the stuff that happens when I restart Windows. I seem to recall that there is a STARTUP folder for this, but I've searched and found several such folders but not the one I want. Can somebody put me on the right track? Thanks in advance

Dolly

[RJ_Paton]

Right click on the start button and select explore all users this brings up amongst others the start up folder and allows you to move items in and out of it.

But not all processes which start on boot up are to be found there ...... many of them are in a hidden system file which can be accessed by going to "Run" and typing in msconfig and then enter ....

This brings up a tabbed interface, go to start.ini and you have access to the processes on startup but only make changes there if you are sure about what you are doing

[DollyH]

Thanks, Falkyrn.  The MSCONFIG solution seemed to do the trick.

Dolly

[Tony Payne]

There are also some programs that start running that are started by Registry settings and they are not listed in the Startup folder.   If you want to get rid of those it's a little more complicated, not too much, but also playing with the Registry can be a bit dangerous - you don't want to delete or change the wrong things by mistake...

[sue 1950]

I have about three things that pop up when starting computer how do I stop them popping up I don't want to delete all together because one is msn and the other is picasso photo site, any help please.
?
Sue



Moderator Comment: topics merged, similar problems

[Tony Payne]

To delete just one of the items, display the entries in the folder, right click on the one you want and delete it.

[RJ_Paton]

If unsure about what you want to do with a program from the startup folder you can simply move it from that location and the next time you boot up it will not be started until you want it to.

[MaryA]

I read this posting with interest and thank you as I can check out some of my own start ups now, but I have a query ....

I ran the msconfig and checked the Startup list.  Apart from those items I know about there is one tick but the  Startup Item and Command are blank.  Is this anything I should be concerned about?

Mary