Start Up

One of the first things to do in order to tune up your computer is to turn off unnecessary start up programs. Nothing makes a computer run slower than a lot of unneeded programs and applications running in the background while eating up your systems resources. You can go about shutting them off in one of two ways. You can turn them off manually each time the computer boots up or you can disable them from starting in the first place. The second option will be easier and also make the computer start up process faster.

Some of these programs can be seen by icons in the system tray while others run unseen in the background. With Windows you can hold the Shift, Alt, and Delete keys all at once to see a list of these programs. Do some research to see what each program does and which are safe to shut off. Some will be necessary for your system to run and shutting them off can cause system instability along with a whole bunch of other problems. You can select the programs or online games  one at a time and turn them off from the Windows Task Manager. To prevent them from starting up in the first place with Windows XP and older versions select Run from the Start Menu. With Vista you can hit (r) while holding the Windows key.

Then run Msconfig and select the Service tab. Here you can select services to uncheck before going to the Startup menu. From there you can uncheck all of the programs that don't need to come on automatically at Start Up. Just be sure not to turn off any vital applications such as your anti-virus program and firewalls. With Linux you go to the System Menu, Administration, then Services to uncheck unnecessary applications. To turn off programs at Start Up go from the same System menu to Preferences then Sessions.