Number 217 - June 2001

StartUp Manager Increases Performance
by Guenter Schott, Fallbrook PC Users Group, Jan 2001
We all have applications on our computer systems that start and restart themselves every time you run Windows? If you have too many of them, they are slowing down your PC. And you will not solve this problem by adding a bigger hard drive or adding RAM. The question is: how do I get rid of those applications that are not essential at startup? Which ones should I keep?     StartUp Manager is a simple little program that doesn't eat up too much memory or money, and it's worth having -especially if your PC's performance is sluggish when it was once running like a scared rabbit. This utility program allows you to easily turn off any program that starts with Windows, even those that don't appear in the Windows StartUp folder.     Do you have a mile-long system tray? That's the little box at the bottom right of your desktop screen. You might not know that the applications shown in the system tray are just a fraction of the programs that are actually running in the background! And those applications on your system start and restart themselves every time you run Windows.     Applications start automatically for a variety of reasons. Some autoload in order to work properly, but some are set to start by default because the application's programmers felt that you would always want the program available immediately. Getting rid of programs that start automatically when you begin the day and boot your machine, can be infuriating, so why don't we do something about it.     StartUp Manager allows you to simply turn off any applications that are being launched automatically when you start Windows. If you ever change your mind -no problem -you just click them back on again! The program is designed to take a quick snapshot of your startup items and ActiveX controls each time Windows starts, and then completely remove itself from your active task list. STARTUP MANAGER     Startup Manager's main interface window displays a list of all items that are started automatically each time Windows starts. The first time you run the utility, all of the items will be checked (meaning everything in your list is currently started with Windows). When you click on an individual entry , you will see the following details:     Command Line: Where the program actually resides on your system     Start Location: The location from which the program is started (that is the file path)     File Date: The date the file was created     File Description: The name of the file / program     Company: The name of the company that created that software     File Version: The version of the file, if it is known	ACTIVE X CONTROLLER     Normally, ActiveX applications are programs that are automatically installed on your system by a Web site that you have visited. In most cases, they are totally harmless and they allow you to properly view certain pages or run Web-based utilities of all sorts.     Unfortunately, ActiveX applications may also be used for the wrong purpose (e.g. getting personal information out of your PC and transmitting it to an authorized or possibly to unauthorized source). In some cases, they can represent a threat to your privacy and security. The desktop version of StartUp Manager allows you to keep an eye on them!     StartUp Manager's ActiveX Manager allows you to instantly view ActiveX applications that are currently resident on your system, collect relevant information on them, and then decide whether to keep them or delete them. OPTIONS     The Options window allows you to determine whether snapshots of your Startup and ActiveX control lists are taken each time you start Windows. Another option is the ability to turn off splash screen at application startup. (The vendor also recommends to keep this program loaded in the system tray to automatically clean up re-installed startup items).     From then on, each time you launch Windows, Startup Manager will compare the current snapshot to the previous one to determine if any items have been added. You will be able to instantly review the changes and decide to either keep or remove the item(s) that has been added. If items have been added to either list, you will receive notification from a dialog box that there have been changes. New ones will appear in red.     With the desktop version of StartUp Manager (there is also a Web-based version), you don't need to be on the Internet to take advantage of the program's features. You have control over: StartUp folder programs, registry activated applications, and other background applications.     The program has a nominal price of $19.95 and can be purchased on the company Web site at: http://www.startupmgr.com/index.html
Number 217 - June 2001