control + alt+ delete

[karenparker]

what programs really need to stay open on this list, and how do you get the programs that you don't need to not start automatically in the first place??? 

[quaxo]

Technically, at a fresh startup with nothing running and no windows open, nothing should be there.

But you should have anti-virus, various drivers, firewall, etc. that will load at startup, as well as some Windows components.

First thing you should do is go open the Windows Task Manager (ctrl+alt+delete) and look up all of the processes there at http://www.processlibrary.com/ so that you know what they all are. That way you can better judge whether or not you need them at startup.

Then you can go to Start -> Run... and type "msconfig". Under the "Startup" tab, you can select which processes you want loaded at startup.

Oh, and if you aren't sure about something, feel free to ask. 

[Dias de verano]

Technically, at a fresh startup with nothing running and no windows open, nothing should be there.

Nonsense.

[quaxo]

Nonsense.

No, it isn't nonsense.

[Dias de verano]

You mean, at start up, with no windows open, the list shown in Task Manager will be empty?

Are you talking about applications or processes?

What about winlogon.exe, svchost.exe, and taskmgr.exe itself? If there is a printer, then spoolsrv.exe will be running. Quite a few others as well.

[quaxo]

Trust me, it can be done.

Anyway, Karen, like I said... feel free to ask if you have any questions about running processes.

[boo]

i suggest that you download Process Quick Link 2

it puts a green icon next to all of your processes in task manager, which, when clicked takes you to a process library. it'll just save you a bit of time