PCTips Box

You will find that many of the programs you install on your system set portions of themselves to run automatically when you start up your computer. Each program that runs on startup not only consume system resources but also extends the length of time it takes your PC to fully boot.

Since it is generally unnecessary to have any programs running in the background (other than security software like virus-scanners or firewalls) disable your unwanted startup programs to increase your startup speed and conserve system resources.

The easiest way to go about this task is to use the MSCONFIG utility, which may be familiar to users of Windows 9x. This handy program contains a list of software which is set to start when you boot your PC. You can then easily disable and re-enable (if necessary) these items. (more…)

The Windows Vista BootScreen is pointless, but Microsoft decided to hide a more visually appealing boot screen that can easily be enabled with very little trouble.

I’m not sure why they didn’t make the boot screen better.Press Win+R, type msconfig and press Enter.

If User Account Control prompts you to allow the action, click on Continue.In the “System Configuration” window, click on the Boot tab. (more…)

Depending how you look at it Vista’s User Access Protection (UAP) is on it its best or worst features. In short every time you want to do anything that could possibly threaten the PC’s security or change Windows settings a message box pops up onto the screen demanding to know if you really mean it, or it asks you for a password or change your account status. For most users it is unnecessarily, annoying and a touch nannyish. If you are the only one using your PC, and you reckon you know what you are doing one of the first things you will probably want to do is switch it off. (more…)

You may think a certain program is slowing your system down or actually hanging it for a few moments as soon as it boots. If so, try starting Windows in “lite” mode. Click Start | Run, then type msconfig and press Enter. When the System Configuration Utility loads, click the Startup tab; you’ll be surprised to see all the programs you’re loading at start-up. For info, Google the ones that are questionable or otherwise annoying before unchecking them, and reboot
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You can remove the boot logo that appears when you start Windows XP. This little tweak probably shaves only a few seconds off your boot time but seconds count if you are serious about trying to get Windows XP up and running as quickly as possible. The only negative is that if you remove the boot logo, you will also not see any boot messages, such as check disk. (But if you are not having problems with your computer, this isn’t such a big deal.)
To remove the boot logo, follow these steps: (more…)