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Find the False Starts

To launch the System Configuration Utility, click Start, Run, type msconfig, and press Enter. Choose the Startup tab to see a list of programs that automatically start when you boot your system. Check or uncheck the boxes on the left side of the list to select or deselect programs for automatic start-up.

Before you test each program individually, make sure your troubles are due to one of your start-up programs. Go to the General tab, uncheck Load startup group items, and then reboot the system. If your problem goes away, one of your start-up programs must be guilty. Now go back to the Startup tab and enable one program at a time (rebooting each time, of course) until the problem recurs. When it does, you've isolated the trouble.

A housekeeping suggestion: Disable the programs you don't need. They slow Windows' start-up, and they waste system resources. If you don't recognize a file name on the Startup tab and you aren't sure what the associated program does, look for a familiar name in the file's path on the right. If that strategy doesn't help, look for a readme file or another text file in the file's folder, open it, and hunt for clues to the program's identity there.

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