This is an updated version of a previously released article on www.36hoursinaday.com:

OK, I admit, I think I know everything I need to know about using my computer optimally, and then smack myself in the forehead for missing something so obvious.

My computer starts up slowly.  And I mean SLOW.  So slow, in fact, that I go out of my way to start it up before making myself breakfast, so that it’s finally ready for me when I sit down five minutes later.  I know that five minutes doesn’t sound like a long time, but it’s an ETERNITY for a laptop to get up and running.  I've already maxed out the RAM that my laptop model can handle, so that option is out.  I knew that there were some programs starting automatically and causing the delay, but I didn’t know how to stop them from coming up when I don’t need them.

See, I play around with a lot of software, trying this and that, and they all leave their footprints on my computer.  Sometimes I decide that I don’t want that program at all and I uninstall it (which doesn’t always work, but we’ll talk about that another time).  But sometimes I like it and just use it occasionally.  However, some overzealous programmers think that I’ll need to use their software every single day, at the moment I sit down.  Seriously, do I need to make sure I have the latest version of iTunes every day?  Obviously not.  And I don’t want to wait five minutes just to be sure.

So, I come to you triumphantly, my friends!  I have found the answer to eliminating these needless ghost programs, and my computer was at full speed on the internet in less than 45 seconds this morning!  And as a bonus, I did this in 2-3 minutes without needing to know which programs and processes are necessary to keeping my computer safe and stable.  So follow along, folks!  It’s easy!

Step 1: Click the “start button” on your desktop and select “run…”

Step 2: Type “msconfig” in the dialog box and hit enter.

Step 3: Select the “startup” tab and deselect all processes/programs that you recognize and know you don’t need every time you login.  A fantastic tool for figuring out which programs you should disable is at www.windowsstartup.com.  You can search for the name of the program and find out what it's for.  (*Hint: you can make your computer even faster by clicking the button that says “disable all.”  This will not bring any harm to your computer or files because it automatically turns on those that it really needs to function.  However, you may spend a significant amount of time turning back on those that you do need, and just didn’t recognize them.  For instance, the scroll function on my touchpad mouse didn’t work anymore, so I had to go back in and figure out which cryptically-named application that came from.  It doesn’t hurt anything to do it this way, but you will definitely invest more time in the long run.)

Step 4: Restart your computer when it tells you to.

BONUS: To add even more speed without adding RAM, get a good registry clean-up program, also known as a disk degragmenter.  Unfortunately, Window's defrag program is terribly slow and not very effective.  I recommend downloading CCleaner for free.

That’s it!  Now you should be up and running in no time!  Enjoy your extra five minutes everyone!