How to Remove Startup Programs

Though it's a bit on the basic side, this is something I often get asked by people, basically why their computer is sooo slow compared to what it used to be... Typically the culprit is a program that's started up by Windows that you don't realize is there or even running, and there's no entry in the Startup folder or an icon in the taskbar. So from today's O'Reilly Network Newsletter, comes an article called "How to Remove Startup Programs":

Got a PC that takes a week and a day to boot up? It's most likely filled with programs that start at bootup --- programs you don't need. Mitch Tulloch shows you all the secrets of how to ferret out and remove these time and resource wasters.

Since I read that, I also got an email newsletter from Steve Bass of PCWorld, who talks about the egregious amounts of crap he had to, well, de-crapify from a neighbor's new Dell. If you think about it, Dell and other PC manufacturers aren't really profiting from hardware. Instead, they're making their margins by picking up a few bucks when buyers renew or upgrade the trial versions they dump into their new desktop images, or use a recommended ISP. He mentions a program I haven't had a chance to look at, the PC De-Crapifier, which was reviewed by Denny Arar, PCWorld's "Consumer Watch" editor. You might, however, be as leery as I am about using an unknown third-party invasive tool...

But let's say you're the DIY type. Then you'll love Andy Brandt's recent "Step-by-Step," in which he tells you in excruciating detail how to remove all the useless gunk from a new system and set it up to your specifications:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/126469-1/article.html?tk=nl_sbxhow

So go forth and cleanse.