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How to Disable Startup Programs in Windows




The more software you install on your computer, the longer it may seem to take to start up Windows. Many programs add themselves to the list of programs started when you boot your computer, and that list can get long.

Editor’s Note: Obviously our more geeky readers already know how to do this, but this article is meant for everybody else. Feel free to share it with your non-techie friends!
Disabling Startup Programs in Windows

For some programs, it’s smart to have them start with Windows, such as anti-virus and firewall software. However, for most programs, starting them at boot-up just wastes resources and extends startup time. There is a tool installed with Windows, called MSConfig, that allows you to quickly and easily see what’s running at startup and disable the programs you prefer to run on our own after startup as needed. This tool is available and can be used to disable startup programs in Windows 7, Vista, and XP.

NOTE: MSConfig can be used to configure several things other than just startup programs, so be careful what you do with it. If you’re not sure about using it, just follow the steps in this article and you should be fine.

To run MSConfig, open the Start menu and type “msconfig.exe” (without the quotes) in the Search box. As you type, results display. When you see “msconfig.exe,” click on it or press Enter, if it is highlighted.

NOTE: If you are using Windows XP, open the Run dialog box from the Start menu, type “msconfig.exe” in the Open edit box, and click OK.



Click the Startup tab on the System Configuration main window. A list of all the startup programs displays with a check box next to each one. To prevent a program from starting up with Windows, select the check box next to the desired program so there is NO check mark in the box. Click OK once you have made your choices.



A dialog box displays telling you that you may need to restart your computer for the changes to take affect. Click Restart to restart your computer immediately. If are not ready to restart your computer, click Exit without restart.

How to Test Drive Windows 8 in VirtualBox

Want to take the next generation of Windows for a free test drive? Of course you do; it’s still got that new car smell. Read on to see how you can combine the Windows 8 developer release with VirtualBox for free next-gen OS exploration.
What You’ll Need

You only need a few things for this tutorial and all of them—the price of good hardware aside!—are free and readily available. Before we get started you’ll need to do:
Download and install and/or update VirtualBox.
Download a copy of the Windows 8 Developer Preview.

On the hardware side of things you’ll need a computer with a processor that supports Virtualization Technology (common on modern processors, you can check the documentation for your processor or use this Microsoft tool to check), a decent amount of memory and some spare hard drive space (we’ll be devoting 2GB of RAM and 20GB of HDD space to the our Windows 8 virtual machine). You could attempt it with lower specs, but we’d recommend against it.

We’ll also be using the 32-bit (x86) English Developer Preview. Once you’ve installed VirtualBox (or updated your current install) and you’ve downloaded the .ISO file, it’s time to proceed.
Creating and Configuring a New VirtualBox Virtual Machine for Windows 8



VirtualBox makes virtual machine creation easy; just make sure to follow along so you don’t miss a step. Fire up VirtualBox and navigate to Machine –> New. Click next on the new virtual machine notice window and then, as seen in the screenshot below, name your new virtual machine and select the OS type. We named ours Windows 8 Dev (to distinguish it from the future Windows 8 Beta and Final we’re bound to install) and set the OS type to Microsoft Windows / Windows 7.



In the next step you’ll select the system RAM you’ll allocate to the machine. We’d recommend allocating, at minimum, 2GB of RAM. You can squeeze by with only 1GB but unless your system specs absolutely constrain you to that size you should go bigger for better performance.

Once you’ve selected the amount of memory you wish to allocate, you’ll be prompted to load or create a Virtual Hard Disk. The default settings are the ones we want (Boot Hard Disk and Create new hard disk selected).



Click Next and the Virtual Disk Wizard will launch. The first step in the wizard is to select your disk storage type. Your options are dynamic or fixed storage. We’re going to go with Fixed-size storage for two reasons—one, this is a development build and we’re not sure if it will play nice with dynamic storage and two, the fixed size ensures it won’t balloon up if anything goes wrong.

The Microsoft spec sheet for the Windows 8 Development Release indicates you need at least 16 GB of hard drive space. That’s a tad on the small side and we hate running low on space. Since we’re using a 500GB drive in our machine exclusively for virtual machines and software testing, we can easily allocate 30GB to play it safe. We’d recommend you set the size to 20GB at minimum.

After you pick the drive size, double check the summary before clicking Finish. Sit back and relax while your new Virtual Hard Drive is generated—now might be a good time for a cup of coffee.



When your new Virtual Hard Drive is complete, click Finish to return to the main VirtualBox interface. Now it’s time to move onto the next step, installing Windows 8 Developer Preview onto our freshly minted Virtual Hard Disk.

Installing Windows 8 Developer Preview



Back in the main VirtualBox window you should see the entry you created, such as Windows 8 Dev—ignore the multitude of other installations in our screenshot, we’re huge Virtualization fans.

Highlight your new Windows 8 machine and click the Settings icon (or press CTRL+S). Let’s work down the sidebar menu.



First stop in the System menu. Start with the Motherboard sub-menu and check Enable IO APIC to improve performance for your virtual machine. In the Processor sub-menu check Enable PAE/NX (again, to boost performance). Finally under the Acceleration sub-menu make sure both of the hardware virtualization boxes are checked—VT-x/AMD-V andNested Paging, respectively.

Now it’s time to attach our boot disk to the virtual machine so we can install Windows 8. While still in the greater Settings menu navigate to the Storage options via the sidebar. Inside the storage menu, click on the IDE Controller\Empty entry in the Storage Tree. In the pane next to the storage tree labeled Attributes, click on the CD icon next to the CD/DVD Drive entry.



A context menu will pop up. The first option on that context menu is Choose a virtual CD/DVD disk file. Select that option and, when the file select box opens, navigate to and select the Windows 8 .ISO file you downloaded at the beginning of this tutorial. You should now see, instead of Empty under the IDE Controller, the name of the Windows 8 .ISO file you selected.

There are no more tweaks necessary in the Settings menu. Click OK in the lower right corner to return to the main VirtualBox interface.
Installing Windows 8



Back in main VirtualBox interface, click on the Windows 8 virtual machine. Quickly double check that the Windows 8 .ISO is listed under the storage options—as it is in the screenshot above—then click Start in the right-click context menu or double click the entry to launch the machine.

If everything goes right, you’ll see a sequence of boot screens, and then this blue installation screen:



Select the appropriate language, time, and input settings, and then click next. On the following screen click Install Now. The whole installation, now that the VirtualBox configuration is out of the way, is very straight forward. Accept the developer’s license, select Custom installation (instead of upgrade), the HDD you want to install to (the only one available, the disk you created) and you’re on your way:



When it finishes and reboots you’ll have a few last customizations to make (such as picking a computer name, login, and choosing to link your fresh Windows 8 install to a Windows Live account or use an off-line account. When you’re done, it’ll take a moment to finish preparing everything and then you’ll be greeted with the new Windows 8 Metro UI:



Congratulations! You’re running Windows 8 Developer Preview in VirtualBox. Have fun playing around

How to Make a Bootable USB Flash Drive Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008/7 Installer

Installing an OS using USB flash drive rather than the standard optical disk drive has its advantages. It's fast, durable and reusable. A great use for Netbooks and PC's/Laptops without (or with busted) CD/DVD drives.

You can use command-line to transfer Windows setup into the USB flash drive and make it bootable. It's not at all hard but it's a bit tricky, so to help you save time is an application that automates it all with just a few clicks of a button – WinToFlash.
From WinToFlash.com:

WinToFlash is a software for transfer your Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 2008, Windows 7 setup from CD or DVD to USB in some mouse clicks. This is about you can install your Windows from flash drive, USB pen, HDD, etc to your computer or netbook.
WinToFlash starts a wizard that will help pull over the contents of a windows installation CD or DVD and prep the USB drive to become a bootable replacement for the optical drive. It can also do this with your LiveCD.
You don't have to worry about scratches on the disc or misplacing your original media discs once you transfer their contents to the flash drive. The optical drive is quickly becoming a thing of the past, especially in office environments, as media is shifted to the cloud.
What you need:

• USB Flash Drive. 1GB for Windows XP/2003. 4GB (or more) for Windows Vista/2008/7.
• Microsoft Windows XP, 2003, Vista, 2008 or 7 CD/DVD installer. For image files (like iso, cue, etc.) you'll need to mount them on a virtual device. You can use DAEMON Tools Lite (free).
How to Transfer Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008/7 Setup Into USB Flash Drive Using WinToFlash
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1. First, download WinToFlash here:
WinToFlash - Install Windows From USB - Download Page
2. Open up the downloaded file and extract its contents into a folder.
3. Go to the folder and click wintoflash.exe.
4. In the Welcome tab, click the big check sign – Windows Setup transfer Wizard.

5. Click Next.

6. In Windows files path: click the Select button. Navigate and select the drive/folder that contains either Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008/7 setup files. (or you can just simply type the path letter in the textbox)

(Note: I'm using Windows 7 for this demo)

7. In USB drive: click the Select button and select the USB flash drive. (or change the path letter)

8. Now click Next >.
9. Select "I Accepted the terms of the license agreement" then click Continue.

10. In Format warning click OK.

WinToFlash will now cook Windows setup into the USB flash drive. Don't remove the USB device. Wait for it to finish.
11. When done click Next > then click Exit.

It's done. You now have a bootable USB flash drive Windows installer.
(Optional) How to Boot and Install Windows From USB Flash Drive
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1. Go into BIOS SETUP UTILITY -> Boot -> Boot Device Priority.

2. Then change the Boot Device Priority sequence, making Removable Device as the first priority.

3. Save its settings then reboot. I'll now boot Windows setup from USB flash drive.