| Does your computer seem to be intent on driving | | | | Many times you will not even know that the program |
| you crazy? Sometimes it seems that we wait for | | | | is running as there is no indication except for a tiny |
| what seems like an eternity for the computer to | | | | little icon in the lower-right corner of your screen |
| boot up so we can do something. What in the world | | | | called the Task Bar Notification Area.These software |
| could that computer be doing for so long between | | | | programs are so egotistical they think that you |
| the time you press the 'On' button and the Windows | | | | simply must have them at the ready at any moment. |
| screen finally showing up? Of course, once Windows | | | | I mean, you never know, it could be a matter of life |
| does load up it usually takes a couple more minutes | | | | or death that you send Aunt Sally in Michigan an |
| of clicking and grinding before the mouse pointer | | | | instant message that little Junior just bit the cat. |
| finally changes from hourglass to arrow. By that time, | | | | Surely we don't want to wait a whole 15 seconds for |
| you're lucky if you still remember what you wanted | | | | a program to load when we want to use it... Instead |
| to do in the first place. This week, in my constant | | | | it sits there, always ready at a moment's notice. |
| effort to help you maintain your computer sanity, | | | | Trouble is, while it is sitting there it is wasting |
| we'll talk a bit about how to make that computer | | | | extremely valuable computer resources. I suggest |
| startup faster.There are a few factors that could be | | | | you set those programs to not load up when you |
| making your computer run just barely faster than an | | | | start the computer. But how?The answer to that |
| overweight slug crawling through an Eastern | | | | question may be very easy or very difficult, |
| Kentucky mud hole in winter. First, check to see how | | | | depending on the application. First, try looking in the |
| much hard drive space you have left. If you are | | | | Startup folder in your programs menu (click Start --> |
| getting low, meaning less than 1.5 gigabytes of free | | | | Programs --> Startup) to see what is set to |
| space, start looking for stuff to delete. Another | | | | automatically startup. Often, you won't see anything, |
| potential gotcha that can make computers startup | | | | but it's worth a shot. Next, open the offending |
| really slowly is the icons on your desktop. Make sure | | | | program and look in the preferences/options/tools |
| that every icon on the screen is a shortcut to a | | | | menu for something indicating that you do not want |
| document, picture, program, game or whatever. You | | | | the program to load on startup. As a last resort, and |
| can put actual programs on the desktop rather than | | | | please be careful if you do this as you can really |
| shortcuts (a shortcut is a link to an item, not the | | | | mess up your computer, you can click Start --> Run, |
| item itself) and this can cause real problems on | | | | type msconfig, and hit the enter key. This will open |
| startup. A desktop shortcut is a very small file and | | | | an application that will allow you to remove any |
| takes virtually no time to load and display on the | | | | startup programs. Rather than running msconfig |
| screen. If you actually store an image or program | | | | yourself, I do recommend you hire a qualified |
| itself on the desktop then you could be loading | | | | computer technician as it can really mess things up if |
| literally several megabytes of information just to | | | | done incorrectly.As always, if you have any questions |
| show it on your screen when a shortcut would have | | | | or suggestions for future articles, please email me at |
| worked better and faster.One of the biggest foes to | | | | Mike Bryant has worked as a professional software |
| fast computers is the software that starts up | | | | developer for over ten years. A born entrepreneur, |
| automatically when the computer is turned on. Things | | | | he currently owns Centrant, LLC, a software |
| like Yahoo Messenger, Windows Messenger, the | | | | consulting firm specializing in custom software for |
| infamous Weather Bug, and Real Player all do this, | | | | small businesses. He currently resides in Jackson, |
| among others. Once you install the software, it loads | | | | Kentucky with his wife, two kids, and five |
| itself every single time the computer is started up. | | | | computers. |