Won't you stop starting on startup?

Sometimes you'll run into programs that will keep running every time you start Windows. Some of these "auto start programs" will become quite stubborn and very hard to get rid of. If you're trying to stop or get rid of an auto-start-program, here are some tips:

• Check program's options.
  See if there's a way to configure the program in question so that you can tell it not to start every time you start Windows.
• Uninstall.
  Most programs these days have the ability to uninstall themselves from your computer, so this is the second step you should take.
• If none of the above two methods work, check your "Startup" folder (or program group). Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98 and Windows NT have a folder called "Startup" where you can place shortcuts or program icons to run on Windows startup. If you're running Windows NT 4.x, you may have two Startup folders -- one in the NT 3.x compatible folders section and another in the Windows 95/NT 4 compatible folders area. Make sure that the program you're looking for is not in these folders.
• If you're running Windows 3.x or Windows 95/98, view the content of the WIN.INI file (located in the Windows' root directory -- C:\WINDOWS for example) using a text editor. Look for a line (or lines) that begin with "Load = " or "Run = " If the program you're looking for is listed in any of those lines, remove it.
• If you're running Windows 95/98 or Windows NT, look in the following registry entries. You can start the "Registry Editor" by running RegEdit.exe in Windows 95/98 and Windows NT 4.x, or RegEdt32.exe in Windows NT 3.x. Once in the Registry Editor, look for following registry keys:
  1. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\
     SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
     Run
  2. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\
     SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
     RunOnce
  3. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\
     SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
     Run
  4. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\
     SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
     RunOnce
  5. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\
     SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
     RunServices
  6. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\
  7. SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
  8. RunServicesOnce
• If none of the above methods worked and if you're really desperate, you can try to rename (or even delete) the auto-start program. However, doing so is not recommended as other parts of your computer may need files from it.