This is one thing that tends to fall by the wayside with most PC users, but can have a crippling effect on how your computer runs. If you are looking to set up Windows 7 start screen options or adjust them, then you do not need to look any further. It is really easy to do and you will be thankful for the knowledge after you put it to use. If you feel that this is too much for you to handle, or you just want some help to make sure you do it right, a registry cleaner like PC Health Advisor, can help you through this.
There are two ways you can set up start screen options so you can choose whichever method you are more comfortable with. The first is to edit the startup option within the program itself. For instance, let’s say that when you first installed Skype you wanted it to startup with your computer, but no longer want it do so. Simply open up Skype and look to the bottom right of the login screen. Make sure the box next to “Start Skype when computer starts” is unchecked. You can also do this when Skype is logged in by going to the Tools section then to Options on the menu. This is how almost every program is setup. If the program has no login screen then you will always want to search for the options section of the program. Somewhere in there you will find a “Start with Windows” or “Automatically start with Windows” option that you can select or deselect, depending on whether or not you would like the program to actually start with Windows.
Your next option is to do this through the Startup folder. If you click the Start Menu button and then click All Programs you will be able to scroll down to a folder simply named Startup. Right-click on this folder and then click Explore. Any shortcuts you see in here will startup when Windows does, so if you see anything you do not want in there just delete it. Deleting these shortcuts will have no effect on the functionality of the program. It will just no longer startup with Windows, and can be opened whenever you want by clicking on the .exe file. If you would like to add something to this folder to make it startup with Windows then you certainly can. All you need to do is find the .exe of the program you would like to put in there. Let’s use Skype again as an example. Right-click on the Skype .exe in the Start Menu, click Send to, then click Desktop (create shortcut). This will create a shortcut for the program on your desktop. Now just drag the shortcut into the Startup folder and you are done. It will now startup with Windows every time until you remove the shortcut from this folder like I discussed earlier.
Also, just for good measure it would be wise to run a registry cleaner after adjusting these options. It is not truly needed, but if you are looking to really optimize your PC to startup faster and run more efficiently it does not hurt to go this route. A quality registry cleaner is very easy to find these days so just pick one that you are comfortable with and let it do its job. After all of this, you will have your programs starting up the way you want, and a much more efficiently running PC.
