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Although it can be convenient (and sometimes essential) for various applications and services to load during a system's startup, having processes load automatically can at times be problematic. For instance, it's very common for Trojans and other types of malicious software to load as a part of the boot process.
Legitimate applications and services can cause problems as well. If a legitimate program hangs during the boot process, it could cause the process to fail or result in problems with other applications or services that have dependencies on the failed service.
In this article series, I will start out by showing you some techniques for disabling unwanted or problematic Windows XP programs that are configured to execute during the boot process. Of course these techniques assume that you know which service or application is causing the problem. As this series progresses, I will explore techniques for isolating malicious or problematic code.
For starters, try Safe Mode
By far the easiest way to temporarily disable startup programs is to boot the system into safe mode. Safe mode boots Windows XP using a bare configuration. It loads only the essential device drivers, and Windows does not load any startup programs. That way, if a particular device driver or startup program is causing problems, you can boot Windows without loading it. You are then free to disable or remove the driver, service or application that is causing the problem.
You can access safe mode by pressing the F8 key just before Windows XP begins to boot (you may have to press F8 repeatedly). Upon doing so, the Windows boot menu will be displayed, which gives you several different boot modes to choose from. Below is a brief explanati...
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on of each of these modes:
The Shift key
Believe it or not, you can actually use the Shift key to prevent some startup programs from running with Windows XP. Here's how this trick works:
- Boot Windows in the usual way.
- When you get to the login screen, enter your username and password and then click OK.
- Immediately after clicking OK, hold down the Shift key.
- Continue to hold the Shift key down until all of the desktop icons appear.
Although this trick works really well, it doesn't give you quite as clean of a boot as booting to Safe Mode. After all, you are booting Windows normally, so all of the usual device drivers will be loaded. Holding the Shift key down only prevents applications from launching automatically from the following locations:
\Documents and Settings\Username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
Windir\Profiles\Username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
Windir\Profiles\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
One important thing to keep in mind about this technique is that applications may still launch from other locations. For example, it is common for applications to be launched by instructions embedded in the system's registry. If an application is called from the registry, it will still load, regardless of whether the Start key was held down or not.
Remember that while the Safe Mode menu and shift key are both effective ways of temporarily disabling some startup programs, these techniques are not appropriate for every situation. In the next article, I will continue this discussion by showing you some of the more advanced techniques for disabling annoying startup programs.
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[IMAGE]DISABLING STARTUP PROGRAMS IN WINDOWS XP
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[IMAGE] Using Safe Mode and the Shift key
[IMAGE] Editing the registry and using Group Policy
[IMAGE] The System Configuration Utility and the trouble with networks
Brien M. Posey, MCSE, is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with Windows 2000 Server, Exchange Server and IIS. He has served as CIO for a nationwide chain of hospitals and was once in charge of IT security for Fort Knox. He writes regularly for SearchWinComputing.com and other TechTarget sites.
