Showing: StartUp Apps starting up from All Sections sorted on Enabled
You can see what apps start from each section by clicking on section heading in section list. See Screenshot Startup Folder Apps Only
Search your list for software that you recognize that is not used every day. This could be Fax, Music, Video and Photo software, etc. Stop those programs from loading automatically by removing the Check in the Enabled box.
In some cases the software will reset itself to start automatically again the next time you use it.
Next, clean out your Scheduled Tasks folder. Go to C:\Windows\Tasks, and delete the shortcuts of any programs that you don't want to run automatically on a schedule. Deleting the shortcut does not affect the program in any way except to keep it from starting
After stopping the programs you recognize you will have to research other software before you shut it down. I start by checking for apps under the Processes Tab sorted by memory usage.
Here is a look-up list of over 15,000 programs that may try to insert themselves in your startup with full information on each program System Startup List. If this link is down search for link to similar list in article Windows Startup Programs
Note: You can bypass all the programs in your Startup folder on an as-needed basis. To stop XP from loading any programs in the Startup folder, hold down the Shift key during bootup. No programs in the Startup folder will run, but the items will still remain there so that they will start up as they would normally the next time you boot.
