The msconfig tool has loads of features, and the power to speed up your computer like new or create more headaches than you have ever seen. Bottom line is, if you know about this tool, you can be very effective at repairing your computer and helping out other people fix computer lock up issues, boot up failures, long boot up times, and general computer slowness. There are several sections in the msconfig tool, and in this lesson we will go through each and talk a little about each one.
First of all, to launch the tool, the steps are very easy - simply click the Start button, and select the run option. Then all you need to do is type “msconfig”, and hit the enter button on your keyboard. What pops up will look a lot like what you see below. We should let you know, this tool is available in most versions of Microsoft Windows right out of the box. If you want to use it for Windows 2000, you'll need to do a little work to install it.
The tabs across the top read General, system.ini, boot.ini, services, and startup. The two most important tabs we deal with are the services and startup tab. The three tabs for ini files simply display some information that your computer uses. In some cases, we have had to make edits to the boot.ini when windows is showing there are two versions installed, but other than that you almost never need those. Below we will break down the services and startup tab.
The Startup Tab:
This tab's power is basically derived from the check boxes you will see to the far left of the startup item. Checking or unchecking an item gives you the power to disable software that may be slowing down your computer, malfunctioning, or conflicting with another piece of software. As a general rule, when people bring their slow computers in to us, this is one of the first areas we look. Often times, there is very little your computer actually needs running - though things like printer drivers, anti virus programs, etc. should be running. That said, there is no need for programs like Microsoft Office, chat programs, quick time, and others to be constantly loaded in your task bar. It just slows your computer down. One quick pass through the msconfig can make your PC boot twice as fast, and typically be more responsive in general - not to mention the power it has to fix software that isn’t working.
A Word Of Caution:
Before you start disabling all sorts of stuff in your Startup tab, make sure you do your research, find out what it is, and always do 1 at a time. Your computer will need to reboot after each removal, but by only doing 1 at a time, if something goes wrong, you will easily be able to re-enable whatever you disabled, as opposed to trying to figure out which one of the 20 you disabled did it.
Services Tab:
The services tab is pretty similar. Instead of showing software that is running with your computer at startup, it shows services that run - things like windows audio and task scheduler. This piece should only be used for troubleshooting purposes. There isn’t much value to going in there and blindly disabling things your computer may need, but it does pay to be aware of items in there at any given time. If something looks suspect, take some time and research what it actually is, and if you need it or not. The system does actually tell you if the service is essential or not, but it's important that you know for sure.
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