Re: RegistryBooster

"Daave" wrote in <news:OaL01GCwIHA.4564@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

Twayne wrote:

MSConfig.exe is a troubleshooting TOOL, not a means to any end.

How about AutoRuns? I always saw that program as MSConfig on steroids.
Much more useful, but is it any better than MSConfig if a person
unchecks certain items?

Despite what Twayne claims, msconfig.exe CAN be use to *permanently*
disable (not delete) some startup items. msconfig move the Run keys
selected to another registry key that it knows about (i.e., msconfig's
storage key). Disabling in msconfig means move the Run key to somewhere
else to hold it elsewhere. The startup item won't startup because it is
no longer under the Run key. If the user decides they want that startup
item back, they simply remove the disable and reboot. I have use
msconfig (although other tools or manual editing is also possible) the
following items:

qttask
Apple QuickTime startup utility. Automatically opens QuickTime when a
..mov file is played or downloaded. The browser plug-in doesn't need it.
The filetype association is sufficient to double-click on a .mov, .qt,
or other QT filetype to start it playing. Nobody needs this garbage
startup utility. I also have the HIPS (host intrusion protection
system) in my firewall (Comodo) block this program from loading.
Alternatively you can renamed or delete this file to prevent it from
loading. It is not required to play Quicktime files. The Alternative
QuickTime Player is incapable of playing correctly all the QT files that
I have so it is not a choice, for me.

Reader_sl
Adobe Reader Speed Launch
Adobe Acrobat. Adobe runs this to add themself to the prefetch cache
for faster startup. I could care less about a half second less load
time whenever I happen to open a PDF file which is maybe every few days.
No idea why Adobe thinks they need 2 of these processes to prefill the
prefetch cache.

CTDetect
Creative's MediaSource. Works better with my thumb drive than, say,
Windows Media Player.

J2DllCmd
eFax Messenger. I'm not interested in having it waiting for an incoming
fax to be received via e-mail and will open their Mgr when I want to
read the fax that they forwarded via e-mail.

NeroCheck
Nero's utility to check for incompatibility with other CD burning
software that may be installed.

NvMixerTray
nVidia's sound mixer utility. Can be used as a replacement for the
Sound tray icon. You can disable the NVMixer icon from showing up but
that still leaves the program to load on startup (it loads, sees it is
disabled, and unloads). There is no option to reenable this tray
utility, so having it available to reenable in msconfig lets me bring it
back should I decide to switch or include it in the system tray.

OpWare32
Part of ScanSoft's Omnipage scanner program. Don't need it running.
No, I want the software so I'm not going to uninstall all of Omnipage
just to get rid of a useless background process for which the program
provides no option to disable.

PDVDserv
Cyberlink PowerDVD process. I need a CD/DVD player. This one came with
the CD/DVD drive. I haven't noticed a problem using the program with
this process disabled.

Microsoft Office
OSA (Office Startup Assistant) utility. Nope, I'll be keeping Microsoft
Office so uninstalling it to get rid of this background process is not
an option. One function of it is to add Office prefetch cache items. I
don't need it. I do need MS Office. There is no configuration option
in MS Office to disable this background process.

Yes, you could uninstall the application but that is probably not what
the user wants to do. They want to use the app when THEY run it without
the overhead of a worthless background process for functionality they
don't want or don't care about. I *do* want each of the above
applications. I do NOT want their fluff functionality, if any, by
providing their background process.

Disabling services in msconfig is no different than disabling them in
the services applet (services.msc).

Msconfig.exe will NOT let you delete these items whereas SysInternals'
AutoRuns does let you delete them (remove by moving to another key) or
disable them (uncheck). So it is up to you whether you want to delete
them (and then later not have a clue as to how to add them back if you
find they are needed along with their correct command-line parameters)
or merely disable them so you can easily bring them back. I'm not
worried about consuming maybe 80 bytes in the registry file(s) to move
the Run key to a holding location to disable it (which isn't correct)
but I am concerned (and from experience) about having to restore them
but then I don't know what program to add back or what command-line
parameters to specify. Disabling them, well, disables them and is just
as effective as deleting them but adds convenience if you need to bring
them back.

Msconfig is NOT just a troubleshooting too. It is, as per its name, a
CONFIGURATION tool. AutoRuns is far more effective at listing ALL
startup locations whereas msconfig has a very narrow focus. Autoruns
lets me delete or disable all startup items so it is a better tool but
then msconfig comes with Windows so it is available to all users. It
all depends under which CONFIG program you want to manage your startup
items. Not everyone has AutoRuns, knows about it, or can understand it.
Like the defrag included in Windows, there are better 3rd party defrag
tools available but that doesn't eliminate the ease of availability and
use of the included tool.

In msconfig, disabling an item moves it to another key (which is not
read during Windows or session startup). AutoRuns does the same thing
when you uncheck an item to disable it. Windows won't see the key
anymore so it won't be running that command when it starts up. AutoRuns
adds the option of permanently deleting the startup item. Be sure you
really want to delete it. If later you find you want or need it, you'll
probably find that you won't know what program got ran and also won't
know what, if any, command-line parameters should be specified to that
program. There is no reason to delete since disabling works just as
effectively as deletion. If you move an 80-byte sized key from one
place to another in the registry to disable a startup item, you haven't
lost any more bytes than you lost before. Worrying about gaining that
80 bytes by deleting the key to reduce the size of your registry will do
nothing to speed up the registry lookups (which are performed on the
memory copy of the registry and not from the files on the hard disk) and
would be extremely insignificant to the load time to get the registry
files into memory when you start Windows.
.

Relevant Pages

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