startup problems

[riseandfall]

hi
i am running windows xp (home) on a 2ghz laptop pc
the system takes a lot of time to startup and the overall performance of the computer is very lagged. i guess installing and uninstalling programs all the time, plus adware and all that stuff has this effect. my question is is there a way to remove any unnecessary programs running in the background and starting up without my knowledge somehow? is there such an appropriate program to help me do so? please help.
thanks in advance
chris

 

[mikejr]

I would download and use Microsofts Anti-Spyware Beta. It works significantly better than anything else I've used. Far and away better than Ad Aware.

Also, a defrag may help on the disk speed if you've done a lot of installing and uninstalling.

 

[red onion]

ccleaner will let you monitor and delete items that start with windows. It will also do syetem cleanups, if so desired. An excellent program.

To prevent programs from adding themselves to the startup menu without your knowledge, try Startup monitor . This will pop-up a box when a program tries to add itself to your startup menu and give you the choice of yes or no.