From Michelle Castle,
Your Guide to Focus on Windows.
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One way you can speed up your computer is to prevent programs from launching themselves at start-up. Not only do the unwanted programs delay the start of Windows, they also continue to slow down your computer since they use system resources.

The instructions in this tutorial will show you how to determine what programs are starting automatically when you turn your computer on and boot Microsoft Windows. You'll need to check three separate places to see what programs are launching automatically on start-up and to prevent unwanted programs from automatically starting.

To begin, open the program that you don't want to start automatically when Windows boots. Check to see if the program provides an auto start option that you can disable. If there is no option available or deselecting it doesn't prevent the program from starting automatically, continue with the other steps in this tutorial.