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Startup-itis, the systray and TSR utilities

It's not as bad as a computer virus, at least not as destructive.  But Startup-itis can wreak havoc and cause poor performance and unexpected crashes.

 

The lower right corner of your screen usually shows a clock and if you have sound, the volume control. This lower right corner is called the system tray, systray for short. Many programs and utilities like to put their own icon in the systray. These icons give you quick access to the features and benefits of these various programs or utilities.

Having quick access to these utilities comes with a price. Reduced performance, slower speed and an increased chance for system crashes are all the curse of an overloaded system tray or what I call startup-itis. Check the lower right corner of your screen. Hold the mouse over each icon to identify what each of the icons represents. While there is no exact rule for how many is too many, I would estimate that if you have more than six, you are probably suffering from a bloated system tray or startup-itis.

If you check your system’s performance status,  you’ll find that the higher the percentage, the more efficient your computer can work.

If you are suffering from startup-itis, you may find that your performance level at startup is so low that you can barely function and crashing is commonplace.

In the old DOS days before the introduction of Windows 95, we called these utilities TSR’s which stands for Terminate and Stay Resident. What this really means is that a program will start itself, terminate or end itself but leave a small utility feature behind or resident.

It is these left-over features and functions that are available to you at all times, whether you need them, like them or want them at all.

In Windows 95 & 98,  these TSR’s start automatically every time you turn on your computer. They are not like programs in the startup windows (Start Programs-Startup) in that removing or disabling them is not as easy as deleting them from your startup folder.

 

A quick analogy - your favorite restaurant.

Compare startup-itis to the table or counter at your favorite restaurant. Your table contains the following amenities to enhance your dining experience:

• Salt

• Pepper
• Napkin holder
• Steak sauce (2 different kinds)
• Catsup
• Mustard
• Hot mustard
• Mayonnaise
• Mild Salsa dip
• Hot salsa dip
• Guacamole sauce
• Sugar
• Alternative sweeteners (for those who cannot use real sugar)
• Creamer
• Non-dairy creamer
• Desert Menu
• Wine Menu
• Maple syrup (this establishment serves breakfast 24 hours a day)
• Strawberry syrup
• Butter
• Margarine
• Coloring books and crayons for the kids
• A toaster
• Vegetable tray (carrots, celery, pickles etc.)
• Utensils
• Water glasses and extra pitcher of water

• And the list keeps growing

Once you have found room to open the menu and decide what to eat, your server will find it difficult if not impossible to place your plates on the table so that you can actually eat.

 

"Pardon me, but do you have any grey poupon?"

 

Startup-itis resembles same thing. When all the cute icons are loaded  after your computer starts, it’s a miracle if you can use your computer at all. Truth is, many of you can’t.

• Internet Instant Messenger programs
• Microsoft Office Find Fast
• CD ROM utility and driver software
• Real Audio Player
• Windows Media Player
• Antivirus automatic protection
• Fax programs automatic receive fax features
• System crash protection and crash guard programs
• All types of scheduling programs that remind you to update, pay bills, backup your system, tune your system, check your mail etc. etc

This list can go on and on.

I actually saw one computer that had so many of these startups, that the system's performance level at startup was a whopping 52%. This computer could barely browse the Internet let alone check e-mail or write a quick memo in Word.

The designer’s of these wonderful programs really want you to think that you cannot live without their own utility. Most of the time they will configure themselves to start automatically the first time you install the program, whether you want this feature or not. Consequently disabling or removing is different for each utility.

My intention is to get you to question the need for these to be started automatically. I am not attempting to pass judgment for or against one program or another. Your personal choices will vary. It may be beneficial to disable some but not all of these TSR utilities:

• Antivirus auto protection is one such utility that I like to keep open at all times. You just never now when a virus will strike.
• CD ROM software drivers.  (these are left over from a system that may have been upgraded from an older version of Windows)
• I don’t keep Real Audio Player, Windows Media Player or any instant messenger programs running, because I don’t live on the Internet.
• I have a separate calendar program to remind me when to pay my bills, so I don’t use any scheduling programs to remind me (constantly and abusively) that bills are past due.
• I have a stand-alone fax machine that is not part of my computer. Consequently, I do not enable the automatic receive feature of my fax program. I do use the fax program to send outgoing faxes directly from my computer, but I disable the entire fax program when I have finished sending. My particular fax program is a real memory hog so I usually reboot the computer after sending faxes to restore memory that has leaked out while using the program.
• I know of several programs that do nothing but advertise the fact that your computer is using their particular piece of software or hardware. There is no function to the icon other than simple advertising, yet the advertisement appears every time I start my computer. I have not actually measured the decreased system performance with or without this icon. I often wonder if many of the icons in your startup tray are simply advertising and if there are actual benefits of the utility sitting there in my systray. I will continue to wonder and resent the advertising.

Before disabling one these wonderful memory hogging utilities, make sure you know how to re-enable the utility, in case you really need it or want to load it later.

When disabling these utilities, I suggest you disable one program at a time, then restart your computer. Make sure no error or warning messages appear. Then move on.

 

Remember that there is a difference between temporarily disabling these utilities each time your start your computer and permanently disabling these utilities from starting up automatically.

 

The right click method

 

The most common method for disabling these automatic startup routines, is to hold your mouse over the icon, then right click (using the right mouse button) to hopefully open up a menu for each icon. Usually, but not always, there will be a menu item for preferences or setting or simply a check mark to enable or disable starting with Windows. The preferences or settings menus should guide you in disabling these programs from automatic startup.

The main program method

 

It is not uncommon to have to open the entire program to locate the preferences, settings or even a setup menu to locate where and how to disable automatic startup. The main program that is associated with the icon may exist within your start Programs menu.

The website or the programs help screen method.

 

Just holding the mouse over each icon or right–clicking on the icon should at least give you the technical term that each TSR utility uses. Each program may use a different name or technical terminology to identify what it calls itself. If you sign on to the developers web site and search for the particular technical term, you may find a way to disable or enable utility. If you do not know the technical term, your search may be in vain.

 

Start the main program’s help menu (if one exists) and trying searching for or finding the same technical term. You might be able to locate the disable/enable instructions, however, experience has shown that most developers would rarely put that information where it could be so easily found. Help screens rarely do. I find that technical support pages of the developers web site is more useful than the program’s own help menu.

 

 

Windows 98 Msconfig method

• Save all your work and exit all open programs
• Click on Start, Run then type msconfig, then click OK.
• Click on the tab for Startup
• All of the programs listed in the startup window will start automatically.
• Try to identify which TSR utility is associated with each line in this startup window

• Use caution in unchecking any program that you think you should not start automatically.

• If you make any changes you will be prompted to restart your computer

 

Recheck your performance level after disabling or removing these utilities.

 

Remember to keep track of your system performance level before and after playing with these systray utilities. You may find a larger performance gain by just disabling one or two utilities while others do not give you a substantial improvement in overall performance.