Disable Automatic Startup Programs

The more programs you have loading when the computer boots up, the longer it will take for the operating system to be ready to use. You can cut down on startup time by eliminating from startup those programs you don't really need to run every time you start the computer.
Clicking the Manage Startup Programs selection in Performance Information And Tools will open the Windows Defender Software Explorer, as shown in Figure D.

Figure D

You can manage Startup Programs from the Windows Defender Software Explorer.

You can scroll through the list to see all the programs that run at startup. The right pane displays a great deal of information about the selected program, including its filename, display name, description, publisher, digital signature information, startup value, path, file size, version number, the date it was installed, startup type (where it is designated to start up on boot -- for example, in the Current User settings in the registry), location, and whether the program shipped with the operating system.
Some programs can be removed or disabled by selecting the program in the left pane and clicking the Remove or Disable button in the bottom-right area of the window. Others will have these buttons grayed out. If the Remove and Disable buttons are unavailable, you'll need to remove the program from startup manually. This may involve removing it from the Startup folder, which you'll find on the Start | All Programs menu, as shown in Figure E.

Figure E

You can find the Startup folder in the All Programs menu.

You can also navigate to the Startup folder in the file system via Windows Explorer, as shown in Figure F.

Figure F

You can navigate to the Startup folder in Windows Explorer and remove programs.

To find the Startup folder in the file system, just right-click on it on the All Programs menu and click Open or go to the disk on which Vista is installed and navigate to Users\ or All Users\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\StartMenu\Programs\Startup.
You can remove programs from the folder by right-clicking and deleting. The programs here are shortcuts, so you will not affect the program itself. You can also find a list of startup programs in the System Information tool, as shown in Figure G.

Figure G

You can view a list of startup programs in the System Information tool.

To access the System Information tool, type msinfo32 in the Start Menu's Search/Run box or on the All Programs | Accessories | System Tools menu. This tool is for viewing the information only; you can't make changes to the startup programs here.
In some cases, you may have to edit the registry to prevent a program from loading at startup. The System Information tool will show you the location in the registry that needs to be edited.