Ghostbusting Windows' built-in startup manager

Reader Ed Blake wrote: "When installing software, I've noticed that some programs insert little tidbits into the Startup display on Msconfig. When installing a program now, I make sure not to allow the program to insert items into the Startup area. "When I go to uninstall programs, I notice that their footprints are still visible in the Msconfig file. How does one purge the Msconfig window of unwanted (no longer installed) entries?" My column in Windows Secrets this week tells you how to correct these ghost entries in Msconfig. (It's easy, and free!) Other topics this week include: Clean install? What about OEM drivers? (Sometimes, installing OEM drivers is a mistake!) Annotate files to make them easy to identify (easy, free ways to help remember what various downloaded files are for) Just how trustworthy is the 'Web of Trust'? (Answer: so-so. Here's why, and how to avoid getting false positives) Access to the above content (and all the other content in each issue) is almost free: You pay only what you think the WindowsSecrets newsletter is worth (there's no set fee--- you decide); whatever you pay that once gets you access to all the paid content, including my columns, for an entire year. Want to have a question answered in that column? Use the "contact" info at the end of the column to send in questions you might like me to try answering. And you can also rate the content to let me know how I'm doing. More info: https://windowssecrets.com/ Thanks for your support!

Posted via email from Fred's posterous