Turning off things that auto start in Windows

In WinXP or Windows Server 2003, there are at least four areas to look:

1. Does the offending application have a setting to disable automatically starting, perhaps in a system tray icon, the application itself, or antoher config application in the start menu group?
2. Look in C:\Documents and Settings\[User Name] or [All Users]\Start Menu\Programs\Startup. Delete the icon(s) whose applications that you do not want tostart up. Alternatively you can copy and paste into other users. Look in both of these locations path locations.
3. In the Run box, type msconfig. Click Startup tab and un-click those items you do not want to start automatically.
4. Things that autostart without being present in the startup folder are often found in registry under:
   HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run (all user on the server) HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run (current user)
   Look for a key and if found delete it. I often do an Alt+Print Screen to take a picture of the setting before I delete it in case the deletion causes some other problems.