In windows xp what can be used to temporarily disable startup services and other programs and help you find the one causing a problem?

Answer 1

If you don't have a utility program like System Suite or something like it, you can do it manually from the Configuration Manager in Windows.

Go to Start - Run

Type in Config.sys, then Enter

This will bring up the Configuration Manager, which will list your Startup Programs and all other background programs. First make a list of the programs you must have to start your system - you don't want to turn those off. To find the offending program, narrow it down by a process of half-splitting - turn off one half of the startup programs in the list you have of the ones you can shut down without any problem, then restart your system. If the problem goes away, you know it was in that group - if not, it's in the other half. Once you narrow it down to a smaller group, split that group in half again and shut half down and restart again. Keep doing it until you find the program.

There's an easier way to find the problem also - you can run a Selective Windows Startup. Choose it from the initial startup screen before Windows boots. Selective Startup allows you to perform each startup process one at a time, allowing you to narrow it down to the one that's causing the problem you're having.