System Configuration Utility - MSConfig

"MSConfig" is the executable name of the Microsoft System Configuration Utility that provide users an easy way to manage the behavior of some Windows components. Most often, this utility is found very useful to control which components should be enabled/disabled during Windows startup because of different needs. Though making changes on the MSConfig is risky, making the good changes may improve the speed of Windows startup.

Perform the changes at your own risks! Making a bad change might corrupt your Windows. If you're not familiar with the Windows components, I recommend NOT to make any changes; instead, if you're willing to learn, it is a good idea to view through the tool and study the components.

The utility displays components found from these following startup sources:


•System.ini
•Win.ini
•Boot.ini
•Services
•Startup



To start the System Configuration Utility: click "Start" > "Run", then type "msconfig" and press Enter:







I. "GENERAL"


- "Normal Startup" should be selected as default, which allows Windows to load all available drivers and services.
- "Diagnostic Startup" - only basic drivers and services will be loaded on startup. Most application services as well as Networking, Plug and Play, Error Reporting services are disabled.
- "Selective Startup" - Select particular startup components.




II. "SYSTEM.INI", "WIN.INI", and "BOOT.INI"
"system.ini", "win.ini", and "boot.ini" are the three main components for Windows to startup, so be careful when you're making any changes here. Most of the times, you don't need to mess around with theese components since they are system components such as device drivers, fonts, bootup source, etc..





III. "Services"
This tab shows a list of all services available on the machine as well as their status. You can disable/enable the services by uncheck/check on the square box right in front of the service's name.





IV. "Startup"
This tab shows a list of all startup components available on the machine. The startup components can be found also from the registry table; however, this utility provide you an easy way to disable/enable the components. Note that the components with a check mark is one that will be called and loaded during the startup cycle of your machine.




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