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Topic: Removing Windows Icons |
Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 23 Oct 2001 10:22 pm |
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I know this has been covered before, but I can't seem to locate the thread anymore. I had my hard drive rebuilt and now I've got all these darn icons over on the bottom right side of my screen taking up memory. How do I get rid of them permanently (just the icons, not the underlying programs!!) I'm running Windows 98. Thanks,
jc |
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Rich Paton
From:
Santa Maria, CA.,
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Posted 23 Oct 2001 11:00 pm
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Jim...it sounds like you are describing the "system tray" area of the "taskbar". If so, these icons represent apps that are automatically loaded at the start of Windows, usually via modification of the registry and/or program .ini files when a program is installed. 99% are unnecessary, as you can run programs yourself if, when & as needed.
Kaboshing the other resource-hogging auto-starts is done via: click Start, Run, typing msconfig in the title window, then click OK. You should see a window for the "system configuration utility" now. Click the "Startup" tab. You should now see a list of programs, each with a checkbox. Uncheck unwanted items. There may be multiple
instances of the same item present, uncheck all of these. There are a few programs displayed here which are setup during the initial installation of windows, and necessary for windows to function. The windows-specific items to keep are: ScanRegistry, TaskMonitor, and SystemTray. A re-start will be needed to effect the changes.
You may have some apps that must auto-start with windows...(for example, my "ZoneAlarm" internet firewall and "AdSubtract" browser banner ad & popup-window zapper programs need to start with windows to function). I nuke all other unneeded items. (I'm a control freak, when it comes to computers!).
Icons in the non-tray area of the taskbar are merely shortcuts, & can be deleted just like any other icon, via right-clicking on them & choosing "delete".
Hope this helps.[This message was edited by Rich Paton on 24 October 2001 at 12:29 AM.] |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 24 Oct 2001 2:30 am
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Before you just "uncheck" them in msconfig/startup. Check the program configuration as many have a user option to have or not have the program run at startup and also to put a "quickstart" icon in the task bar. Do the program configurations first.
I too remove everything except necessary items. Stuff such as AOL or whoever ISP, RealPlayer, WinAmp, messenger services such as AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, etc are all unnecessary at startup.
You should take care removing things in msconfig (but just unchecking it you can get it back) as some startups are internal programs that must be started even tho they seem unimportant or not needed. e.g. my Compaq had a startup program "stutfix.exe" (stutter fix) that was necessary with the built in ESS audio and if I had deleted that when I was using the built in audio I would have had audio problems.
Also, after you get the "junk" removed, you may still see your system resources, AT WINDOWS STARTUP (the only point that really counts) in the lower 80's or even upper 70's. System resources also include internal device drivers, video, etc that is being used and you can't do anything about that. After you start programs or start and exit the program you will see lower system resources - this is normal.
I upgraded from a SB AWE64 card which is ISA to a SB Live MP3+ 5.1, which is PCI and I lost 4% of system resources just for the SB Live - not any of the extra programs it wanted to load in the system tray (I removed all the junk it loaded). The old ISA boards basically do the processing on the board, PCI cards (almost exclusively the standard now) offload functions to the system/CPU which requires more system resources. |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Posted 24 Oct 2001 5:26 am
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| Thanks, guys. Jack, how do I "check the program configuration first"? |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 24 Oct 2001 10:11 am
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| Jim, most programs have an "options" or user configuration, preference, etc. Many times there will be an option in there to have the program run at Windows startup or run in the sys tray, etc. |
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Everett Cox
From:
Marengo, OH, USA (deceased)
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Posted 24 Oct 2001 2:02 pm
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Jim-- App's that put an icon in the sys tray often have startup options right there. Try RIGHT clicking an icon - that might bring up a context menu. Or try LEFT clicking and, if that does nothing, double-left clicking.
Tried to contact you while you were in Cleveland recently. Hope you weren't on a gig as it would be especially disappointing to have been so close but still not seeing you in person. You remember that I've been wanting to have my Mom hear you, too. She'll be 100 end of December!!! --Everett
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