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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
May 30, 2010
Q.
As I use my computer more and more, there is
an ever increasing number of icons that show
up in the lower right corner of the screen.
What are all of these and do I need all of
them?
A.
The far right end of the taskbar is
most often referred to as the "System Tray",
which Microsoft says is not correct, even
though many of their own documents call it
that. Microsoft's official name for that
area is the "Notification Area".
The name
system tray probably became popular from the
program called "systray.exe" that controlled
some of the items in that area in Windows
95. So, to be correct, in this discussion,
it will be referred to as the Notification
Area.
The
notification
area is described by Microsoft as "...a
portion of the taskbar that provides a
temporary source for notifications and
status. It can also be used to display icons
for system and program features that have no
presence on the desktop." Microsoft also
says, "Well-designed programs use
the notification area appropriately, without
being annoying or distracting."
Unfortunately, many programs don't adherer
to that last statement forcing me to
more
really describe it as a place where all the
unnecessary, resources hogging programs that
are running in the background are shown. Too
many programs have portions of themselves
automatically start when Windows starts. The
purpose of this is to constantly check for
updates, or assist the program in starting
up a few milliseconds faster.
Most of
these icons in the notification area can be
controlled by using a little utility
included with Windows. Since Windows 95,
Microsoft has provided a utility called the
"System Configuration Utility" which is used
to troubleshoot the system. Although it may
have been included to aid their technical
support people, it can be used by the
individual user to great effect if he knows
how. To open this utility, click
Start, Run, and enter msconfig and click OK.
NOTE:
By default, the Run command will probably
not be listed in the start menu. To put it
there, right click the taskbar, choose
Properties, select the Start Menu tab, then
the customize button. (In XP you will also
have to click the Advanced tab.) Scroll to
the Run command and check the box in front
of it.
When the
System Configuration utility opens, there
are several tabs available that will differ
with different operating systems and
applications. The one we are interested for
this article is the Startup tab, and when
clicked, a list of items will display. In XP
there are three columns labeled, Startup
Item, Command and Location. Vista and
Windows 7 adds two more columns, Manufacturer
and Date Disabled.
Unfortunately, some of the names in the
Startup Item column are pretty cryptic and
may be difficult to understand. The
Manufacturer column in Vista and Windows 7
should help in identification. Also, this
dialog cannot be expanded making it
difficult to see the full information in
each column easily. However, each column can
be widened, and with a little horizontal
scrolling, the complete information can be
ascertained. Here are links to some websites
that contain lists with descriptions of
these names, and recommendations as to
whether or not they are needed. The first listed in my
favorite.
http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist_a.htm
http://www.greatis.com/appdata/
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/
The fewer
of these items shown checked in the System
Configuration utility and thus the fewer
icons displayed in the notification area,
the better so far as computer performance is
concerned. Only the necessary programs like
your anti-virus program are really needed.
If you uncheck something that you find out
later that you do want to start when Windows
starts, you can always go back and recheck
it again.
NOTE:
After making changes in the system
configuration utility, a restart is
required. During the restart, in XP there
will be a message displayed with a somewhat
confusing message. Just click the Yes box to not display it again, and click OK. |
