In many replys to the question/comment: "How do I fix a slow system"?, the most common reply is to open msconfig and uncheck un-needed programs from STARTUP. *MY* question is {short of unchecking each one, one at a time, and rebooting between to observe efect). How do you know *which* ones to uncheck? Their names can be uninformative and/or misleading. Doesn't PTSNOOP sound like something you might not want to automatically start every time you boot, but if it doesn't your MODEM ain't gonna work!

What PTSNOOP is is a small .exe program that is used by HSP-style "software" modems(Host Signal Processor)to locate com port & make sure all related & necessary drivers are loaded. Without it, your modem WON'T work. Don't go unchecking anything in msconfig until you describe your problem in more detail (assuming you HAVE a problem, and unless you want to add more posts here).

You could try stripping MSConfig so that very few programs are loading when you start the computer. If the problems persist after this then it could be a hardware issue. We would need to Quick Restore to verify that. If the problem does not persist after stripping MSConfig, then you know the problem is with the some software that is loading when you start the computer. To strip MSConfig, do the following: 1. Click on START. 2. Click on RUN. 3. Type MSCONFIG in the "Open" box. 4. Click the OK button. The SYSTEM CONFIGURATION UTILITY dialog box will open. In the upper left-hand corner are three round buttons labeled "Normal Startup", "Diagnostic Startup", and "Selective Startup". 5. Click on "Selective Startup". Across the top are some tabs. All the way to the right is a tab labeled "Startup" 6. Click on the "Startup" tab. 7. In the list, locate the items that you do not want to load when you start the computer. For example: If AOL opens every time you start the computer and you do not want it to, then locate the AOL file in the list. You may wish to call technical support to assist you in determining what to disable and what not to disable. As a rule, if there are duplicates, disable all duplicates so that only one of the items remains enabled. The main programs that you want to keep are: Scan Registry system Tray LoadPowerProfile (should listed twice) Vsecomrexe Anti-Virus software VS Com.exe Anti-Virus software VshWin32Exe (should be listed twice) McAfee WebScanX Eaclean Em_Exec Compaqprintray (if you have Compaq Printer) Compaqsystray TaskMonitor McAfee requires the following: McAfee WebScanX AvconsoleEXE VsecomrEXE Vshwin32EXE VsStatEXE 8. Click on the checkbox next to the item(s) you do not want to load on startup until the check mark has disappeared (disabled). 9. Click the APPLY button. 10. Click the OK button. 11. Your computer will ask to restart. Click YES.

Thanks Folks . . . BUT - I know what PTSNOOP is, I was only using it as an example as to how these programs names can be misleading. AND . . . I know how to uncheck them in msconfig. My question was (and IS) what is the easiest way to IDENTIFY *WHAT* these programs ARE without unchecking and rebooting for each one until you know just what exactly they do. Which, if you think about it, could take a VERY long time. You would need to uncheck>reboot>then check-out everything on your desktop/sys tray to see what had been affected. I should think it's even conceivable that you might need to disable multiple programs (in particular configurations) before you might see any results. Again, what I'm looking for is a way to IDENTIFY the programs listed in CTRL>ALT>DEL at start-up, or any time for that matter. THANKS

then to identify which application , you require , its up to you to choose.

Scroll to the right in msconfig startup window and it should give the path to the .exe file - this should give you some clues as to what program it is associated with. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to identify which you absolutely need, you're gonna have to do that by trial and error - uncheck all but systray and go from there - time consuming I know! You may want to have resource meter on when "adding" others back in (if it's not in your Accessories>System Tools folder, then do Add/Subtract Programs and it can be added in the Windows Tab in the Accessories>System Tools area). This will give you an idea of what consumes the most resources so you can uncheck them is not essential. Real Player tends to hangup when installed at startup and not used - this will slow ya down a bit, so get it out of the system tray!! It doesn't take long to load when needed. Hope this helps :)

Try ProcessView which allows you to look at all the running processes & which by-the-way is freeware. Here's it's location www.surecool.com & a screenshot below.