Is your Windows starting super slow?
On Windows, just every software automatically adds itself to startup when the machine starts, even if you don't use it. ⁖ iTune, Adobe Acrobat, Java. It is a pain in the ass. They do that because when you actually start the application, they appear to start instaneously, making you think they are fast and good. (while Microsoft takes the blame of the overall slowness of Windows startup.)
To disable the auto hidden start, you can use Msconfig. Press 【❖ Win+r】, then type “msconfig”. Then, click on the Startup pane. There you can disable them. Here's the ones i recommend to disable:
Things like CyberLink PowerCinema etc i never use so i've already de-installed them.
When you install games, especially free ones, they often add junk here without you knowing. Later, it's usually hard to find out what junk in the startup are. Even well known commercial games.
Whenever there's a update to one of these software, such as Java, Adobe, iTunes, they automatically add back to the startup. So be sure to disable them again.
While you are at it, you might click on the Services tab and disable some there. (they are not applications, but hidden background processes) Here, you should know what they are before you disable. Here's some i disabled:
WARNING: you better know what you are doing. Disabling critical services can cause problems. I'm not responsible if your computer won't start up.
CCleaner is really a fantastic tool. In a easy way, it lets you delete all the cache and temp files of various browsers and Windows files. If you do it manually, you'll have to find it all over your disk, or thru various browser Preference interfaces. It also lets you clean your Registry, and lets you disable or delete the startup program settings, far better interface than the tiny window of “msconfig”.
Here's some startup processes i removed recently:
For other great Windows software i personally use, see: List of Great Windows Software.