Go here. You can remove items from running at startup without losing access to them via Start - Programs, simply by following the instructions at the link site.

Good luck.



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"If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to serve as a horrible warning." --Catherine Aird

thanks. one program I didn't see on that site is "wcmdmgr". Any idea of what that is and if it should be "unchecked" ?

Also, any ideas on forcing "no background programs"? ( hey, i got lucky with the first one, so....).

Wild Tangent is a WinAmp visualization plugin. They install an auto-update feature with the progams. That's what you're seeing. Safe to disable. In fact it makes me kinda suspicious that it might be spyware.

You can't exactly, but if you're not on the internet when you play games (or at a site you completely trust not to infect you with a virus) then an alternative is to use a little freeware utility called 'EndItAll' before you start a game. The utility will turn off everything that's running in the background except Explorer and, if you have it listed, Systray (Both needed by windows if listed). You can find the utility here.

Don't forget to reboot so you turn things back on after playing and before you get out of the net (EndItAll will shut off your virus scanner along with everything else).




Cowboy Wisdom:
The White House didn't just get a new team, it got a whole new language. President Bush brought with him many friends from Texas, and for anyone not born in the Lone Star State, the Texan accent and the cowboy colloquialisms can seem a bit strange. So here's a guide to a few of the more colorful expressions y'all might encounter over the next few years:

It's time to paint your bottom white and run with the antelope = Stop arguing and do as you're told

- Bob -
7XDB8

You could always do a Ctrl-Alt-Del, and end task on everything but Systray and Explorer (and your game), and do things that way. Minimizing the stuff that runs at Startup via MSCONFIG will probably do the most good for you.

As for "wcmdmgr," it appears that it has to do with an installed feature or application on your PC -
"Wcmdmgr.exe is our automated support engine; because of the complexity and rapid innovation of cutting-edge 3d hardware these days, we have decided on an automated solution for supporting all the latest hardware out there. The details of our support engine are given in our install screens, and described in the open letter from our CEO, Alex St. John here: http://www.wildtangent.com/candy/privacy.html. Please contact us at support@wildtangent.com if you have any other questions."

Whatever Wild Tangent is...I think you'll be fine unchecking it, though.



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"If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to serve as a horrible warning." --Catherine Aird

There was a specific mention of that in one of the Google hits I looked through on the subject. If it were me, I'd be running AdAware and Uninstall on that rascal...
:-0



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"If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to serve as a horrible warning." --Catherine Aird

Take a look at enditall at http://navigation.helper.realnames.com/framer/1/113/default.asp?realname=PC+Magazine&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ezdnet%2Ecom%2Fpcmag%2F&frameid=1&providerid=113&uid=419107 or PC Magazine and search for the program enditall it works great for me.

My system is as follows:
Dimension 8100, P4 at 1.4Gz
256 Rambus non-ecc PC600
NEC CD-DVd 5880A
Sony RW CRX-160E
64Mb DDR NVIDIA GeForce 2 Ultra video card
Altec Lansing ADA885 speaker w/Subwoofer - THX
UltraScan P991 Trinitron Monitor
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz DSP sound card


Bowman