text: is there a way to keep the programs that automaticly start during power up not to start?   sure. try using autoruns as an alternative to the built in configuration utility. it lists all the processes that run at startup, and allows you to enable or disable them.  use at your own risk. there are things that are supposed to run at startup, and are needed by the system. if you're not sure about something, go online and research it... you don't want to shoot yourself in the foot.