text: how do i remove and add items from the right hand below task bar in win xp?   like browneyedmaiden said, you have to configure each program.  you can also have programs start automatically by adding the program's shortcut to the startup folder.  if you can't find the settings to stop a program from loading on startup, you can stop it in the msconfig menu.  1. click start menu 2. click run 3. type "msconfig" and click ok 4. on the popup window, click the start tab 5. uncheck any program that you don't want to start on boot 6. click ok 7. restart your computer  when your computer restarts it will complain about the changes made. however, you can simply ignore this messagae. just make sure that you know which programs you are setting to not start on boot.