msconfig

A tutorial on msconfig – System Configuration

msconfig is the Microsoft System Configuration Utility. In Windows Vista and Windows 7 it is called as ‘System Configuration’. This is a tool that comes with the Windows Operating System. For Windows 2000 users this tool can be downloaded from microsoft website. This is used to configure and maintain your Windows System. In this tutorial we can see how to use this tool.
To start this tool goto Start->Run and type ‘msconfig’. A new window with five tabs will open.

1. General Tab: This tab has three sections. Normal Startup, Diagnostic Startup and Selective Startup. When Windows functions normally we use Normal Startup. When the system doesnt function properly, we can use diagnostic startup to diagnose the issue and to troubleshoot. If we want windows to start with specific programs then we can choose Selective Startup.
2. Boot Tab: This tab shows the operating systems installed in the computer. Additionally we can choose options such as ‘safe Boot’, ‘Boot log’, ‘Time out delay’. If you are a new PC user then it is best to leave this tab without any changes.
3. Services Tab: This tab lists all the services installed in this PC with the details such as whether the service is running or stopped etc. From here you can enable or disable services. You can check the ‘Hide all Microsoft services’, to hide all essential windows services so that you don’t change them by mistake. From here you can identify unknown services that take up your memory and stop them wherever necessary.
4. Startup Tab: Startup tab shows the list of programs that starts automatically when Windows starts. All system tray programs and programs that run in background will also be listed here. You can see which of these services and programs you don’t need at startup and remove them accordingly. This will speed up your windows startup time.
5. Tools Tab: In the tools tab you can see, System Information, Programs, System Restore etc.

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