Some systems and programs should not be unchecked for the system configuration startup. This is especially true for anyone using wireless internet or laptops.
Also, your anti-virus software (whatever you choose to use) should always load automatically with windows start up if your computer automatically makes an internet connection when it reboots (DSL, Cable modem, etc.). That one second of downtime is all a hacker kid down your street (especially if you're on cable modem or wireless network, which are both less secure) needs to get into your system.
Which brings me to another piece of advise, if you have a wireless network - password protect it and make the password HARD!! I thought I had a hard password for mine, but we had a friend of ourswho knows all this security garbletry to break in on purpose to our wireless network to see how vulnerable we were. His software guessed my password in just over 20 minutes.
Your wireless network password should have no rhyme or reason to it whatsoever, and it shouldinclude numbers! Make it as long as you can, also. The more digits it has, the harder it will be to crack.
He was able to hack into my phpbb board (with our permission, of course), but that's another story...*sigh*
Also note that if you have tons of fonts installed (I have well over 5000 fonts on this particularcomputer), your computer will be slow to reboot as well. Nothing you can really do to fix that other than not have so dang many fonts. LOL My boyfriend harps on me to remove all mine, but this is my desktop publishing/graphics computer. So I like and need all my fonts on it!
Anyway, Grandma is right for the mainpoint of her suggestionthough. If you deactivate a lot of that stuff inyour startup that isnot involved with your anti-virus and system functionality, your reboot speed is going to VERY much improve. It also lets you know if something is running in the background that shouldn't be by looking through there. A lot of times that's a good place to start looking if you think you're infected with a trojan.
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