By Rich Menga on Dec 30, 2008 in Operating Systems, Optimization, Software | comments(0)
Dumprep.exe is a non-essential (according to Microsoft) process that may be in your system startup. It is OK to remove this but obviously it’s not done by deleting dumprep.exe (that would be bad).
Instead we follow these steps:
1. Go to the Control Panel.
2. Double-click the System icon.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. Next to Startup and Recovery, click the Settings button. (Note: There are three buttons labeled as this - click the one specifically next to Startup and Recovery).
5. Under Write debugging information, click the drop-down menu and select (none).
It looks similar to this:
Click OK after that. You’re done here.
Next we have to check to see if this is listed in the System Configuration Utility.
6. Click the Start button.
7. Click Run.
8. Type msconfig in the field and then click OK.
9. From the window that appears, click the Startup tab.
10. Look to see if dumprep 0 -k exists. If it does, it would look like this:
You can safely uncheck this as it is not a vital system process (again, that’s according to Microsoft).
Once done you exit the utility.
Why do any of this?
Anything Windows doesn’t have to load on boot (especially that stuff that’s not required like dumprep.exe) will make it start up faster. Every little bit helps!
By Rich Menga on Oct 3, 2008 in Operating Systems, Optimization, Software | comments(1)
There are utilities like the freeware CCleaner software that can easily let you list and modify auto-run programs from the Windows XP system registry like this:
Above: In CCleaner, click Tools (large icon on left) then Startup (white button in middle column) to see this list.
However if you’re the type that would rather do this the "old fashioned way", you can get to this information and get the same editing ability by using the tried-and-true registry editor.
You can get to the registry editor in one of two ways.
- Click Start / Run / type regedit / click OK.
- Right click on a blank area of the desktop, click New from the context menu that appears, click Shortcut, type regedit in the dialog box that appears (no need to click Browse), click Next, click Finish. This will place a regedit icon on your desktop that you can double-click to launch the Registry Editor.
Inside the registry editor you have to expand some folders - in a specific order - to get to the "run" list.
The order is as follows:
It should look something like this when you’re done:
From here you have the same modify/delete ability as you do with CCleaner, except using the built-in registry editor instead.
IMPORANT NOTE: Messing around with the Windows registry can seriously screw up your Windows installation if done wrong.
It is highly suggested to BACKUP your registry first. This is done easily via the registry editor by simply clicking File then Export. Do this before making any registry changes. Make sure when exporting your "Export Range" is ticked as "All".
Like this (see bottom left):
Didn’t find what you were looking for in Run?
Maybe it’s not there. Maybe it’s in the Start menu’s "Startup" folder instead.
Click Start, All Programs, Startup and check that menu. You can remove any menu entry there by simply right-clicking on it and left-clicking Delete.
If you delete something on a goof, don’t worry because it’s in the Recycle Bin where you can put it back in case you make a mistake.
Just remember there is no Recycle Bin ability with the registry editor. Your only means of restoring something you deleted is by importing a .reg file you exported as explained above.
