To stop XP from loading any programs in the Startup folder, hold down Shift while the computer is starting up.
To see what programs are loading when Windows starts up (and why it seems to take forever), got to the Start button, click Run, and type ‘msconfig.’ On the far right-hand side, there is a tab that says Startup. Click that and you will see all of the things that are turning on once the Windows desktop has turned on.
To obtain more information about a listing in Msconfig, expand the width of the Command column and you’ll see the startup command and its location. To find out what program the listing is, type the program name into Google (or your favorite search engine).
Microsoft recommends that you defragment your hard drive when your free disk space reaches 15%.