Disabling Windows 7 Action Center Alerts

Windows 7 Action Center alerts are not only an annoying feature for advanced
users, but they also slow down your logon time because they have to start auto-
matically when you log on. Disabling this feature by clearing a box is simply

not an option using the System Configuration utility or even Autoruns. Action
Center alerts are deeply embedded into Windows 7 and can be turned off only
from within the Windows Action Center application, similar to what you had
to do with RealPlayer.
If you are unfamiliar with security alerts, these are the little boxes that pop up
from your system tray that inform you that you are missing antivirus or other
types of computer protection. If you are an advanced user, you do not need to
be reminded all the time that your security settings may be insecure.
In Windows 7, Microsoft made it easy to disable security alerts from starting
automatically. Just follow these steps:
  1.  Click the Start button, type Action Center in the Search box, and then
press Enter.
  2.  After Action Center loads, click Change Action Center settings.

3.  Then, remove the check next to all the messages you don’t need to see, as
shown in Figure 13-6.
  4.  Click OK, close Action Center, and you are finished.
Figure 13-6: Disabling security alerts in Action Center
tip   Interested in more security-related tweaks and tips? Check out Part IV
of this book to learn how to fine-tune Windows security and your Internet
settings, and how to protect your privacy.
As you can see, stopping sneaky programs from starting automatically
requires you to go into the program’s options/preferences/settings. After you
are inside a program’s settings, you have to uncheck any options of features that
start up automatically. Most programs such as Windows Security Center alerts
are easy to disable from starting up automatically from within the preferences.
However, other programs, such as RealPlayer, require a little more work as you
have to disable automatic updates and several Message Center features.
The best way to stop other sneaky programs that keep starting up automati-
cally after you try to remove them using the System Configuration utility is to
dig through the program’s settings. Look in the program’s help file for informa-
tion about how to disable automatic startup if you are stuck. If you cannot find
any information, try searching the Web for information, or post a request for
help on one of the various computer support web sites, such as Tweaks.com’s
forum at Tweaks.com/forum.

Making Your Computer Log On Faster

You can do two things to get RealPlayer under control. First, you need to
stop the scheduler from starting up every time you start Windows. You will
recognize this application in the System Configuration utility as realsched.exe.

No matter how many times you uncheck this item in the System Configuration
utility or Autoruns, it will keep coming back. The only way to stop it is inside
the RealPlayer application. Follow these steps to stop it for good:
  1.  Start the RealPlayer application by clicking the Start menu, type in
RealPlayer, and hit Enter.
  2.  After RealPlayer has loaded, click the Tools menu bar item and then select
Preferences. This loads the program preferences.
  3.  Expand Automatic Services and then select AutoUpdates.
  4.  Clear the Automatically download and install important updates box, as
shown in Figure 13-5.
Figure 13-5: Disabling RealPlayer’s automatic updates
  5.  To make sure that you will never again see a message from the so-called
Message Center, select the Message Center entry listed under Automatic
Services.236  Part III n Increasing Your System’s Performance
  6.  Click the Select Message Topics button on the right side of the window.
  7.  When the Message Center window is displayed, uncheck all items on the
screen. Navigate through the categories of messages and uncheck those
as well. When you are finished, press the Save Changes button.
  8.  Close the Message Center window so the Preferences window can be
viewed again.
  9.  After you are back to the Preferences window, press the Configure Message
Center button.
  10.  Clear all the boxes on the screen.
  11.  Press OK to close the Configure Message Center window.
  12.  A warning window displays informing you that you are disabling the
Message Center. Click Yes to proceed.
  13.  Close the Message Center window again so that you can view the
Preferences window.
  14.  Press OK to save your changes and close the Preferences window.
That’s it. RealPlayer is now under your full control and will not start up
automatically and will not send you advertisements. As you can see, it is more
difficult than just unchecking one box in the System Configuration utility, but
it is not that much more complex after you know what boxes to clear

Increasing Your System’s Performance

For an application to install a program to be run at system startup that would
check and take over (or preserve, as the developers call it) itself from other
applications.

Getting rid of these applications from your startup is much trickier than
unchecking a box in the System Configuration utility or Autoruns. It involves
digging into the preferences of each application and changing several options.
In the paragraphs that follow, I show you how to disable two of the most popular
and most difficult applications from starting up automatically. Additionally,
the methods used can be applied to disable other sneaky applications from
starting up.

Controlling Auto-Start Applications That Keep Coming Back

You may experience some applications that you have previously disabled auto-
matically starting up again. Software developers often use various techniques
to check that their application is registered to auto-start when you log on.
If it
is no longer set to auto-start, it will automatically set it up again to do so. The
software developers may be trying to make sure you use their application by
making it difficult to disable auto-start. In other cases, applications are just
trying to make sure that other programs are not disabling their program or
taking over their turf.
Competing software applications can often conflict and compete with each
other for use on your computer. This occurred when I installed several media
players on my PC. After installing the programs Winamp, iTunes, RealPlayer,
and Windows Media Player, I noticed that they would fight for my music file
associations (that is, which application would open the file). Every time I would
run RealPlayer, it would change all my music files over to be played in their
player by default. The same thing happened when I would try to play my music
files in other players. From this experience, I found that it was not uncommon

Making Your Computer Log On Faster

The power of the Autoruns software lies in the ability to control other auto-
matic starting components such as browser add-ons and Explorer shell plug-ins.
Check out the following list of additional, useful tabs available in Autoruns:

Logon: n  Everything that runs when you log on.
Explorer:  n This tab helps you get your shell extensions under control as well
as see all the applications that tap into Windows Explorer with DLL files.
Internet Explorer:  n This tab lets you find applications that hook themselves
into IE.
Boot Execute:  n This tab enables you to find applications that have inte-
grated themselves into the system boot.
Print Monitors:  n Use this tab to get rid of extra print monitors for features
that you don’t use.
Drivers:  n This tab provides another way to disable drivers for your hard-
ware devices.
Winlogon:  n This tab lets you find all the applications that run on your
logon screen.
Sidebar Gadgets: n  Although these are called Desktop Gadgets in
Windows 7, you can still use this tab to disable gadgets you don’t want
loading when you log in.
When you uncheck any options, simply restart your computer for the change
to take effect.

Using Autoruns to Identify and Disable Auto-Start Components

Autoruns by Microsoft Sysinternals is a more comprehensive tool to identify
and disable unneeded auto-start applications, components, and plug-ins. Similar
to the System Configuration tool, Autoruns operates in the same way but also

shows the auto-start components of other items such as browsers and the sys-
tem shell.
Autoruns is also easy to use. To get started, you need to download a free
copy of the Autoruns software from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/
sysinternals/bb963902.aspx or http://live.sysinternals.com/autoruns
.exe. After you have Autoruns downloaded and extracted to a folder, follow
these steps to get started:
  1.  Go to the directory where you have extracted Autoruns and run
autoruns.exe.
  2.  When Autoruns has started, click the Logon tab, as shown in
Figure 13-3.
Figure 13-3: Using Autoruns
  3.  You will see all the automatic start applications, similar to the System
Configuration tool. Identifying an unneeded service is even easier in
Autoruns because of the right-click search feature. Right-click any entry
and select Search Online. This automatically opens your web browser and
searches Google for the process name. Simply selecting the entry will also
provide more information about what it is.
  4.  Disabling a process is also similar to the System Configuration tool. Just
clear the box to the left of the process name and it will no longer start after
a reboot.

Using System Configuration to Identify and Disable Unneeded Startup Applications

The System Configuration utility included in Windows 7 is very easy to use.

First, you need to get a list of all the applications and components that automati-

cally start up when you sign in. Follow these steps to discover the applications 

that automatically start up on your system:

  1.  Click the Start button, type msconfig in the Search box, and then   

press Enter.

  2.  After the System Configuration utility has loaded, click the Startup tab, 

as shown in Figure 13-2. 

  3.  Now that the list of the active startup programs is visible, you need to 

research what programs should be removed. 

  4.  Because almost every computer has different programs starting up after 

logon, it is best to search the Web with the executable file name to find out 

if the application can be safely removed from startup. One useful site to 

visit is a database of common startup programs called AnswersThatWork, 

located at www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm. At 

that site, you will find a recommendation for each of the programs listed. 

If you cannot find one of your programs listed, just do a quick search on 

Google and most likely you will find several web sites showing what the 

program does and what removing it will do.

It’s easy to remove the automatic startup applications with the System 

Configuration tool. When you have the System Configuration tool open, follow 

these steps:

  1.  Locate the item you would like to disable from starting up and clear the 

box to the left of it. 

  2.  When you are finished unchecking all the applications that you no longer 

want to auto-start, press OK to save your changes. 

  3.  You are asked if you would like to Restart now or Exit without Restarting. 

I recommend that you restart now instead of waiting. 

  4.  After you restart, you are reminded by the System Configuration tool 

that you have just made some changes to your startup. Check the   

box that says Don’t show this message or start System Configuration 

when Windows starts.

After removing some of the automatic startup applications, you will notice 

that you can sign on much faster. If you have any problems after disabling a 

startup application component, you can always enable it again by checking its 

box in the System Configuration tool. 

Adjust the Startup Programs

After you sign on, the system loads your profile, finishes loading the Explorer
shell, and then begins to load the startup programs. If you have ever purchased
a computer, either online or from a retail store, then I am sure that you have

noticed all the annoying software programs that automatically load right after
you sign on. Some computer manufacturers go so far overboard with startup
applications that Windows has to hide them automatically from appearing in
the system tray so that your taskbar has enough space to show open windows.
If you are like me and have built your own computer, you do not have to deal
with all the preloaded junk that comes from the big computer manufacturers.
Nevertheless, you are still vulnerable to auto-start programs that get installed
by many of the popular applications you use. Over time, as you install more
applications, the automatic startup applications can get out of control and defi-
nitely slow down your logon.

Popular applications such as Adobe Photoshop, AOL Instant Messenger,
iTunes, Windows Live Messenger, and many more install auto-start compo-
nents. Consider all the extra auto-start components these applications add on
top of the auto-start applications already installed on your computer, such as
antivirus and anti-spyware applications. Your logon can easily become slowed
to a crawl by dozens of applications that load after you sign on. This section
helps you see what programs are starting automatically and then will show you
some great tricks to stop them all from starting up.

Enabling Automatic Logon

If you are the primary user of your computer and you do not have any other
users, or if everyone in your household uses the same username, you are the
perfect candidate for enabling automatic logon. Automatic logon is a great tech-
nique that will save you time that is often wasted when your computer is waiting

for you to type your password. Even if you do not have a password assigned to
your account, you are still required by the logon welcome screen to click your
name to sign in. Having to do these tasks yourself is unnecessary and a waste
of time if you are a candidate for automatic logon. 
Caution   Automatic logon can be a great feature but it can also create a 
security problem for your computer. If you use your computer for business, if you 
have data you prefer to keep safe from others, or both, I strongly recommend 
that you do not enable this feature. If you happen to step out of your office or 
if your laptop is stolen, you have left the door to your computer wide open. By 
enabling automatic logon, you are trading convenience for physical access secu-
rity. However, you are not changing your network security, so your data is still 
safe from network attackers. The risk of someone remotely connecting to your 
computer is the same as if you did not have automatic logon enabled.

Enabling automatic logon is a quick and easy registry hack. Follow these 
steps to speed up your sign-on with automatic logon:
  1.  Click the Start button, type regedit in the Search box, and then press 
Enter.
  2.  After Registry Editor has started, navigate through HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. 
  3.  Locate the AutoAdminLogon entry. If the key does not exist, create it by 
right-clicking the Winlogon folder and then select New, String Value. 
  4.  Right-click the AutoAdminLogon entry and select Modify. Set the Value 
to 1, as shown in Figure 13-1. Then press OK to save the new value. 

  5.  Locate the DefaultUserName entry or create a string value if it does  
not exist. 
  6.  Right-click DefaultUserName and select Modify. Set the value to the user-
name that you primarily use to sign in to Windows. Press OK. 
  7.  Locate the DefaultPassword entry or create a string value if it does  
not exist. 
  8.  Right-click the DefaultPassword entry and set the Value to your 
password. 
  9.  Close Registry Editor and restart your computer. 
After you reboot your computer, Windows 7 should automatically sign on to 
your account. You will notice that your computer will now get to the desktop 
much quicker than before. If you ever want to disable automatic logon, go back 
into Registry Editor and set the AutoAdminLogon entry to 0. Its also a good 
idea to delete the DefaultPassword string value so your password is not stored 
in plain text in the registry.

Speeding Up the Logon

As I just mentioned, a lot occurs when you log on to your computer. Windows
has to validate your password, load your profile settings, apply the settings, and
then launch any additional applications that are registered to start automatically.

Those are a lot of areas to fine-tune to allow for a faster logon. To get started,
take a look at automatic logon.