reducing automatic star-up programs

I would welcome a definitive answer to the problem (in Win 95) of delays and conflicts from the 20+ programs that run-in-the-background. I can close them, temporarily, thru the Desktop, Control/Alt/Delete, BUT I can’t seem to: Select the ones to display in the SysTray, and keep in the background only Explorer, and Systray, and whatever others are required so as not to foul up tomorrow’s boot-up with waiting to run ScanDisk? I’ve read many magazine and newspaper squibs on this–but they’re all superficial, incomplete, and don’t really answer the question. Any help appreciated.