Windows

Please post which ones you are talking about... There are millions out there to list.

If you are more specific, I am sure 10 people will have no problem telling you what to remove.

General Rule...

Q: If it is in the startup, does it need to be there?
A: Only if the program needs it to be.

Q: What about the trayicons?
A: They use resources and are usually there for quick access but they start up automatically if you open a file requiring that program. - Remove them.

This website helped me immensely:
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.htm
They list hundreds of startup programs, what they do, and whether or not they're necessary.

Start/Run/msconfig/Startup
make yourself a system restore point and play.
you can pretty much figure out what stuff is by the pathname...
just make notes about what you disable so you can put stuff back exactly the way it was before if you decide you want to...
post any you can't figure out and we will help if we can to figure out what they are...
what problems are you having?
another tool is Task Manager (ctl-alt-del) to see what applications and processes are running...

Whats necessary:

Anti-virus software

Firewall

Some mouse and keyboard software

Network software

EVERYTHING else is your option.

I am regularly shutting down startup links for Real Player and a number of other software packages that believe they need to run all the time.

One way to check what you need, is to mouse-over the icons in the system tray.
Those that you use / need, you want to keep in the start menu.
Others, you want to disable.

Chas