All good advice DNJ. The Steven Gould site is a good one.
Here's what I do:
Run the Microsoft System Configuration manager by clicking Start→Run… and entering msconfig.
Click the Startup tab and press Disable All, then selectively turn the stuff back on that you need. I’d leave your anti-virus email scanner running but you probably don’t need anything else.
Good luck
[This message has been edited by Stephenm52 (edited 05-09-2006).]