Annoyances of Windows Vista and Windows 7
Some tips apply to all versions of Windows 2000 through to Windows 8.1 while some are specific or limited to specific versions. You can also find tips in Annoyances of Windows 2000/XP which are not necessarily limited to those versions. Tracking which specific feature has been removed is beyond the scope of these articles. It will be noted when testing is available.
Disable "Windows Has Blocked Some Startup Programs" Balloon
A program called MSCONFIG (msconfig.exe) has many capabilities including the ability to disable some of the unnecessary programs that automatically load on start-up. Disabling some of these TSR (Terminate-and-Stay-Resident) programs will help your computer boot faster and crash less, while disabling others can be problematic. Rather than using MSCONFIG you should attempt to remove the unwanted TSR from the Startup group or Run keys of the Windows registry.
If you use MSCONFIG to disable startup programs you will notice you get an annoying balloon message each time you login. The balloon popup message will say "Windows Has Blocked Some Startup Programs." You can disable the annoying balloon popup and continue to use the feature. Simply follow these steps:
- Right-click on the MSCONFIG icon in the system tray (bottom right) - the place the balloon appears to pop up from.
- Select "Run blocked program" and then "System Configuration Utility."
- In the "System Configuration" dialog box select the checkbox that says "Don't show this message or start System Configuration when Windows starts."
- Microsoft Knowledge Base KB-930367
Get Windows 10 popup notification
A popup notification in the Windows taskbar installed by a misleading fraudulent update.
To remove the Get Windows 10 popup notification follow the instructions in KB3035583.
other resources
Some well documented Windows Annoyances of the past still exist in current versions of the operating system and the resolution still applicable from the older guides. For example, some of the resolutions in our Annoyances of Windows 2000/XP still work in newer versions of Microsoft Windows. Some steps are slightly different but close enough to be of assistance when reviewing the legacy documentation. See all of our Windows Annoyances pages.
