How to remove start-up items?

There are two ways do disable programs that may be in your startup (like icq, messanger,)

The easiest is to do the following:
1. start --> run --> msconfig
2. Click on the "startup" tab (furthest right)\
3. Unclick any items you don't want to load when windows starts.

The second is by deleting registry entrys, this can be done the following way:
1. Start --> run --> regedit
2. Navigate to : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
3. Delete any entry's that you don't want to load up

NOTE:
Deleting keys from the registry will not allow you to set them to startup again if you change your mind.

Editor's note: Since you always create backup files, when editing the registry, (don't you?), you can restore these, in case you change your mind.