If you hold the Shift key down when starting Windows it is supposed to stop programs in the Start menu from starting. I cannot remember if it also stops other programs that are in the registry from starting.
Basically programs have two ways of automatically starting when you start Windows. In your Startup menu, or in two places in the registry. For the Startup menu, they have to be in the 'Startup' menu in your All Programs/Startup menu. You can just cut and paste them somewhere else to save them if you want. Then if you change your mine you can put them back.
For the Registry, use RegEdit and look at this page for the locations to check. They are called Run and RunOnce. http://forum.thewind...rtup-paths.html
Personally, I just change something in the program's folder or program name so Windows cannot find it. Or, you could delete it, but then you wouldn't know what it was if you wanted to put it back. Just change the C:\ in the path to X:\, then if it doesn't fix what you want, change it back.
But like Troop said, messing with the registry can be dangerous. But I've done this several times without an issue.
Snack