>>Sorry, Nadya, I'm out of ideas. Thought it would be an easy one and as it turns out it's a real nasty .....
>>
>>It appears word is asking for a lot of memory when starting. Maybe you can start by turning off the spelling checker and see what happens
>
>Thanks, Gregory. I think, my problem is how can I control what programs are running in the background. E.g. there are several programs running as startup which I never use and really do not need. What is the proper way to take control of my Windows XP behavior?


hi Nadya,

I find there are three

(1) RightClick Start | Explore and delete some in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

(2) Start | All Programs | administrative tools | Services && take care here

(3) Start | Run | enter MsConfig, go to tab Startup.
You can uncheck some modules. Take care

You can also see the modules that are running with Start | Run | msinfo32, and expand Software Environment ((or Start | all programs | accessories | System tools | system information))


Whatever you do, first create a system restore point (Start | all programs | accessories | System tools | system restore)

Good luck