I have a laptop that is running Win XP - every time I boot up internet explorer starts but I now do not use this so how do I remove it from the start up programs?
Select "Run" from the start menu. Type "msconfig", this will open up a window with some tabs at the top, one of them will be "start up". On there you will see a list of programs that start when Windows XP starts. Un-check the Internet Explorer box.
That should do it.