windows 7 start menu

[macafee2]

my windows 7 pc is so very slow to boot up.
Am I right in thinking that any programs at

c:\programdata\microsoft\windows\start menu

or is it

c:\programdata\microsoft\windows\start menu\programs

are started when the PC boots up? The more in the start menu folder or start menu\programs folder the slower the pc will be to boot up?

Could you tell me which folder has the programs that start when the pc starts and is there a way to only have essential programs start?

thanks

macafee2