The minimum number is 0. The first two programs you mentioned, IE and
Office are real memory hogs. Why just not load them as you need them?
Your system will boot up faster too.
The only thing I have found that I want to load at startup is my screen
reader -- everything else is on an ad-hoc basis.
-- Jim
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James A. Rebman
Cognitive Levers Project
Center for Life-Long Learning and Design
Department of Computer Science
University of Colorado, Boulder
"In times of change, the learners will inherit the earth while the learned
will find themselves beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists."
- Eric Hoffer