I often recommend using Windows's MSCONFIG utility to disable all the startup items on a slow computer. Doing helps performance, and you can re-enable the ones you really want to start up automatically. The Startup Manager built into Norton 360 Version 4.0 ($79.99 direct, ) can do the same, but also offers information about resource usage and an option to delay a program's startup rather than disabling it. PCMag's own Startup Cop Pro 5 adds the ability to hold off startup until after another program has launched, wait for a network connection, and more. But all of these tools only track a small number of the possible file and Registry locations from which programs can launch automatically. If you want to see absolutely every program that launches without user interaction, Autoruns 9 (Free, direct) is the one tool that will do the job.

Handle With Care
I should point out right away that there's a good reason MSCONFIG and most startup utilities display a limited set of startup programs. The standard startup locations managed by these tools only include non-essential programs, ones that you can safely disable. Autoruns lists absolutely everything, including processes, services, and drivers essential to the correct working of the operating system. If you start wildly disabling items, you can render your system unbootable.

Autoruns displays 17 tabs representing different types of startup items, plus a main tab that lists everything in one place. By default, Autoruns omits known startup file and Registry locations that don't actually contain any items. You can optionally set Autoruns to show these empty locations. If you want to focus on third-party startup items, you can suppress Windows components or suppress all Microsoft items. Either way, you must refresh the list after changing options.

If you un-check an item's checkbox to disable it in Windows 7 or Vista, Autoruns will offer to restart with Administrator privilege. I wish the app would automatically re-select the item you attempted to change, or even make the change after restarting. As it doesn't, you need to remember which item you meant to disable and find it again after restart. I'd also like to see a tab that brings together all the "orphan" startup items that point to non-existent files.

From a startup item's right-click context menu you can jump to the file or Registry location that holds the program, verify its digital signature (if available), or launch a Google search on the item. There's even an option to show the corresponding process in Process Explorer 11 (Free, ). Of course, this only works if Process Explorer is present and the item in question is actually running.

Detecting Malware and Other Changes
Viruses and other malicious applications need some way to launch automatically, or else they wouldn't survive a system restart. Naturally, Autoruns is a favorite tool of malware researchers. If malware has recently infested the system, there will almost certainly be a new entry in one of the areas tracked by Autoruns. It's a long list, though, so you need help spotting new items.

As soon as you install Autoruns you should press Ctrl+S to save a baseline log of all startup items. Save a new baseline after any significant system changes. Any time you suspect malware, select Compare from the File menu and choose the most recent log. Now scroll through the list of all autoruns items seeking lines highlighted in green—those represent new items that weren't present in the baseline.

In an office setting, you may manage numerous computers that all started out with the same configuration. If one computer exhibits problems not found in the others, use Autoruns to compare its startup items with a baseline file copied from a different computer. Any program that launches at startup only on the problem system might be the culprit.

MSCONFIG or another startup manager is all you need for the simple task of safely disabling unwanted startup items. If you want to dig deeper into system problems or detect suspicious new additions to the collection of programs that launch at startup Autoruns will give you insight no other tool can.

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