14 DAY TRIAL // AutoRuns for Windows 8.71 is a Windows utility authored by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell from Sysinternals, designed with the promise of surprising you with the volume of executables that are launched automatically. Autoruns is compatible with both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows platform, including Windows Vista. And of course the tool is delivered completely free of charge. Autoruns will enable you to explain prolonged logon times, as well as manage all the programs on your machine that start automatically, and identify and resolve error during logon.
"This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup monitor, shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and shows you the entries in the order Windows processes them. These programs include ones in your startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys. You can configure Autoruns to show other locations, including Explorer shell extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, auto-start services, and much more. Autoruns goes way beyond the MSConfig utility bundled with Windows Me and XP," reads an excerpt of the tool's description.
In all fairness, Autoruns is not a new tool. In fact, it has been around for a while, but simply put, it is one of the best solutions that you can use as a startup monitor in Windows Vista. Autoruns will deliver users with unprecedented control over all the applications configured by default to start simultaneously with the logon process. And managing autostart functionality for installed items that fail to deliver such an option in their interface is nothing short of a breath of fresh air.
"Run and it shows you the currently configured auto-start applications as well as the full list of Registry and file system locations available for auto-start configuration. Autostart locations displayed by Autoruns include logon entries, Explorer add-ons, Internet Explorer add-ons including Browser Helper Objects (BHOs), Appinit DLLs, image hijacks, boot execute images, Winlogon notification DLLs, Windows Services and Winsock Layered Service Providers. Switch tabs to view autostarts from different categories," adds Autoruns' presentation.
Autoruns 8.71 was tested by Softpedia as being 100% Free and is available for download here.