Disable Startup Programs

Logon Tab

The logon tab displays programs that will automatically start when you logon to your computer. The goal here is to prevent programs that you don't use from automatically starting. Most of the programs in the logon tab can be launched manually through the start menu, so if you rarely use a program, you may be able to disable that program's autostart entry and launch the program manually.

In order to decide which programs to disable look at each startup item listed in the logon tab, read its description and the publisher's name. Does the program look familiar? If it's something you use or you're unsure, leave it along, if it isn't, disable it.

Many of the programs within the logon tab, display an icon in the system tray The system tray is located in the bottom, right hand corner of the screen.. An easy way to identify a few programs that you may not use is right-click on each icon in the system tray and explore that program. When you find a program that you don't want to automatically start, locate that program's startup entry in autoruns and disable it.

Mystery Programs

If you're unsure about a program, right-click on that program and select Search Online. Unfortunately, many of the links from the search will not provide any useful information, but instead regurgitate the same information you already know and try to sell you their software. Check several sites until you find one that actually gives you some useful information.

Example: profileru.exe - When I ran a search for this startup entry on Google, the first four results were completely useless, but the fifth site (startup.networktechs.com/srch-ProfilerU.exe.html), told me exactly what this startup program does and one search result after that was the publisher's Web site.

Another option is to search the publisher's name. This tends to give you a basic idea of what the company does and what type of software they create. This may not always provide useful information, but many times it will.

When I ran a search for the publisher's name (Saitek), I discovered that the company makes game controllers. From there I was able to figure out that this startup program was for a flight control.

The best advice I can give you is to use common sense when deciding which startup programs to disable. Remember the goal here is to disable the programs that you don't use or you don't use very frequently. If you're still unsure what a particular program does, leave it alone. You’re better off not disabling a startup program your unsure of. Finally, don't blindly uncheck every item in Autoruns - this one's important (I will not be held responsible for stupidity).

Different types of programs you will find in the logon tab with my recommendation.

Antivirus: If you see an entry for you antivirus program, you really shouldn't disable it.

Quick launchers: Quick launchers or preloaders load part of a program so that the program will load faster. Preloaders where in fashion for awhile, but have faded out. I recommend disabling every perloader you find. Most preloaders have quick launch in their name, but not all.

Messengers: Messenger programs like Skype, Windows Messenger, yahoo Messenger allow you to communicate with friends online. If you don't use it, disable it. If you rarely use it, disable it and launch it manually.

Updaters: Updates a program. If it's a program you never use, why update it? Your antivirus may have a separate update program, don't disable that one.

Software that supports hardware

Programs that work with hardware devices (video card, sound card, printer, game controllers) are not required in order for the hardware device to function, but are required to access or use certain features provided by the hardware device. Sometimes these features are useful, sometimes there not. If you still own the hardware device, I recommend that you do not disable the software that controls it.

ITunesHelper: Only useful if you have an iPod, if you don't you can disable it.

Video Card: If you have an Nvida or Ati video card you should notice a few startup entries with Nvida or ATI in the name or description. These startup programs launch the control applet for your video card. If you disable the control applet, your video card will still work, but you won't have access to many of the features provided by your video card.

Soundcard software: Same as the video card. Provides extra features - mostly for configuration.

Printer software: If you own a printer, you may notice an entry or two with the name of your printer in it. These programs create the printer icon in the system tray, let you know when you're low on ink and provide a link to buy ink and paper from the printer manufacture. Disable the software for any printer that you do not own.

Printer software can be very resource hungry and buggy. If you can live without the software I recommend disabling it. If you use this software for a particular feature like: faxing, scanning or network configuration, you can easily replace this software with a 3rd party program that can provide the same features without the overhead. Check the printer software section for a list of available software.

Wireless Network Software: Many wireless network adapters come with a connection manager that essentially does the exact same thing that the windows wireless connection manager does. I recommend disabling these programs and using the Windows wireless connection manager instead.

Once you're done going through the startup items in the logon tab click on the Scheduled tasks tab.

Scheduled Tasks Tab

A scheduled task performs an action (run a program) when a pre-defined event occurs. Scheduled tasks can be time-based (the action is performed once every hour) or event-based (the action is preformed when the computer turns on). Because a scheduled task only runs when the pre-defined event occurs, the drain on system resources is very low. However, get enough scheduled tasks going and the effect on system performance can be noticeable. This is a bigger problem on Windows Vista because of the large amount of tasks running and the uncoordinated way they are scheduled (this problem is fixed in Windows Seven).

Use the same approach you’ve been using to decide which startup programs to disabled. Look at the name of the scheduled task, the description, the company name and look it up online. Is it something that you need or want? If it is, leave it alone; if not, disable it.

Another option is to change the frequency a scheduled task is preformed. Check how to modify a scheduled task to get more information.

Examples:

• Googleupdate: If you have installed anything from Google (Google tool-bar, Chromic, Picasa) you will have this task. The Google update task checks for updates every hour which I think is a little overkill, so I disabled it. Another option is to change the frequency that the task is preformed.
• Antivirus Update: Your antivirus program may use a scheduled task to perform updates. Do not disabled it.

Services Tab

Services are programs that run in the background and provide additional features. Use the same approach you have been using when deciding which programs to disable: look at the service's name, description, publisher's name and look it up online. The services listed in the services tab do not include the operating system's services; we will cover those later.

Keep an eye out for multiply services that perform the same function. It’s quite common to have 2 or 3 backup programs, indexing services, antivirus scanners, etc.

Internet Explorer Tab (Advanced)

This tab displays extension installed in the Internet Explorer web browser.

A browsers helper object (BHO) is an extension to a web browser like Internet Explorer or Firefox. BHOs have access to the Document Object Model (DOM) of the current page and have almost unrestricted capability to modify the web pages you visit, this makes them very dangerous. Computer viruses frequently come in the form of a BHO. Disable any BHOs that you don't use. Example: Adobe Acrobat PluginAllows you to view PDF documents within your web browser.

UrlSearchHooks defines the location of the server that a search request will go through when typed into the address bar. If you don't recognize the name of any UrlSearchHook disable it.

Toolbars add extra buttons and features to your browser. Toolbars take up screen space and consume resource. Disable the toolbars you do not use. Examples: Google toolbar, Yahoo toolbar.

This tab only displays the extensions installed in Internet Explorer. You can modify the extension installed in another browser through that browser's plug-in manager.

Explorer Tab (Very Advanced)

A contextMenuHandler is a shell extension that allows a program to integrate into the Windows Shell. The Windows Shell is the GUI interface that you use to interact with Windows. To see an example of a context menu right-click on a file on the desktop and you will be presented with a list of options. This list of options is the context menu.

ContextMenuHandlers come in two flavors, static and dynamic.

Dynamic handlers are COM objects that are loaded as dlls. In Autoruns scroll down until you find a registry location with the name ContextMenuHandler in it. There will be more than one so continue down until you find all of them. Example: HKLM\Software\Classes\*\ShellEx\ContextMenuHandlers.

When deciding which items to disable use the same strategy that you have been using. Identify what the context menu handler does, before you disable it.

Static handlers perform a specific operation on a specific file type. An example would be if you right-click on a .txt file and click open in the context menu. Windows would than open notpad.exe and pass it the file name currently selected as a command line argument.

There are several limitations to static handlers but unlike Dynamic handlers, static handlers do not use any additional resources and you can modify a static handler to open a different program. For example: you could change the open context menu handler for txt files to open in Word instead of notepad.