Autoruns can show you almost every startup program on your computer, but sometimes it's useful to see these programs in action. With Process Explorer you will be able to determine the amount of resources each program consumes and decide whether or not that program is worth keeping around, replacing or going without.

Once you've finished going through the startup programs in autoruns. Close autoruns and reboot your computer. But, wait... What happens if you accidentally disabled something that is required for you computer to start.

If after making changes in Autoruns your computer fails to boot, Windows will automatically reboot your computer and display the boot menu options list. If the boot menu options list does not appear on its own, press and hold the F8 key before the Windows logo appears. Once you get to the boot menu options list, select Last Known Good Configuration and press enter.

The Windows registry is a hierarchical database that contains user, system and application settings. Overtime the registry can become cluttered with invalid keysThe values stored within the registry are contained within keys. Each key has a name, a key type and data., the vast majority of which are left behind by programs that have been removed. A registry cleaner will scan your computer's registry for invalid keys and remove them.

The problem is that many registry cleaners will remove keys that look invalid but are in fact needed. What further complicates the problem, is that depending on what keys are removed, you may not notice any problems with your computer for several months, if at all. By that time you would not suspect the registry cleaner but instead blame something else. This is why it is more important to use a registry cleaner that doesn't create any problems over one that removes more keys.