Control What Starts When You Boot Into Windows

If you are interested and inquisitive about what happens behind the scenes in Windows when it boots up, why it takes so much time or how can you reduce the time. For someone with little technical inclination, this can be done by running the msconfig command. However, if you want to go further, a lot further, and wish to  see the processes categorized, know a more detailed view of the processes, something like this:

You can do this by using the AutoRuns utility by Microsoft. This utility will allow you to view process categorized under:

• Logon
• IE
• Sidebar (in case you are using Vista)
• Print Monitors
• Explorer
• Scheduled Tasks
• Drivers

and may more, Screen shot of categories:

That is not all, when you right click on a praticular process, you have the option of allowing Windows to Verify, Delete, Copy etc. Screen shot:

This is a great utility for System Administrators & tech savvy computer users. It is surprising how much a 490kB application can help you achieve.

The zip package contains 2 files, one is a GUI version, the screen shots shown above, the other is a Command Line Version.

To use it you will need to navigate to the exe via DOS & then use one of the following syntax:

Usage: autorunsc [-a] | [-c] [-b] [-d] [-e] [-g] [-h] [-i] [-l] [-m] [-n] [-p] [-r] [-s] [-v] [-w] [-x] [user]

-a	Show all entries.
-b	Boot execute.
-c	Print output as CSV.
-d	Appinit DLLs.
-e	Explorer addons.
-g	Sidebar gadgets (Vista and higher).
-h	Image hijacks.
-i	Internet Explorer addons.
-l	Logon startups (this is the default).
-m	Hide signed Microsoft entries.
-n	Winsock protocol and network providers.
-p	Printer monitor drivers.
-r	LSA providers.
-s	Autostart services and non-disabled drivers.
-t	Scheduled tasks.
-v	Verify digital signatures.
-w	Winlogon entries.
-x	Print output as XML.
user	Specifies the name of the user account for which autorun items will be shown.

Happy computing :)