Control Startup Programs In Vista With Windows Defender

One of the biggest problems in computing is the software that start themselves when Windows logs in, in the past I have posted about methods that allow you to have a higher level control over the applications that start up when Windows boots, this is for the ones who don’t like to tinker too much with the way their computer works.

Windows Defender, has the ability to allow you to customize which programs to be allowed to run on Windows Startup and also provide in-depth information about the program. This is pretty much the services.msc with a better GUI. To access the functionality:

Control panel –> Programs –> Windows Defender –> Tools (on top) –> Software Explorer

As you can see, the programs are classified under 4 categories to choose from. The right side has comprehensive information about the program such as whether it was shipped with the OS & whether it a digitally signed application. Below this section there are 3 options:

• Remove
• Disable
• Enable

Depending on the action you want, you can choose. If however you want the application to start when your computer starts but with a delay thereby not hampering the start up time, you can refer to the tutorial linked above. It’s a simple yet very effective tool to improve your computing experience.