Control which Programs start for Beginners

The best software to control every program that is loaded automatically when Windows starts is Autoruns by Sysinternals. While this is an excellent software it requires some knowledge to use it the way it was meant to be used. A similar free software that is way better suited for novice computer users is the program Startup Control Panel by Mike Lin. It looks like a crippled version of Autoruns and concentrates on the most used locations where programs are added to be started with Windows.

The Startup Control Panel scans five different locations for programs that are auto started from there. It checks several locations in the registry and the usual autostart folders in Windows. You will have to take a look at all registry entries and folders to make sure you do not miss a program. Most programs are usually listed in HKEY_Local_Machine folder and both Startup folders.

To disable a program from being auto started simply uncheck the program. Make sure you know what the program does before you uncheck it. Normally Windows does not need any programs started from these locations to be working correctly. It might however cause problems for third party softwares which probably won’t start anymore or show odd behavior.

The benefit of reducing the number of programs during Windows start is of course that the start itself will be faster. The system will also use less resources if you do not start programs that you might not need during the session. Does not make sense to load Office indexing for instance if you do not open Office at all.