gHacks technology news » windows startup http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:31:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Autoruns 9.5 http://www.ghacks.net/2009/05/08/autoruns-95/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/05/08/autoruns-95/#comments Fri, 08 May 2009 16:40:42 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2009/05/08/autoruns-95/ microsoft windowsAutoruns is probably the most popular and advanced Windows startup manager. It is a portable lightweight application that can be used to configure practically anything that deals with files that are loaded during the Windows system start. It goes beyond a simple application that lists programs in some of the possible locations that can contain startup items including information about Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer, Scheduled Task or Print Monitors among others. The program divides the information into 17 different tabs that display the location the entry was found and a checkbox to enable or disable it.

Removing entries from the list of programs that get started during system start will prevent them to be loaded after the next reboot. Inexperienced users should be very cautious on the other hand as the program displays important files that are needed to run the operating system properly.

The update to Autoruns 9.5 added a new tab to the startup manager. Autoruns now displays multimedia codecs “which are gaining popularity as an extension mechanism used by malware gains automatic execution.”

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A click on the Codecs tab in Autoruns displays now system codecs as well. It is probably a good idea to hide Microsoft and Windows codecs from the list to make it more accessible.

Autoruns can be downloaded from the Windows Sysinternals homepage. It is compatible with client and server operating systems starting with Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/05/08/autoruns-95/feed/ 2 Windows Startup Manager http://www.ghacks.net/2009/03/04/windows-startup-manager/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/03/04/windows-startup-manager/#comments Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:12:10 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=10903 Autoruns is for many experienced computer users the only software program worth mentioning when it comes to managing Windows startup settings. Inexperienced users on the other hand are often overwhelmed by the sheer functionality of the startup software and prefer software programs that display less information and concentrate on the core: listing Windows startup programs.

Autostart Explorer is a free portable software for the Microsoft Windows operating system that lists the programs and files that are started during Windows startup. The main advantage of this software program over more complex solutions like Autoruns is its simplicity. It does list all the relevant Windows startup entries divided into categories like Registry, startup folders or standard executables.

The program will list a short description of the currently selected Windows startup entry and the programs that are started during Windows startup. One major shortcoming is that the program does not provide the means to delete entries right away. The user has to either click on the Open Folder button to open the folder containing the program that gets autostarted or open a Registry editor manually.

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While this could be meant as another means of protection to avoid accidentally deleting important startup entries it is a major nuisance for users who want to get rid of some of the autostart entries of their Windows operating system.

Another program that provides the means to delete entries is Starter. It is not as complex as Autoruns but provides more information and possibilities as Autostart Explorer. Probably the best program of its kind for inexperienced users.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/03/04/windows-startup-manager/feed/ 3 Windows Boot Timer http://www.ghacks.net/2008/05/05/windows-boot-timer/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/05/05/windows-boot-timer/#comments Mon, 05 May 2008 08:34:03 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=4009 What is your PC’s boot time ? I bet you cannot answer that question exactly, I know I was not able to until I discovered the Windows application Boot Timer which measures the boot time of a computer with an Windows operating system. The time measured is the time between the appearance of the Bios screen to the first file that is loaded in Windows.

Boot Timer is currently only compatible to Windows NT, Windows XP and Windows XP 64-bit editions but the author promises to make it compatible to Windows Vista in future updates. To use Boot Timer simply double-click the executable and the application will automatically display a popup after the next computer restart that displays the boot time of the system.

This is a great utility for users who want to optimize their boot time.There are several possibilities to reduce the boot time of a PC. I do not want to get into all of them but here are a few tips on how to reduce the boot time:

boot timer

Got any more tips, let me hear them !

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/05/05/windows-boot-timer/feed/ 15 Startup Control Panel and Startup Monitor http://www.ghacks.net/2006/08/11/startup-control-panel-and-startup-monitor/ http://www.ghacks.net/2006/08/11/startup-control-panel-and-startup-monitor/#comments Fri, 11 Aug 2006 06:13:12 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2006/08/11/startup-control-panel-and-startup-monitor/ Startup Control Panel and Startup Monitor are actually two programs not just one. The first, Startup Control Panel, is a 59K freeware that scans various paths and registry entries for programs that are run at startup. This is great if you need a quick basic overview, if you need an in depth overview try autoruns from sysinternals. Startup Control Panel lists three registry entries and two paths, those are the locations where most programs are autostarted.

You are free to disable, edit, rename and create new entries to the various autostart lists. As I said, if you need a quick overview this might be worth a look. Simply download, unpack and run it from that location. No installation is needed at all. Startup Monitor is running as an background task monitoring the various autostart locations and reporting changes to it.

This means that it will create a popup information as soon as a program tries to create an entry in those autostart locations. The name of the software and its location are displayed in the popup and you have the option to allow or disallow this entry to be written. The installation is as easy as that of Startup Control Monitor: Download, unpack, run, that´s all there is to do.

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