During their installation procedure, some programs can be added to the list of software that start automatically when the Windows operating system starts . Some of these programs have the courtesy of asking the user if they want to enable automatic startup at startup, but most are not so polite and place themselves "on their own" in auto-start. The main problem that these programs cause is a slowdown in the initial startup and loading of Windows, in addition to the fact that, since various software remain loaded, they will occupy memory permanently.
We see in this guide how to control the programs at startup when the PC is turned on either by using the tools made available by the various versions of Windows still supported or by using third-party programs designed to speed up the PC.
READ ALSO -> How to speed up your PC to the maximum
1) Integrated tools in Windows
To check the startup entries in Windows, the internal Windows tool is MSConfig useful to solve problems for Windows startup, which works differently according to the operating system we are using.
This tool can be started on Windows 7 simply by opening the Start menu and typing msconfig, so as to see the homonymous item appear (which we must open).
Click on it and go to the Start menu to see all the items related to programs and tools that start up with the PC.
Auto-boot active items are checked; in order to prevent them from starting with Windows, simply remove the check mark next to the items of the programs that are useless or that we do not intend to start together with the PC. Once the changes are complete, simply click Apply and restart the PC for the changes to take effect.
On Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 it is no longer necessary to open MSConfig to see the programs in auto-startup, since this item has been moved within the Task Management menu (i.e. the Windows 10 task manager).
To open the task manager or Task manager, press the CTRL-Shift-Esc keys together.
In Task Manager, press on More Details and then on the Startup tab.
We will see a list with all the programs in auto-start, with a lot of evaluation on the impact caused when the PC starts. We select the programs and tools that we do not need and use the Disable button at the bottom right to prevent them from starting automatically, then we restart the PC to make the changes effective.
As for Windows 10, we saw in another article how to control programs that are running automatically.
2) Autoruns for Windows
A complete tool for choosing what to exclude and what to include from Windows startup is Microsoft Autoruns, very useful if Windows startup is slow.
This is perhaps the most complete of the existing programs of this type because it goes to check all the launch points existing in the operating system, even those related to system processes, hidden processes and normally not visible with MSConfig or similar systems.
You have to be careful what you deactivate because the risk of making a mistake is very high, so it is better to inquire about the process to be blocked before acting in order to be on the safe side.
If Autoruns is too confusing, in the list of programs to manage automatic startup in Windows and the computer you can find simpler alternatives, focused only on programs that are automatically running.
3) Startup Delayer
A program different from the others is the startup manager of the PC Startup Delayer, which only allows you to disable the startup at power on, but also to delay this startup. In practice you can prioritize some programs, playing the others several seconds later, so as not to create memory problems and consequent slowdowns when Windows starts.
4) Startup control
To prevent problems related to programs that set themselves to automatically start when the PC is turned on, a small control software can be kept active, which warns the user every time a file is added to automatic execution or startup.
One such program is Strejo Startup Patrol, free, which remains in the background and notifies every new program that is added to the initial Windows load with a warning, so that we can immediately remove the program or let it act if we deem it necessary. If you make mistakes and disable useful software from the start, you can always go back and restore the automatic start for one or more programs.
An alternative software to do this check is WinPatrol, also excellent for checking hidden PC activities.
3) PC cleaning programs
Many PC cleaning programs integrate a menu or tool to be able to immediately check the programs set in automatic execution on the computer, offering the possibility of either disabling them (keeping the item, in case we want to restore it in the future) or of deleting every trace of the car -start (thus preventing any possibility of exploiting this feature).
One of the most used programs for cleaning the PC is certainly CCleaner, available for free download from here -> CCleaner .
Once downloaded and installed on your PC, let's open it and go to the Tools -> Start menu to get a complete screen on the programs and tools that start together with Windows.
Next to each item we have the word YES for programs active in auto-start and the word NO for programs that have been blocked from automatic execution.
To be able to change the status of one or more programs just select them and click on the Disable or Enable items on the top right. If, on the other hand, we really want to delete the entry relating to the automatic execution of the program in question, we can select the entry and use the Delete button, so as not to see it appear in the list of automatic start.
If we are looking for other programs for cleaning and optimizing PCs with Windows, we can read the following complete guide: Best free PC cleaning programs to eliminate unnecessary files (Windows)
