Microsoft Autoruns is one of those programs that are so important and so powerful that everyone should have it on their Windows PC. It is a tool, very light, free and not difficult to use, which shows, in a complete way, everything that is loaded by Windows when you turn on the computer .
We have already talked about these programs to manage automatic startup in Windows and the computer, also citing the famous Ccleaner that works very well with its menu to remove unnecessary components that are running automatically.
We also said that Windows startup management is one of the best things that the Windows 10 and Windows 8 task manager does.
Autoruns is something different, it not only allows you to control the programs that start themselves when you turn on the PC, but it allows you to control any element that is loaded by Windows .
First of all then download Autoruns from the Microsoft website.
The file is a zip archive to be extracted in a folder that should immediately be moved to the desktop or to an easily accessible place.
Then start Autoruns with a double click (there is no installation to do) and wait for all the data to be loaded.
The program is in English and can be intimidating at first glance.
Even the less experienced, however, do not have to worry, because, as we see in this guide to Autoruns, you just need to pay a little attention and be advised by the program itself.
To use Autoruns it is necessary to use it as administrator of the computer and in fact, the first change you try to make, you will be asked to restart it.
As you can see, there will be a large list of objects, all of which are loaded by Windows when the computer starts.
It is therefore obvious that limiting this list means speeding up the loading of the PC, not only during startup, but also during normal use.
The first tab is a complete list of what is loaded, while the other Autoruns tabs are simply filters.
Before studying the list, you should hide the elements of Microsoft, which are almost never a problem.
To do this, click on Options and then on Hide Microsoft Entries .
From the list, you can remove the cross next to each element to remove it from the PC load.
By clicking on it with the right button, you can decide to completely delete that item.
An expert user, only by looking at the various items, can recognize which ones to disable or to delete.
Generally speaking, you shouldn't delete anything or even disable what you don't know.
Autoruns makes checking easy because it colors the lines of elements that no longer exist yellow.
In practice, they are residues that are called by Windows during the initial load, but that refer to files that no longer exist.
The yellow lines can therefore all be disabled.
Other lines are colored pink and instead are unsigned references.
These can be called to non-certified programs and without description, which can be disabled safely, even if they refer to programs still present on the PC.
If something does not work after deselecting them, they can always be reactivated by Autoruns by returning the cross.
Those who are less experienced can stop here, while those who are more familiar can continue and check at least three cards:
- The logon, which lists programs running automatically.
For example, if you never use iTunes but it is still installed on your PC, you can disable iTunesHelper here.
- Scheduled Tasks lists the automatic operations that are performed on the PC.
Typically they are checking some software to see if there are updates.
If you see something that refers to an unknown program, it is worth turning it off.
- Explorer instead lists all the programs that integrate with the Windows folders.
In particular, there are the items related to installed programs, which appear when you press the right mouse button on an icon or folder.
Limiting this contextual menu helps to increase the speed of the boots.
You can also right-click on each item to search for information on the internet and to know what it is.
Pressing on Jump Image, you go back to the original file while on Jump to Entry you open the registry key that refers to it
Autoruns also has a feature to check for active malware on your computer .
You can then right click on each item to scan it with Virustotal, one of the best online virus scanning services.
From the Options menu, you can also hide items marked as safe by VirusTotal from the list.
By maximizing the Autoruns window, you will notice a column which is the VirusTotal report, which can score 1/53 which means that out of 53 antivirus engines, one classifies it as malware.
In a case like this, it's probably a false positive, but if the score was already 5/53 or more, then you have to investigate.
Once finished, close Autoruns, restart your computer and see if the loading is faster.
Autoruns is a very valuable tool, to be used every month for new checks, especially if you install and uninstall programs frequently.
READ ALSO: Check if the processes are safe or harmful on Windows with Process Explorer
