As part of normal Windows system maintenance, one thing you should do is check your programs set to automatically start to make sure everything running is legit. Typically, most people just use the “msconfig” utility to accomplish this, but a much more comprehensive utility is Sysinternal’s AutoRuns tool.

Rather than re-inventing an explanation, AutoRuns has a great “elevator pitch” on their website:

This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup monitor, shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and shows you the entries in the order Windows processes them. These programs include ones in your startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys. You can configure Autoruns to show other locations, including Explorer shell extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, auto-start services, and much more. Autoruns goes way beyond the MSConfig utility bundled with Windows Me and XP.

Typically Sysinternal tools are awesome, and this program is no exception. Even better, there is a command line version which allows you to easily output your system information to a text files. For hard core tweakers and power users, this is a must have utility.