When you boot up your Windows 7 computer, have you ever wondered what's running in the background without your knowledge or consent? The Autoruns tool from SysInternals can help you answer that question and more. Like most SysInternals tools, the items in the list can be different colors, and here is what they mean:

Autoruns scans your system for any programs that are set to run at startup, including those installed by shady crapware companies. These unscrupulous software developers have found ways to automatically load their software through browser helper objects, services, drivers, scheduled tasks, and even through some extremely advanced techniques like image hijacks and AppInit_dlls.

In the olden days, software would start itself automatically by adding an entry to the Startup folder in the Start Menu or adding a value into the Run key in the registry. However, as people and software became more savvy at finding unwanted entries and deleting them, the makers of questionable software started finding ways to get more and more sneaky.

With Autoruns, you can easily identify and manage the programs that are running on your system at startup. You can use it to disable any unnecessary or malicious processes, which can help improve your computer's performance and security. Additionally, Autoruns is a powerful tool for troubleshooting and diagnosing issues with your system.

In this article, we will explore how to use Autoruns to deal with startup processes and malware on your Windows 7 system. We will also discuss some other SysInternals tools that can help you analyze and manage your files, folders, and drives, as well as troubleshoot and diagnose issues with your system.

Autoruns windows 7