3. Manage Startup ProgramsThe Startup
folder in the Start menu is where most people go if they want Windows
to start an application automatically when it boots. Just drag a
shortcut to the program into the folder, and Windows will do the rest. Or,
if there's a program you don't want Windows to load—either because it's
causing an error message or because Vista is booting too slowly—just
right-click the shortcut in the Startup folder and select Delete. Trouble
is, there are many ways to configure startup programs, and if you're
trying to solve a problem or just reduce boot times, you need to look at
them all:
Startup folders
There are actually two of these on your hard disk, but shortcuts in both places show up in the Startup menu (under All Programs
in your Start menu). If you have a lot of cleanup to do, you'll find
it's easier to open Windows Explorer than to repeatedly open the Start
menu. First, your personal Startup folder is located here: -
C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
and programs listed therein will load automatically when you first log in to your user account. Next, the "All Users" Startup folder here: -
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
lists the programs to load automatically when anyone logs into your PC.
Registry
There are several places in the Registry in which startup programs are specified. Installers add their programs
to these keys for several reasons: to prevent tinkering, for more
flexibility, or—in the case of viruses, Trojan horses, and spyware—to
hide from plain view. These keys contain startup programs for the current user (er, you): HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
These keys contain startup programs for all users: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
The naming of the keys should be self-explanatory. Programs referenced in either of the Run
keys listed previously are run every time Windows starts, and are where
you'll find most of your startup programs. An entry referenced in one
of the RunOnce keys is run only once and then removed from the key. If you find yourself returning to the two Run keys frequently, use Registry Editor's Favorites menu to create shortcuts to each location, and name them accordingly (e.g., HKCU-Run and HKLM-Run). |
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Services
The Services window (services.msc)
lists dozens of programs especially designed to run in the background
in Windows Vista. The advantage that services have over the other
startup methods here is that they remain active, even when no user is
currently logged in. That way, for example, your web server can continue
to serve web pages when the Welcome/Login screen is displayed. By
default, some services are configured to start automatically with
Windows and others are not, and this distinction is made in the Startup Type column. Double-click any service and change the Startup type option to Automatic to have it start with Windows, or Disabled if you never want it to start automatically. You can even group all the automatic services together by clicking the Startup Type column to sort the list.
Changing the Startup type for a service won't load (start) or unload (stop) the service. Use the Start and Stop buttons on the toolbar of the Services window, or double-click a service and click Start or Stop. |
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So,
you've decided to scour your system for superfluous or dangerous
startup programs, and you've encountered one you don't recognize. Before
you pull the plug on a particular entry, follow these steps to find out
what it's for: First,
determine the name of the file involved. If it's a Registry entry, the
filename (and usually the full path) is shown in the right column in the
Run/RunOnce key. For Startup folder items, right-click the shortcut icon and select Properties to uncover the program filename. Or, if it's a service, double-click the service and look at the Path to executable line under the General tab. Once
you have the program filename, open Windows Explorer and navigate to
the file's location. (If the pathname wasn't included, type the filename
into Explorer's Search box, and be sure to look beyond the index . Right-click the program executable, select Properties, and choose the Version tab. The manufacturer name, and sometimes the product name, will be listed here. If there's no Version tab, it means the file has no version information, a symptom typically indicative of a virus or some form of malware . If
the file itself doesn't explain its own purpose, fire up a web browser
and search Google for the filename. In nearly all cases, you'll find a
web site that describes what it's for, and in the case of malware, how
to remove it. Still
stumped? Some malware installers create new, random filenames for their
startup programs specifically so you can't easily identify them. If you
have a hunch that an entry doesn't belong, try temporarily relocating
it. If it's a shortcut in your Startup
folder, move the shortcut to a temporary folder rather than deleting
it, which allows for easy retrieval if it turns out to be necessary. For entries in your Registry, create a Registry patch
to back up the key, and then simply delete the offending entry. Now, as
a test, click another key in the Registry tree, and then flip back to
the Run key
where you just made your change. Is the entry still gone? If not, you
may be dealing with malware that knows how to repair itself,. |
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Restart
your system, and look for abnormalities (as well as normalities). If
all is well, you can probably discard the removed entries.
If
you don't feel like looking in all these places separately, but you
also don't feel comfortable ignoring them, open the Performance
Information and Tools page in Control Panel and click the Manage Startup Programs
link on the left to open the Windows Defender Software Explorer. You
can also try a program like Startup Control Panel, available for free
from http://www.mlin.net/startupcpl.shtml. Among other things, it has a "Recycle Bin" of sorts that lets you easily recover recently axed Startup programs.
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