This article is from KimKomando.com. This article if for Windows users only, so If you have a Mac, don’t worry about reading this.
I tried it out the morning of 5/5/15, and I noticed a difference in my Windows Start Up time being reduced. I was able to remove applications in the Start Up that I knew I did not use anymore, or were not important to have on Start Up. I recommend this little program.
To shut down your computer or leave it on? That is the question. If you aren’t up to speed on the debate over whether you should shut your computer down or leave it on overnight, you can read my take here.
Whichever way you go, one of the biggest reasons people leave their computers on is because it takes practically forever to start up again. Who has the time to sit and wait for your computer to boot up? Not me.
The biggest culprits behind slow startups are autorun programs. Autorun programs start as soon as the computer starts up and that makes a lot more work for your processor, which means slower boot times.
But you don’t actually need to start these programs every time you fire up your system. In fact, you might not use some of these autorun programs at all, and you don’t want to be wasting precious memory on your computer for programs you don’t need.
Unfortunately, tracking down autorun programs and preventing them from turning on automatically isn’t the easiest thing to do using Windows’ built-in tools.
That’s why there’s Autoruns for Windows. It’s a free program that tells you every program set to run at startup and the start order. You can easily disable ones you don’t need.
The first time you use Autoruns, you might be surprised at how many entries there are. Fortunately, Autoruns organizes programs by category, so it’s easier to tell if you need the program or not.
For example, you don’t want to disable any device drivers or security software. To disable an entry, simply uncheck the box. To delete an entry, use the red X in the toolbar.
Note: When you delete an entry from the list, you are NOT removing the program from your system, so you can always run it manually after your computer starts.
Download Instructions
To download the program, go to the Autoruns download page. Locate the blue text link labeled “Download Autoruns and Autorunsc” and click on it to begin your download.
Your download should begin immediately. When the download is complete, open the file and right-click the window and select “Extract all.”
Once the files are extracted, you can double click the Autoruns program file to see what programs are automatically running when your computer boots up. If you see a program that doesn’t need to run right away, simply uncheck the box.
Note: There’s another program in the zip file called “Autorunsc.” This is what you use if you want to run Autoruns with a command line. You can ignore this file.