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Editorial Review of Autoruns

Most recent User Reviews for Autoruns

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• Reviewed by: ahebah

  07-12-2009

  Duration of ownership: 3 Years

  Strengths: This is simply the best start-up manager I have ever used. It lists more then any other start-up manager that I have used.

  Weaknesses: None. The user needs to carefully examine the entry's listed and make changes only if they know, or expect, that these changes will not affect the normal functioning of their computer.

  Overall Evaluation: I have used this tool for around 3 years now and I have never had any problems with it. I have been able to disable processes that I did not want or that were not necessary to run on my pc. It allows you to install software and only let this software start-up when needed so that the software is not continuously hogging system resources. It has to be said that if you are not an experienced user or if you do not want to take some time searching the internet for more information about the programs/processes listed then you should not use this program. It is possible to mess up your computer. Only showing 3th party programs and hiding Microsoft entries is already a good start to avoid problems for less experienced users. You should also avoid using more then one start-up manager. What you disable in one will not show up in the other and that can make things very confusing. Overall I can say that this is the best start-up manager that I have ever used and I can recommend it to all that want to get complete control over the start-up process of their Windows PC.

• Reviewed by: Holmes7

  10-23-2008

  Duration of ownership: 1 Days

  Strengths: The list of items shown to be running on your computer is much longer than msconfig. However, you have to be experienced enough to know what you should do with the information.

  Weaknesses: According to the website, it can crash and damage systems without the user doing anything wrong at all.

  Overall Evaluation: I had downloaded this and right off the bat had problems as the help function was unable to find the help website. I turned to the Sysinternals forums and found others have been reporting that same issue for several years already. Then, I noticed and copied this exact warning on the FAQ page: WHAT TO UNCHECK AND WHAT NOT: "There is only one golden rule if you do not wish to render your system unbootable and useless: If you do not know whether + a program + a service + a driver is needed or not, leave it as it is." I was naive enough to assume that guidelines would be available for what the processes are and how safe it would be to uncheck them but no. I will be dumping this and count myself lucky if my system is still OK. I wish PC World would offer a more balanced view of the pro's and con's of items it endorses for those of us who aren't all that experienced with computers and who trust you. In September I had to reinstall Windows due to using a registry cleaner (also endorsed by PC World), so my trust is fading fast. Reading further in the Sysinternals Autoruns forums revealed people complaining about Autoruns damaging their OS - when they had done nothing at all wrong! User be cautious.

• Reviewed by: pcw2008

  10-06-2008

  Duration of ownership: 6 Months

  Strengths: Well organized. Works great with Vista. Does what it says without messing up the rest of your computer.

  Weaknesses: Screens are somewhat busy.

  Overall Evaluation: Works fine, stays out off the way when not needed.

• Reviewed by: retleo99

  01-05-2008

  Duration of ownership: 3 Days

  Strengths: I can only go by the other reviews, listed in the PC World Article "Put Some Sizzle in Your Startups, as I have yet to see it run

  Weaknesses: I can't get it to run on XP

  Overall Evaluation: First, I'm no noob. I downloaded this utility, using the "Save" option when downloading. I executed the download, and after the prompts, it showed that it was installing. I found no shortcut either on my desktop or the programs, so I searched and found the executable file [yes, the right one] but get nothing; no screen shot or any other indication that the program was working. Maybe someone can point out what I seem to be doing wrong. Fast Fix 1 in the Article worked fine, and I have no mapped network drive for Fast Fix 2, so this is the last one.

• Reviewed by: Knifeblade

  11-28-2007

  Duration of ownership: 3 Months

  Strengths: This utility takes away the confusion of deciphering what MSCONFIG shows. It pinpointed several empty files quickly, that were splashing onscreen with errors, and one-clicked them to oblivion. I wouldn't have been able to identify the files otherwise. Well worth the space, which is minimal, and for the price~~~~ Well, just get it!!!

  Weaknesses: A somewhat difficult interface at first, but it didn't take very long to get used to.

  Overall Evaluation: A great free utility that quickly and easily shows what's going on, with good descriptions of just what is going on. It does a thorough job of ridding unwanted files, and also offers a restore function if you go "Oops, I didn't want to do that".

• Reviewed by: CrimsonFox

  11-28-2007

  Duration of ownership: 1 Months

  Strengths: Easy to use. Easy to understand. Puts your mind at ease.

  Weaknesses: None.

  Overall Evaluation: This is an excellent program for all of those (and if you are not, you should be) who want to be aware of what's running when windows starts up. The program will tell you which application is running each startup program. If it is blank, you can click on 'verify' and the program will try and locate the application. If it still can't find it, one click will search for it on the web where it will show you a list of sites and forums where that specirfic program is discussed. Is it legit? Is it malware? This program will put your mind at ease.

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