Acomputer is basically a machine that’s designed to do one thing: run programs. There are more than 100,000 different programs that can run on your computer. Nobody owns them all or needs them all. But there are certainly many to choose from. Your computer already has many programs installed on it. Many are programs that you can start at will from icons on the Start menu and All Programs menu. Some programs start automatically as soon as you start your computer. These are referred to as autostart programs. Many of those programs run in the background, which means they don’t have program windows on your desktop or taskbar buttons. However, many of them do show icons in the Notification area. These kinds of programs are often referred to as services. This article is about controlling exactly which programs and services do, and don’t, start automatically when you first start your computer and Windows.

First Things First

First we need to make a distinction between application programs and services. For our purposes we’ll refer to such a program as an application program (or application, or app for short). These are programs that, when open, have a program window on your desktop and a rectangular button in the taskbar. Typically you open and use such a program to perform some specific task, like check your e-mail or browse the Web. Then you close the program when you’ve finished that task. To close such a program, you can typically click the Close (X) button in its upper-right corner or right-click its taskbar button and choose Close. You can re-open the program at any time by clicking its icon on the Start or All Programs menu. We’ll use the general term service to refer to any programs that don’t show program windows or taskbar buttons. Most of these programs show a little icon in the Notification area.

Typically when you rest the mouse pointer on such an icon, a tooltip appears showing the name of the program or service that the icon represents. Clicking or doubleclicking such an icon often opens a dialog box or similar window. Right-clicking such an icon often displays a list of things you can do with the icons. As mentioned, each little icon in the Notification area represents some small program or service that’s running in the background. To prevent Notification area icons from taking up too much space on your taskbar, you can opt to hide some of them. You can also choose whether or not you want certain icons to appear at all. These include the current time in the lower-right corner of your screen, volume control, network option, and battery power. Right-click the clock or any empty portion of the taskbar and choose Properties. Then click the Notification tab in the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box that opens.

Starting Application Programs Automatically

If you always use a certain application program when you start your computer, you can configure Windows to start that program automatically. The same is true for folders. For example, you could have Windows automatically open the main folder for your user account at startup, so you can quickly get to other folders like Documents, Pictures, or Music. The first step to making an application program autostart is to open the Startup folder for your user account. Assuming you’re already logged in to that user account, the steps are easy:

1. Click the Start button and choose All Programs.

2. If necessary, scroll down until you see the Startup folder icon on the menu.

3. Right-click that Startup icon and choose Open. It opens as a folder on the desktop. To make an application program autostart, drag its icon from the All Programs menu into the main pane of the Startup folder and drop it there. Keep in mind that the more programs you add to the folder, the longer it will take for your computer to start. So don’t get carried away and put all your favorite programs in there. One or two should be sufficient.

If you see a message about moving the icon, that wasn’t your intent. So you should click Cancel to cancel that operation. Then drag using the right mouse button. After you drop, choose Create shortcut here. If it’s too late to cancel the move, right-click some empty space in the Startup folder and choose Undo Move.

When you’ve finished, close the Startup folder. Windows Defender may show a message alerting you to the fact that your startup options have changed. No cause for alarm. In this case the message is superfluous because you intentionally changed your startup programs. But Defender doesn’t know that. It’s just doing one of its many jobs. In this case, keeping you informed of changes to your startup options.

Stopping autostart applications

Should you ever change your mind about autostart applications, you just need to re-open that Startup folder for your user account. Then delete the shortcut icon for any program you don’t want to autostart. However, not all programs that autostart will be in the Startup folder for your user account. Some may be in the Startup folder for all users. To view, and optionally remove, programs that start automatically in all user accounts, you need to get to the All Users Startup folder. You may need administrative privileges to make changes to that folder. So be prepared to enter an administrative password if you’re working from a standard account. But the basic procedure is easy. Click the Start button and choose All Programs. Right-click the Startup folder again, but this time choose Open All Users. The All Users Startup folder works just like the Startup folder for a single user account. If you want a program to autostart in all user accounts, drag that program’s icon into the folder. If you want to stop a program from autostarting in all user accounts, delete its icon from that Startup folder. But again, stick with programs you know. Removing programs from the All Users Startup folder at random could have unpleasant consequences that you weren’t expecting.

Controlling Autostart Programs from Windows Defender

In Windows Vista Windows Defender is a security program for protecting your computer from spyware and other Internet security threats. It comes free with Windows Vista, so you already have it. This article focuses on using it to control autostart programs that you can’t find in the Startup folder for all users or a user account.

When Defender alerts you to autostart programs

Whenever you choose to autostart on your computer, Defender shows a message. It also shows that same message when you download or install a program that configures itself to autostart even if that program is a service that appears only in the Notification area. The message is nothing to be alarmed about. It’s just an informational message and not an indication of an attack on your computer or a security threat. The idea here is to review the new items and decide what you want to do about each. By default, each will be set to “Allow” in the Action column. This is because you most likely already granted permission for the item to autostart, either directly or indirectly. For example, when you drag an icon into your Startup folder, you are granting permission for that program to autostart. When you download certain kinds of programs, you may be inherently allowing that program to autostart because it works best if it’s autostarted. When you install a new hardware device, you are inherently allowing that device’s driver to install automatically, because the device won’t work if you don’t allow that to happen. You can get more detailed information about any item by clicking its name and scrolling through the large text box below it. Basically what you’re looking for is anything that seems to have been installed out of the clear blue sky. Look to the Spyware community ratings for any hints of malicious software. If all looks well, click Apply Actions. (Don’t worry, you’re not making any big commitment. You can disable any autostart program at any time, as discussed next.)

Reviewing and disabling autostart programs

The Software Explorer component of Windows Defender lets an administrator review and change autostart programs at will. It’s not limited to programs you put in the Startup folder. It covers everything. To get to Software Explorer, first start Windows Defender using any of these techniques: - Click the Start button, choose Control Panel, and click Change startup programs under the Programs heading. - Click the Start button and choose All Programs  ->  Windows Defender. - Tap the Windows key, type defend, and click Windows Defender. Windows Defender opens. If you used one of the latter two options, click Tools up top, then click Software Explorer. If you’re in a standard user account, you’ll need to enter an administrative password. Finally, choose Startup Programs from the Category button. The left side of the main pane below lists all programs that autostart. The main pane to the right shows detailed information about whichever item you click in the left pane.

Remember, don’t remove or disable an autostart program just because you don’t know what it is. Click the item’s name and look at the SpyNet Voting entry in the main pane first. If it’s marked Not Yet Classified, better to leave it alone. It might be something that’s critical to proper functioning of your system!

The right pane shows much information about the program. The Startup Type entry shows from where the program is autostarting, such as the Startup folder for All Users, or the Registry. The Ships with Operating System entry lets you know if the program is built into Windows Vista (Yes) or not (No). The Classification entry lets you know if the program has been analyzed for risks. The SpyNet Voting entry lets you know if the item is a risk. Note that widely used programs by trusted software manufacturers are marked as Not Yet Classified and can generally be regarded as safe. If you’re thinking about removing an autostart program, your best bet would be to disable it first. Restart your computer and use it for a while to make sure all is well. If there are problems, go back into Defender and re-enable the program. It would be best not to remove the program until you know exactly what it is and whether or not it’s safe to remove.

Autostarting from the Services Snap-In

In Windows Vista Windows Vista includes an advanced system configuration tool called the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). The MMC provides access to various snap-ins, where each snap-in provides options for different types of configuration options. One of those snap-ins is named Services.msc. It’s not a user-friendly program. It’s really designed for professionals. Beginners and casual users are better off sticking with the Startup folders and Software Explorer in Windows Defender as a means of working with autostart programs. If you want to make any changes in the Services snap-in, log out of any standard accounts and into an account that has administrative privileges. To start the Services snap-in, click the Start button, type serv, and click Services under the Program heading on the Start menu. Once the Services snap-in is open, use the View menu options to choose how you want to view icons. Clicking the Extended tab opens a new pane at the left side of the program window that shows detailed information about any service name you click on. It also provides options to start a service that’s not running, or to stop or restart the service if it’s not running.

Due to enhanced security in Vista, you do not have as much leeway in starting and stopping services as you did in earlier Windows versions.

Some services cannot be stopped at all!

If you scroll through the list of Services, you’ll probably see there are quite a few. Exactly which services are listed will vary from one computer to the next. Few, if any, of the services will have any meaning to the average computer user. These things are really only of use to professional programmers, network administrators, or other experienced professionals. What follows is really for those folks. I won’t bother to summarize what each service does, because doing so would eat up several pages and only repeat the information that’s already in the Description column. The Status column shows “Started” for those services that are currently running. It shows nothing for services that aren’t running. The Startup Type column shows whether or not the service is configured to run automatically, if at all. Common settings are - Automatic: The service starts automatically when the computer starts or when a user logs in.

- Manual: The service doesn’t start automatically. You can start the service, however, by rightclicking the service name and choosing Start or by choosing Start from the Action menu.

- Disabled: The service is disabled and must be enabled from the Properties dialog box before it can be started. To get more information about a service, or change its Startup Type, right-click the service name and choose Properties. The DNS client service is critical for networking because it converts textual names to IP addresses such as 68.32.232.6. When you type a URL into your Web browser and press Enter, the DNS service changes that name to the numeric address, because the name has no meaning to the Internet. Only the number has meaning to the Internet. Of course, you can browse the Web for the rest of your life without knowing anything about DNS or IP addresses.

But, you couldn’t browse the Web without a DNS service running. So, again, the Services snap-in is not a place to play around. Anyway, the options are typical of the items listed in the Services snap-in. The Description textbox provides a description of the services and also tells what will happen if you disable or stop the service. The Path to executable textbox shows the location and name of the program that provides the service. The Startup type option provides the Automatic, Manual, and Disabled options. The buttons let you stop, pause, resume, or start the service. Some programs will accept parameters, which you can add to the Start parameters textbox. The Log On tab provides options for granting rights to services that need permissions to run. The Recovery tab provides options for dealing with problems when a service fails to start. The Dependencies tab is one of the most important of the bunch, because it specifies which services the current service depends on (if any), and which services depend on the current service. For example, DNS is a TCP/IP thing (which is the protocol used by the Internet and most modern local networks). If a service isn’t starting and you can’t figure out why, seeing what services the current one depends on might provide a clue. Because if that service isn’t running, the one you’re looking at can’t start. So you need to go to that service and make sure it’s autostarting.