Windows Automatic Startup Locations can be divided into the three groups folders, Registry and scheduled Tasks for the most part even though you may also use the Group Policy to add autostart programs to the system (which are reflected in the Windows Registry however). Part of why the system is quite complex is the fact that Windows maintains autostart entries for individual users and all users on the system, and if a 64-bit version of Windows is used, another exclusive for 64-bit versions. While you can use a program like the excellent Autoruns to manage all startup locations, you sometimes may need direct access to them, for instance when you want to add a program of your own to the startup.įirst time users may be overwhelmed by the sheer number of autostart locations - both as folders on a drive and in the Windows Registry - and it may take a long time to go through the listing the first time you open it.

Since this is often not communicated properly to the user, may not only delay system start but also mean that programs that may not be needed all the time are run all the time. It is also required for some programs, for instance security software as it is usually necessary that these programs start as early as possible.īut it is also a big nuisance as programs can be added to the startup during installations or even on start. That's good on the one hand as it enables users of the operating system to select programs that they want to start with Windows.

Windows autorun program