If you're frustrated with the time it takes your Windows PC to boot and then it seems to be running slowly you may have too many programs running at start-up - and have come to the right place to identify them. This is the original startup programs (as opposed to processes/tasks) list - one of the most comprehensive and most accurate!
"Name or Startup Item" in the table below refers to how an entry is displayed in MSConfig, Windows Defender or the registry "Run" keys. "Command or Data" refers to the program the entry runs. For further information on this and how to identify and disable startup programs please visit the Startup Content page.
For further information on random startup entries please visit the Startup Info page. For the next few months and foreseeable future I'll be verifying many of the Y, U, N & ? entries via virtual machines. If you can verify/identify those entries with a "?" status (especially hardware specific - such as laptops and motherboards) then please E-mail me (address at bottom of the page) or use the new Message Board.
Last update :- 31st August
21939 items listed
"Status" key:
- "Y" - Normally leave to run at start-up
- "N" - Not required or not recommended - typically infrequently used tasks that can be started manually if necessary
- "U" - User's choice - depends whether a user deems it necessary
- "X" - Definitely not required - typically viruses, spyware, adware and "resource hogs"
- "?" - Unknown
Variables:
- %System% - refers to the System folder; by default this is C:\Windows\System (9x/Me), C:\Winnt\System32 (NT/2K), or C:\Windows\System32 (XP/Vista)
- %Windir% - refers to the Windows installation folder; by default this is C:\Windows (9x/Me/XP/Vista) or C:\Winnt (NT/2K)
- %UserProfile% - refers to the current user's profile folder; by default this is C:\Documents and Settings\ (NT/2K/XP) or C:\Users\ (Vista)
- %ProgramFiles% - refers to the Program Files folder; typically the path is C:\Program Files
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| Name or Startup Item | Status | Command or Data | Description | Tested? |
|---|
| AccuWeatherDesktopAlerts | N | AccuWeatherDesktopAlerts.exe | Weather alerts for AccuWeather.com Desktop which "provides you with the most accurate, late-breaking weather conditions for the United States" | No |
| accwizz.exe | X | accwizz.exe | Added by the RULAND.A WORM! | No |
| accwizzz.exe | X | accwizzz.exe | Added by the RULAND.A WORM! | No |
| ACDaemon | N | ACDaemon.exe | Used to serve notice of product information and updates when running ArcSoft products such as TotalMedia, PhotoStudio 6 and Print Creations. Set the associated ArcSoft Connect Daemon (ACService.exe) service to Manual (via Start → Control Panel → Administrative Tools → Services) and run this entry manually via the Start menu when required | Yes |
| acdllib3 | X | bcdlmem.exe | Added by the MAILBOT-BA TROJAN! | No |
| ACDSee | N | ACDSee8Pro.exe | ACDSee 8 photo software. Organize, manage, enhance, and share all your valued photo memories | No |
| Ace bows | ? | Ace bows.exe | ?? | No |
| AceGain LiveUpdate | N | LiveUpdate.exe | "AceGain LiveUpdate can help to automate and optimize product updates. AceGain LiveUpdate will automatically detect new patch updates, driver updates or full product updates and automatically download and install them according to user configuration" | No |
| Acer Assist Launcher | U | launcher.exe | Acer Assist - program that provides information about new updates or notices from Acer | No |
| Acer eAP Launch Tool | U | EAPLAU~1.EXE | Empowering Technology Launcher, installed on Acer computer | No |
| Acer Empowering Technology Monitor | ? | SysMonitor.exe | Part of Acer Empowering Technology. What does it do and is it required? | No |
| Acer ePower Management | U | Acer ePower Management.exe | Part of Acer Empowering Technology. "Acer ePower Management is a straightforward interface that allows users to select from pre-configured power usage profiles, or to create their own customized profiles" | No |
| Acer ePower Management | U | ePowerTray.exe | Acer® PowerSmart Manager power management utility included on some models in the Aspire range of notebooks. Also appears as the Packard Bell PowerSave power management utility included on some of their notebook models - as Packard Bell is now owned by Acer | No |
| Acer ePower Management | U | ePowerTrayLauncher.exe | Launcher for the Acer® PowerSmart Manager power management utility included on some models in the Aspire range of notebooks | No |
| Acer ePresentation HPD | U | ePresentation.exe | Part of Acer Empowering Technology. Allows you to manage both internal and external displays | No |
| Acer Launch Tool | Y | Alaunch | Part of Acer eRecovery - "a powerful utility that does away with the need for recovery disks provided by the manufacturer, and also acts as a versatile standalone backup and recovery manager". This entry isn't normally running but once eRecovery starts it's used to re-install the software included with the system | Yes |
| Acer Product Registration | N | ACE1.exe | Acer Product Registration - remove when registration is completed | No |
| Acer Tour Reminder | N | Reminder.exe | Popup reminder to take the tour of your new Acer laptop | No |
| AcerGoto | U | AcerGoto.exe | Acer Computer "Goto Drive" Cold Swap Driver - a swappable second disk drive provides convenient backup of large files, or easy importation of data from user's previous computer | No |
| AcerNotebookManager | U | almxptray.exe | System Tray access on some Acer Notebooks to give faster access to system settings | No |
| AcerPowerkey | U | Powerkey.exe | PowerKey utility for Acer TravelMate notebook PCs. Allows the user to quickly switch between different power schemes by pressing Fn+F3 | No |
| Acess2007a | X | access2007a.exe | Added by the GAOBOT.PQA WORM! | No |
| Aceu | X | [random filename] | PurityScan adware | No |
| acEventServ | Y | acevtsrv.exe | ActivCard Gold from ActivIdentity, Inc. Smart card-based strong authentication software - for photo IDs, proximity badges for facility access and as digital identification and authentication | No |
| AClntUsr | U | AClntUsr.exe | Altiris AClient Service Windows Tray Icon | No |
| Acme.PCHButton | N | pchbutton.exe | Used by HP Instant Support | No |
| ACMON | Y | ACMON.exe | ASUS Splendid "is a breathtaking innovation that brings the video viewing experience on PC to the next level. Built into the driver of ASUS graphics cards, Splendid Video Enhancing Technology detects activation and usage of video applications and automatically optimizes image quality for the best visual result" | No |
| ACMonitor_X63 | U | ACMonitor_X63.exe | Button monitor for the Lexmark X63 all-in-one multifunction printer/copier/scanner. Works in conjunction with the "Lexmark Scan & Copy Control Program" button manager whose filename is "AcBtnMgr_X63.exe" | No |
| ACMonitor_X63.exe | U | ACMonitor_X63.exe | Button monitor for the Lexmark X63 all-in-one multifunction printer/copier/scanner. Works in conjunction with the "Lexmark Scan & Copy Control Program" button manager whose filename is "AcBtnMgr_X63.exe" | No |
| ACMonitor_X73 | U | ACMonitor_X73.exe | Button monitor for the Lexmark X73 all-in-one multifunction printer/copier/scanner. Works in conjunction with the "Lexmark Scan & Copy Control Program" button manager whose filename is "AcBtnMgr_X73.exe" | No |
| ACMonitor_X83 | U | ACMonitor_X83.exe | Button monitor for the Lexmark X83 all-in-one multifunction printer/copier/scanner. Works in conjunction with the "Lexmark Scan & Copy Control Program" button manager whose filename is "AcBtnMgr_X83.exe" | No |
| ACMonitor_X84-X85 | U | ACMonitor_X84-X85.exe | Button monitor for the Lexmark X84-X85 all-in-one multifunction printer/copier/scanner. Works in conjunction with the "Lexmark Scan & Copy Control Program" button manager whose filename is "AcBtnMgr_X84-X85.exe" | No |
| acocash | X | fastdown.exe | Adult content dialler | No |
| acocash | X | FASTFOWN.EXE | Adult content dialler | No |
| Acombo3dmouse | U | Acombo3d.exe | Mouse driver - required if you use non-standard Windows driver features | No |
| Aconti | X | aconti.exe | Adult content dialler | No |
| acoustic | U | acoustic.exe | Control panel program for Philips Acoustic Edge soundcard. Not required unless changed settings aren't retained | No |
| acpart | N | agpart11.exe | Program for finding trucks on-line | No |
| Acrobat | X | acrmon32.exe | Added by the SMALL-ECT TROJAN! | No |
| Acrobat Assistant | U | AcroTray.exe | Essential for creating PDF files with Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Distiller. For Win9x/Me systems you can run this file manually beforehand. For WinXP systems this file must run at startup. Hence the "U" recommendation | No |
| Acrobat Assistant 7.0 | U | Acrotray.exe | Essential for creating PDF files with Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Distiller. For Win9x/Me systems you can run this file manually beforehand. For WinXP systems this file must run at startup. Hence the "U" recommendation | No |
| Acrobat Assistant 8.0 | U | Acrotray.exe | Essential for creating PDF files with Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Distiller. For Win9x/Me systems you can run this file manually beforehand. For WinXP systems this file must run at startup. Hence the "U" recommendation | No |
| Acrobat Read | X | acroup32.exe | Added by the VANBOT-BQ TROJAN! | No |
| Acrobat Speed Launch | N | acrobat_sl.exe | Speeds up the time it takes to load Adobe's Acrobat PDF creation and management tool. From version 7.0 onwards | No |
| ACROMOUSE | U | ACROMAPP.exe | Related to ACROMOUSE Laser mouse control | No |
| Acronis Popup Blocker | U | RunDll32.exe [path] Blocker.dll, Run | Part of Acronis Privacy Expert - anti-spyware and security suite
| No |
| Acronis Scheduler Helper | U | schedhlp.exe | Part of Acronis True Image backup software. Co-operates with the "schedul2.exe" service to perform backup/restore tasks correctly. Required if you want to use True Image to do some real backup/restore tasks - not if you only want to explore/mount images | No |
| Acronis Scheduler2 Service | U | schedhlp.exe | Part of Acronis True Image - backup software. Co-operates with the "schedul2.exe" service to perform backup/restore tasks correctly. Required if you want to use True Image to do some real backup/restore tasks - not if you only want to explore/mount images | No |
| Acronis True Image | U | TimounterMonitor.exe | Part of Acronis True Image backup software. Monitor for the backup archive explorer for moving and viewing files within an archive | No |
| Acronis True Image Monitor | N | TrueImageMonitor.exe | Part of Acronis True Image - backup software. Can be disabled without affecting TrueImage | No |
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The following files are available for people developing mirrors of the site and using the information presented here:
Startup XML File - Startup INI File - Startup HTML File
For IE users, right-click on the link and select "Save Target As..." - note that for the INI and HTML files the suggested filename will be "startuplist.htm" and you'll have to rename them "startuplist.ini" and "startuplist.html" respectively.
For Firefox users, I recommend downloading the zipped versions from here. Otherwise, you'll have to open the file and save it - which can take a long time due to the size.
NOTE: These downloads are password protected and free to anyone producing a mirror or free utility. If you produce a commercial/shareware utility please contact me to discuss options. If you don't fall into any of these categories and want to download any of these files you will need to either make a donation of $15/year or more via PayPal (or E-mail me) and you will be provided with the login details which will change at the beginning of each year. The donation will go towards researching new and existing entries for the database and creating these files. Since making these files available for download they've been available free of charge and downloaded thousands of times. I believe they are unique as to my knowledge, no similar site offers such a resource as the lists they offer are on-line only.
DISCLAIMER: It is assumed that users are familiar with the operating system they are using and comfortable with making the suggested changes. I will not be held responsible if changes you make cause a system failure.
NOTE: This is NOT a database of tasks/processes taken from Task Manager or the Close Program window (CTRL+ALT+DEL) but a database of startup applications, although you will find some of them listed via this method. Pressing CTRL+ALT+DEL identifies programs that are currently running - not necessarily at startup. For a list of tasks/processes you should try the Process Library from Uniblue, the list at PC Pitstop or one of the many others now available. Therefore, before ending a task/process via CTRL+ALT+DEL just because it has an "X" recommendation, please check whether it's in MSConfig or the registry first. An example would be "svchost.exe" - which doesn't appear in either under normal conditions but does via CTRL+ALT+DEL. If in doubt, don't do anything.
To avoid the database becoming too large, all virus entries are only shown using the registry version which is common to all Windows versions. Otherwise there would be multiple entries for popular filenames that viruses often use - such as "svchost" above for example. Multiple viruses can also use the same startup entries, in this case only those with significant differences (such as file location) are repeated in this database.
NOTE : There are a number of virus and malware entried listed in this database where specific removal instructions haven't been given. If this is the case then you could try SDFix, a program written by AndyManchesta that can remove many different types of Trojans and Worms. See here for a tutorial on how to use the program and here for the latest ReadMe file detailing the fixes included.
IMPORTANT: A number of entries are repeated due to the way that different operating systems display startup items. For example, WinMe lists "POPROXY.EXE" as "Norton eMail Protect" in both MSCONFIG and the registry whereas WinXP lists it as "Poproxy" in MSCONFIG and "Norton eMail Protect" in the registry.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
If you're looking for a startup manager then why not try WinPatrol (by BillP Studios) or Advanced SystemCare Free (by IObit) - both include the option to search this database for a particular entry. Alternatively try Spybot - Search & Destroy (by Safer Networking Ltd) as the startup programs section (select the Advanced mode) includes descriptions from this database. You might also want to try their RunAlyzer and FileAlyzer tools.
There are an ever increasing number of rogue applications appearing these days and many of the removal guides referenced in this database use MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (which now incorporates the now discontinued RogueRemover).
As there are more than 10,000 entries in this database related to viruses, trojans, worms and other malware I recommend you use a quality internet security package. Which ever you choose, keep it updated.
Presentation, format & comments Copyright © 2001 - 2010 Paul Collins
Portions Copyright © Peter Forrest, Denny Denham, Sylvain Prevost, Tony Klein, CastleCops & Bleeping Computer
Database creation and support by Patrick Kolla
Software support by John Mayer
All rights reserved