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Manage autostart entries with Quick Startup

Startup programs can delay the system startup significantly. While that is less of a problem on fast systems that use Solid State Drives or Raid configurations, it is still recommended to only start programs that need to be available this way.

Security software fits that perfectly for instance while programs such as quick starters, update checkers, or programs that you don't use regularly don't usually.

Quick Startup is a free autostart manager for Windows that provides you with options to manage startup programs in several different locations of the system.

While not as thorough or informative as Autoruns, it is not as complicated to use either. It is not really something that experienced or tech-savvy users would use for the purpose though because of this.

quick startup

When you start Quick Startup after installation the five lists that it makes available get populated. The following lists are available:

  1. Startup programs: Those programs are listed either in the Windows Registry or startup folder of the system.
  2. Scheduled Tasks: Everything that is listed in the Task Scheduler is listed here.
  3. Plug-ins: Shell extensions mostly and not browser plugins.
  4. Application Services: Third-party services created by programs such as Google Chrome, NVIDIA drivers or Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.
  5. Windows Services: Native Windows services.

The information provided is similar regardless of the tab that you have selected. Quick Startup lists all programs, tasks, plug-ins or services and their status.

Ratings, called usefulness by the application, are displayed for some entries. It needs to be noted though that there are not many ratings available right now. The rating is based on user recommendations, or more precisely, on how many users recommend to keep the program enabled.

A click on a program displays additional information about it under details on the right. There is however no option to add table columns to the app to display information such as the company there right away.

The startup state of items is toggled with a click on the status switch. Apart from that, it is also possible to delete entries permanently. It is furthermore possible to add new programs to the startup as well.

Closing Words

The program is easy to use and that is what may make it attractive to some users. It is more thorough than msconfig but cannot compete with Autoruns.

The program has its share of issues. There is for instance no option to hide native services, tasks or plug-ins automatically to avoid disabling something that is required.  Another issue is the lack of information and that the load time information are not displaying any load information.

This article was first seen on ComTek's "TekBits" Technology News

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