This post describes techniques that you can apply to improve the performance and stability of your computer by reducing the number of active programs.
You can use the Autoruns utility from Sysinternals to reduce the amount of software that runs when you boot or log in to Windows. You can download Autoruns individually or you can download the entire Sysinternals Suite of utilities, which includes Autoruns. These programs come as zip files with no installer. Installation instructions may be slightly different on editions of Windows other than 64-bit Windows 7, but for me:
- Create a subdirectory to contain the utilities, such as C:\Program Files (x86)\Sysinternals.
- Extract the Sysinternals zip file to that subdirectory.
- In that subdirectory, select autoruns.exe, and create a shortcut to that item on the desktop or the Windows Start menu. Name the shortcut Autoruns.
Consider creating another shortcut for Process Explorer (procexp.exe), which is an excellent replacement for Windows Task Manager.
Launch Autoruns, but think carefully before disabling any options. You might want to capture a screen shot of the default configuration so that you can see how things were and re-enable items you later determine some software to require. To capture a screen shot of the Autoruns window, press ALT-PRTSCN, paste that image into another application, and then save that file.
Most of the items that you should disable will appear towards the top of the Autoruns window under one of the following categories:
- HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- C:\Users\<profile>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup (or equivalent)
- HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Many of these programs don’t seem to do anything significant, but consume resources, including space in the notification area, and introduce variables when you are trying to troubleshooting other issues. I like to disable anything that I don’t use every time I use the computer. It’s generally easy to start these applications when I need them:
- The Windows Sidebar.
- Citrix GoToMeeting.
- Miicrosoft Gotomeeting, Groove, and OneNote.
- Any instant messaging software.
- Any software for hardware such as a fingerprint reader, camera, phone, scanner, printer, modem, or fax.
- Adobe anything.
- Google anything.
- Roxio anything.
- CyberLink anything.
- Zune anything.
- Skype anything,
- Apple anything.
If you know you will never need a piece of software, you can use Autoruns to delete that entry. Otherwise just clear the checkbox. Here’s how Autoruns currently appears on my system:
If the name of the entry and its description don’t help you determine whether you can disable something, look at Publisher and Image Path. For example, I had no idea what EEventManager Application was, but the publisher SEIKO EPSON definitely makes printers, so I assumed I could disable it. You can also search the Internet for specific programs, such as eeventmanager.exe, to try to determine what they do and hence whether you can disable them. Be careful, as many search hits for process names will take you to Web sites that encourage you to download additional software that you don’t need.
If you see the following message when you select or clear a checkbox:
You can click Run as Administrator to close Autoruns and launch the program again with the administrative rights required to change these settings. Maybe this helps you avoid unintended changes, but I like to avoid the extra moment it takes for Autoruns to scan the system again. Next time you launch Autoruns, you can SHFT-CTRL-Click the Autoruns shortcut to run as administrator once, or you can:
- Right-click that shortcut and select Properties.
- On the Shortcut tab, click Advanced, and then select Run as administrator.
If you want, you can occasionally use Autoruns to enable software update managers, reboot, and then use Autoruns to disable them again. I think most programs that install their own updates check for updates when you launch the program anyway, so at least some of these are redundant.
This is a good time to remember to disable Internet Explorer plug-ins as well, and to hide any browser toolbars that you don’t use. To disable add-ons in Internet Explorer, click the Tools menu or press ALT-T, and then click Manage Add-Ons. I disable almost everything, leaving only HttpWatch. To hide browser toolbars, click the View menu or press ALT-V, then click Toolbars, and then disable individual toolbars. This reminds me that you might also want to hide the ESET NOD32 and Citrix GoToMeeting toolbars in Outlook. Click the View menu, then click Toolbars, and then disable individual toolbars.
You can disable specific Windows services as well, but you should be very careful not to disable important services. The next time I build a machine, I will try to list the services that I disable. I generally set services to Disabled instead of Manual, so that I can more easily identify services that I have disabled, and so that I find out when some software tries to use a service I disabled. To access services, type services.msc into the Start menu or the Run prompt. I seem to have disabled at least:
- Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)
- SQL Active Directory Helper Service
- SQL Server Agent
- Visual Studio Remote Debugger
It’s probably a good idea to review these issues at least a few times each year, and especially after you get a new machine or install Windows. Please add your suggestions for software to disable below, or reasons not to disable what I’ve suggested above.
