There are some tools available for Windows 7 that are not well known to the world. One of those tools is Autoruns Tool. You can use to peek at programs and services that run automatically at startup or logon. It happens most probably in the System Configuration utility “msconfig”. The tool Autoruns is available free from Windows Sysinternals that is able to monitor programs in your Startup folder and in registry keys. It shows you the exact order in which those programs run. Moreover, you can also configure in order to show Explorer shell extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, and auto-start services. At the same time, the shortcut menus let you search for more information about a process or service and clear a checkbox to the left of each entry that disables that particular item.

The utility features the most comprehensive knowledge to locate any startup monitor and shows the configured programs that run during system bootup or login. Autoruns is able to Hide Signed Microsoft Entries option that helps you to zoom in on third-party auto-starting images added to the computer and includes a download package, which is a command-line equivalent that can output in CSV format.

If you want to use it, just run Autoruns then it will show you the currently configured auto-start applications as well as the full list of Registry and file system. The display list comprises Explorer add-ons, logon entries, image hijacks, Internet Explorer add-ons including Browser Helper Objects (BHOs), Appinit DLLs, boot execute images, Winlogon notification DLLs Winsock Layered Service Providers and Windows Services. You can switch tabs, if you want to view autostarts from different categories.

On the other hand, if you want to view the properties of an executable is configured to run automatically, you can select it and use the Properties menu item or toolbar button. The Process Explorer menu item in the Entry menu will open the process properties dialog box, if there is an active process executing the selected executable. You can navigate to the Registry or file system location or the configuration of an auto-start item just by selecting the item and using the Jump menu item. You can use toolbar button instead. At the same time, if you want to disable an auto-start entry, just uncheck its checkbox. You can delete an auto-start configuration entry using the delete menu item. It is possible to differentiate the auto-starting images for the different user accounts using User menu.

The syntax of Autoruns:
Usage: autorunsc [-a] | [-c] [-b] [-d] [-e] [-g] [-h] [-i] [-l] [-m] [-n] [-p] [-r] [-s] [-v] [-w] [-x] [user]