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 :- 29th October, 2009
19979 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? |
|---|
| atipatxx | X | atipatxx.exe | Added by the SMALL-ED TROJAN! | No |
| ATIPOLAB | U | ati2evxx.exe | ATI External Event Utility EXE Module. This task can comsume lots of CPU resources on some computers, but it can help with graphics card problems. Leave enabled unless it consumes too many CPU resources | No |
| ATIPOLAB | U | ati2evae.exe | ATI Polling Program - part of the ATI graphics driver e.g. on some Fujitsu-Siemens Notebooks | No |
| ATIPOLL | U | ati2evxx.exe | ATI External Event Utility EXE Module. This task can comsume lots of CPU resources on some computers, but it can help with graphics card problems. Leave enabled unless it consumes too many CPU resources | No |
| AtiPTA | U | Ati2ptxx.exe | Control panel for the ATI series of video cards allowing access to such features as display resolution, colour depth, etc. Available via Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Display. Some users may need it if they have optimised their settings | No |
| ATIPTA | U | ATIPTAXX.EXE | Installed with the drivers for some ATI based discrete graphics cards and on-board/mobile chipsets. Provides System Tray access to display settings (including desktop resolution, color depth and multi-display schemes), help and troubleshooting. Unless you often change your display settings this isn't really required as all the settings are available via the system Control Panel under "Display" | Yes |
| AtiPTA | U | Atiptaab.exe | Control panel for the ATI series of video cards allowing access to such features as display resolution, colour depth, etc. Available via Start → Settings → Control Panel → Display. Some users may need it if they have optimised their settings | No |
| AtiPTAAA | U | Ati2ptxx.exe | Control panel for the ATI series of video cards allowing access to such features as display resolution, colour depth, etc. Available via Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Display. Some users may need it if they have optimised their settings | No |
| AtiPTAAA | U | ATIPTAXX.EXE | Installed with the drivers for some ATI based discrete graphics cards and on-board/mobile chipsets. Provides System Tray access to display settings (including desktop resolution, color depth and multi-display schemes), help and troubleshooting. Unless you often change your display settings this isn't really required as all the settings are available via the system Control Panel under "Display" | No |
| atiptaxx | U | Ati2ptxx.exe | Control panel for the ATI series of video cards allowing access to such features as display resolution, colour depth, etc. Available via Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Display. Some users may need it if they have optimised their settings | No |
| ATIPTAXX | U | ATIPTAXX.EXE | Installed with the drivers for some ATI based discrete graphics cards and on-board/mobile chipsets. Provides System Tray access to display settings (including desktop resolution, color depth and multi-display schemes), help and troubleshooting. Unless you often change your display settings this isn't really required as all the settings are available via the system Control Panel under "Display" | Yes |
| atiptext | X | atiptext.exe | Added by the COSIAM-A TROJAN! | No |
| AtiQiPcl | U | AtiQiPcl.exe | Used for hardware DVD decoding on ATI video cards supporting this feature. Not required unless you regularly play DVD's | No |
| ATIRmtWndr | Y | ATIX10.exe | ATI Remote Wonder® - PC wireless remote control driver. Required if you use it | No |
| ATISmart | U | ati2s9ag.exe | ATI's "SMARTGART", which is included with the Catalyst™ drivers. When the system boots, it runs a couple of bus tests & tries to apply the most stable settings | No |
| AtiSound | U | csrss.exe | WinSpy surveillance software. Uninstall this software unless you put it there yourself. Note - this is not the same file as the csrss.exe process which is always located in %System% and should not normally figure in Msconfig/Startup! This one is located in a "ComRoot" subfolder | No |
| atisrc2 | X | windfind.exe | Added by the WINDFIND-A TROJAN!
| No |
| ATITech | X | Active.exe | Added by the ROAMER-A TROJAN! | No |
| atitray | U | atitray.exe | ATI Tray Tools - allows quick access to ATI graphics card settings | No |
| AtiTrayTools | U | atitray.exe | ATI Tray Tools - allows quick access to ATI graphics card settings | No |
| atiupdate | X | ATIUPDATE5.EXE | Added by the DEBESKI.A TROJAN! | No |
| atiupdate | X | msshed32.exe | Added by the DELF.EP downloader TROJAN! | No |
| ATIUpdater | X | atiupdxx.exe | Added by the RBOT-ABX WORM! | No |
| Atiupdpl | X | atiupdpl.exe | Added by the SMALL.AOS TROJAN! | No |
| ativopen | X | ativopen.exe | Premium rate adult content dialler | No |
| ATIX10 | Y | atix10.exe | ATI Remote Wonder® - PC wireless remote control driver. Required if you use it | No |
| ATKMEDIA | U | DMEDIA.EXE | Driver for the media buttons on the front of some Asus laptops, such as Forward,back,stop,pause etc | No |
| Atl**.exe [* = random char] | X | Atl**.exe [* = random char] | CoolWebSearch/HomeSearch adware - for examples, see this log | No |
| Atl**32.exe [* = random char] | X | Atl**32.exe [* = random char] | CoolWebSearch/HomeSearch adware - for examples, see this log | No |
| ATM Control | X | adpn.exe | Added by the MMS.A WORM! | No |
| ATnotes | N | atnotes.exe | Loads the ATnotes program for virtual sticky notes for your desktop. Available via Start -> Programs | No |
| Atomic Time Synchronizer | U | TimeSync.exe | TimeSync - lets you synchronize your computer's clock with any internet atomic clock | No |
| Atomic-x27 | X | Atomic-x27.exe | Added by the KATOMIK-A WORM! | No |
| Atomic-x27C | X | AtomicpartC.exe | Added by the KATOMIK-A WORM! | No |
| Atomic.exe | U | Atomic.exe | Atomic Clock Sync - synchronizes your computer's time with the NIST time server | No |
| Atomica | N | atomica.exe | Atomica runs from the System Tray and allows the user to find out more about a word or phrase on any screen by pointing at it with the mouse and clicking button one while holding down the Alt key | No |
| AtomicTime | U | ATOMICTIME.EXE | AtomicTime - utility that synchronizes your PC clock to an atomic clock | No |
| Atrack | U | atrack.exe | New feature of Norton Internet Security (NIS) and Norton Personal Firewall (NPF) 3.0 is the Alert Tracker, an instant notification feature. The Alert Tracker displays information about events as they happen. This way, when a rule has been triggered or an access to the Internet made, you know about it immediately rather than finding out about it when you check your logs or notice that the NIS icon indicates a security alert | No |
| Atray | U | Atray.exe | Active Tray is a utility which lets you configure the system tray. You can also create your own tray icons | No |
| ATSpooler | U | AppsTraka.exe | DeskTopScout keystroke logger/monitoring program - remove unless you installed it yourself! | No |
| ATTBroadbandUpdate | U | SAUpdate.exe | Big Brother from Quest Software. System and network monitor | No |
| ATTRedUpdate | U | AutoUpdate.exe | Additional item added to start-ups after AT&T took over the now bankrupt Excite@home high-speed internet service. Included for automatically downloading and installing updates. Leave it unless you plan to regularly run it to check for updates | No |
| AttuneClientEngine | X | attune_ce.exe | Aveo Attune automated helpdesk software - adware/spyware | No |
| AttuneContentUpdater | X | attune_cu.exe | Aveo Attune automated helpdesk software - adware/spyware | No |
| AttuneDiscovery | X | attune_di.exe | Aveo Attune automated helpdesk software - adware/spyware | No |
| Attunel | X | Attunel.exe | Aveo Attune automated helpdesk software - adware/spyware | No |
| AttuneSystray | X | attune_st.exe | Aveo Attune automated helpdesk software - adware/spyware | No |
| aTuner | N | atuner.exe | aTuner - tweak tool for GeForce based graphics cards | No |
| atwtusb | Y | atwtusb.exe | USB interface for Aiptek Graphics Tablet (USB) | No |
| AtxBrw | X | Iexplor.exe | "Pop Marketing" adware | No |
|
You can download off-line HTML ZIP, EXE and EXCEL ZIP versions of this list from here.
In addition the following files are available for people developing mirrors of the site and using the information presented here (right-click and select "Save Target As..." for IE and "Save Link As..." for Firefox):
Startup XML File - Startup INI File - Startup HTML File
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.
Free licenses available for Oops! Backup (by Altaro) BETA Testing - Apply online here
Presentation, format & comments Copyright © 2001 - 2009 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