Startup Applications List
Unfortunately, due to a change in my circumstances, the startup programs database here at Sysinfo.org will no longer be updated and the off-line downloads are no longer available. The version at Pacman's Portal will, however, continue to be updated and it's recommended that you refer to that site for more up to date information. The reason for this change in policy cannot be disclosed at this time but I hope you have enjoyed using the database here and thank you for your support and kind comments over the years.
Paul Collins
If you're frustrated with the time it takes your Windows 7/Vista/XP PC to boot and then it seems to be running slowly you may have too many programs running at start-up - and you 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 accurate and comprehensive. Services are not included - see below. The database is mirrored in a slightly different format at Pacman's Portal.
"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 you may want to also visit this page.
For further information on random startup entries please visit the Startups Info page.
Last update :- 29th July, 2011
24133 items listed
"Status" key:
all others A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Page No.: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 | ||||
| Name or Startup Item | Status | Command or Data | Description | Tested? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Acrobat | N | Reader_sl.exe | Speeds up the time it takes to load the free Adobe Reader PDF file viewer. "The Speed Launcher quickly opens and closes all of the files that Acrobat or Adobe Reader will use when the application starts. Opening and closing the files allows your virus protection software to check these programs and add them to its list of safe files". Not required for Adobe Reader to function properly | Yes |
| Adobe Acrobat | N | Acrobat_sl.exe | Speeds up the time it takes to load the Adobe Acrobat PDF creation/editing utility. "The Speed Launcher quickly opens and closes all of the files that Acrobat or Adobe Reader will use when the application starts. Opening and closing the files allows your virus protection software to check these programs and add them to its list of safe files". Not required for Acrobat to function properly | Yes |
| Adobe Acrobat Distiller Application | X | acrotray.exe | Added by the RANDEX.DFJ WORM! Note that the legitimate Adobe file (if installed) would normally be found in %ProgramFiles%\Adobe%\%ProgramName% (where %ProgramName% is Acrobat 9.0\Acrobat or Acrobat 7.0\Distillr for example) whereas this one is located in %System% | No |
| Adobe Acrobat Reader CFG | X | [random filename] | Added by a variant of the RBOT WORM! | No |
| Adobe Acrobat Speed Launcher | N | Acrobat_sl.exe | Speeds up the time it takes to load the Adobe Acrobat PDF creation/editing utility. "The Speed Launcher quickly opens and closes all of the files that Acrobat or Adobe Reader will use when the application starts. Opening and closing the files allows your virus protection software to check these programs and add them to its list of safe files". Not required for Acrobat to function properly | Yes |
| Adobe Acrobat Speed Launcher | N | SC_Acrobat.exe | Speeds up the time it takes to load older versions of the Adobe Acrobat PDF creation/editing utility. Loads "acrobat_sl.exe" which quickly opens and closes all of the files that Acrobat will use when the application starts - allowing virus protection software to check these programs and add them to the list of safe files. Not required for Acrobat to function properly | Yes |
| Adobe Acrobat Synchronizer | U | AdobeCollabSync.exe | Entry added with Adobe Acrobat 8.0. Adobe Synchronizer "is a small application that runs in the background, providing synchronization of document reviews and Tracker subscriptions so that your data is available when you need it". See the link for more information | No |
| Adobe Acrobat Synchronizer | U | ADOBEC~1.EXE | Entry added with Adobe Acrobat 8.0. Adobe Synchronizer "is a small application that runs in the background, providing synchronization of document reviews and Tracker subscriptions so that your data is available when you need it". See the link for more information | No |
| Adobe ARM | N | AdobeARM.exe | Adobe Reader and Acrobat Manager (ARM) - update/download manager added with Adobe Acrobat/Reader from version 9.x. Taken from the Adobe user forums - "AdobeARM.exe is a part of new Adobe Acrobat\Reader updater. If you manage updates yourself, it is absolutely safe to remove it from Run registry" - see here | Yes |
| Adobe Bridge CS5 | N | Bridge.exe | Adobe Bridge - part of Adobe CS5 products which "lets you organize, browse, and locate the assets you use to create content for print, the web, DVD, video, and mobile devices. Adobe Bridge keeps native Adobe files (such as PSD and PDF) as well as non-Adobe files available for easy access" | Yes |
| Adobe Collaboration Synchronizer | U | ADOBEC~1.EXE | Entry added with Adobe Reader 8.0 and Acrobat 8.0. Adobe Synchronizer "is a small application that runs in the background, providing synchronization of document reviews and Tracker subscriptions so that your data is available when you need it". See the link for more information | Yes |
| Adobe Collaboration Synchronizer | U | AdobeCollabSync.exe | Entry added with Adobe Reader 8.0 and Acrobat 8.0. Adobe Synchronizer "is a small application that runs in the background, providing synchronization of document reviews and Tracker subscriptions so that your data is available when you need it". See the link for more information | Yes |
| Adobe CS4 Service Manager | N | CS4ServiceManager.exe | Part of both stand-alone Adobe CS4 products (such as Photoshop and Dreamweaver) and suites, CS4 Service Manager supports online services such as Adobe Drive. Whilst testing, it would appear that this entry can be safely disabled as it will be loaded when required but if you experience problems try re-enabling it | Yes |
| Adobe CS5 Service Manager | N | CS5ServiceManager.exe | Part of both stand-alone Adobe CS5 products (such as Photoshop and Dreamweaver) and suites, CS5 Service Manager supports online services. Whilst testing, it would appear that this entry can be safely disabled as it will be loaded when required but if you experience problems try re-enabling it | Yes |
| Adobe Filter Platform | X | afilterplatform.exe | Added by the RBOT-OP WORM! | No |
| Adobe Flash Player | X | AdobeFP.exe | Added by the AUTORUN-BBP WORM! | No |
| Adobe Gamma | U | Adobe Gamma Loader.exe | Included with older versions of Adobe Photoshop products. Loads the user created ICC profile which adjusts monitor colours across all programs, including Photoshop. Required by some graphics professionals who want their monitor calibrated. Most home users will not need it | Yes |
| Adobe Gamma | U | ADOBEG~1.EXE | Included with older versions of Adobe Photoshop products. Loads the user created ICC profile which adjusts monitor colours across all programs, including Photoshop. Required by some graphics professionals who want their monitor calibrated. Most home users will not need it | Yes |
| Adobe Gamma Loader | U | Adobe Gamma Loader.exe | Included with older versions of Adobe Photoshop products. Loads the user created ICC profile which adjusts monitor colours across all programs, including Photoshop. Required by some graphics professionals who want their monitor calibrated. Most home users will not need it | Yes |
| Adobe Gamma Loader | U | ADOBEG~1.EXE | Included with older versions of Adobe Photoshop products. Loads the user created ICC profile which adjusts monitor colours across all programs, including Photoshop. Required by some graphics professionals who want their monitor calibrated. Most home users will not need it | Yes |
| Adobe Gamma Loader.exe | U | Adobe Gamma Loader.exe | Included with older versions of Adobe Photoshop products. Loads the user created ICC profile which adjusts monitor colours across all programs, including Photoshop. Required by some graphics professionals who want their monitor calibrated. Most home users will not need it | Yes |
| Adobe Gamma Loader.exe | U | ADOBEG~1.EXE | Included with older versions of Adobe Photoshop products. Loads the user created ICC profile which adjusts monitor colours across all programs, including Photoshop. Required by some graphics professionals who want their monitor calibrated. Most home users will not need it | Yes |
| Adobe Media Player | N | Adobe Media Player.exe | Adobe Media Player - "a next-generation desktop media player, providing high-quality video playback of streamed, downloaded, or locally stored video content. Now discontinued as a stand-lone download, it is still included in some of the Adobe CS4 and CS5 products | Yes |
| Adobe Media Player | N | ADOBEM~1.EXE | Adobe Media Player - "a next-generation desktop media player, providing high-quality video playback of streamed, downloaded, or locally stored video content. Now discontinued as a stand-lone download, it is still included in some of the Adobe CS4 and CS5 products | Yes |
| Adobe Photo Downloader | N | apdproxy.exe | Part of Adobe's discontinued Photoshop Album SE and older versions of Photoshop Elements and Photoshop Lightroom image editing tools. As well as providing System Tray access to the main program this entry detects when a device containing images is connected (such as a USB memory stick, camera or mobile phone) and offers you the chance to import these into your image library - see here for example | Yes |
| Adobe Photo Downloader 3.0 component | N | apdproxy.exe | Part of Adobe's discontinued Photoshop Album SE and older versions of Photoshop Elements and Photoshop Lightroom image editing tools. As well as providing System Tray access to the main program this entry detects when a device containing images is connected (such as a USB memory stick, camera or mobile phone) and offers you the chance to import these into your image library - see here for example | Yes |
| Adobe Photoshop Album Starter Edition | N | apdproxy.exe | Part of Adobe's discontinued Photoshop Album SE image editing tool. As well as providing System Tray access to the main program this entry detects when a device containing images is connected (such as a USB memory stick, camera or mobile phone) and offers you the chance to import these into your image library - see here for example | Yes |
| Adobe Reader and Acrobat Manager | N | AdobeARM.exe | Adobe Reader and Acrobat Manager (ARM) - update/download manager added with Adobe Acrobat/Reader from version 9.x. Taken from the Adobe user forums - "AdobeARM.exe is a part of new Adobe Acrobat\Reader updater. If you manage updates yourself, it is absolutely safe to remove it from Run registry" - see here | Yes |
| Adobe Reader Speed Launch | N | reader_sl.exe | Speeds up the time it takes to load older versions of the free Adobe Reader PDF file viewer. "The Speed Launcher quickly opens and closes all of the files that Acrobat or Adobe Reader will use when the application starts. Opening and closing the files allows your virus protection software to check these programs and add them to its list of safe files". Not required for Adobe Reader to function properly | Yes |
| Adobe Reader Speed Launch | N | READER~1.EXE | Speeds up the time it takes to load older versions of the free Adobe Reader PDF file viewer. "The Speed Launcher quickly opens and closes all of the files that Acrobat or Adobe Reader will use when the application starts. Opening and closing the files allows your virus protection software to check these programs and add them to its list of safe files". Not required for Adobe Reader to function properly | Yes |
| Adobe Reader Speed Launch | X | reader_sl.exe | Added by the VB-EUV TROJAN! Note - this is not the valid Adobe file which uses the same "Name" and filename and normally resides in a sub-directory of %ProgramFiles%\Adobe. This one is found in %Temp% | No |
| Adobe Reader Speed Launcher | N | Reader_sl.exe | Speeds up the time it takes to load the free Adobe Reader PDF file viewer. "The Speed Launcher quickly opens and closes all of the files that Acrobat or Adobe Reader will use when the application starts. Opening and closing the files allows your virus protection software to check these programs and add them to its list of safe files". Not required for Adobe Reader to function properly | Yes |
| Adobe Reader Speed Launcher | X | reader_sl.exe | Added by the SCAR.CEZJ TROJAN! Note - this is not the valid Adobe file which uses the same "Name" and filename and normally resides in a sub-directory of %ProgramFiles%\Adobe. This one is found in %Windir% and %System% | No |
| Adobe Reader Synchronizer | U | AdobeCollabSync.exe | Entry added with Adobe Reader 8.0. Adobe Synchronizer "is a small application that runs in the background, providing synchronization of document reviews and Tracker subscriptions so that your data is available when you need it". See the link for more information | Yes |
| Adobe Reader Synchronizer | U | ADOBEC~1.EXE | Entry added with Adobe Reader 8.0. Adobe Synchronizer "is a small application that runs in the background, providing synchronization of document reviews and Tracker subscriptions so that your data is available when you need it". See the link for more information | Yes |
| Adobe Reader Updater c2 | X | adobecrn.exe | Added by the PROLACO WORM! | No |
| Adobe Reader Updaters | X | AdobeAMC.exe | Added by the PROLACO-F WORM! | No |
| Adobe Reader32 | X | Acrord32.exe | Added by the RBOT-BLC WORM! Note - this is not the popular Adobe Reader | No |
| Adobe Systems, Inc. Adobe Gamma Loader | U | ADOBEG~1.EXE | Included with older versions of Adobe Photoshop products. Loads the user created ICC profile which adjusts monitor colours across all programs, including Photoshop. Required by some graphics professionals who want their monitor calibrated. Most home users will not need it | Yes |
| Adobe Systems, Inc. Adobe Gamma Loader | U | Adobe Gamma Loader.exe | Included with older versions of Adobe Photoshop products. Loads the user created ICC profile which adjusts monitor colours across all programs, including Photoshop. Required by some graphics professionals who want their monitor calibrated. Most home users will not need it | Yes |
| Adobe Update Manager | N | AdobeUpdateManager.exe | Automatic updates for earlier versions of Adobe products such as Adobe Reader (PDF file viewer) and Adobe Acrobat (PDF file creation/editing) | No |
| Adobe Update Manager | X | AdobeUpdater.exe | Added by the DUBERATH.A TROJAN! Note - the file is located in %ProgramFiles%\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader which is a valid directory for Adobe Reader but this is not an Adobe file. The legitimate "AdobeUpdater.exe" file is located in %ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Adobe\Updater5 | No |
| Adobe Updater | X | AdobeUpdater.exe | Added by the BCKDR-RFM TROJAN! Note - this is not the legitimate Adobe "AdobeUpdater.exe" file which is normally located in %ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Adobe\Updater5. This one is located in %Windir%. | No |
| Adobe Updater | N | Adobe_Updater.exe | Automatic updates for earlier versions of Adobe products such as Adobe Reader (PDF file viewer) and Adobe Acrobat (PDF file creation/editing) | No |
| Adobe Updater | N | AdobeUpdater.exe | Automatic updates for earlier versions of Adobe products such as Adobe Reader (PDF file viewer) and Adobe Acrobat (PDF file creation/editing) | No |
| Adobe Updater Startup Utility | N | UpdaterStartupUtility.exe | Update manager for Adobe Application Manager (AAM) - as used in their Creative Suite 5 (CS5) stand-alone products and suites for example | Yes |
| Adobe Version Cue CS2 | U | VersionCueCS2Tray.exe | Exclusive feature of the Adobe Creative Suite until CS4, Version Cue™ helps you "find files fast, track versions across applications, link files together, and share them in creative collaboration without fear of overwriting someone else's work" | No |
| adobe32 | X | adobeupdate.exe | Added by the VBINJEC-CG TROJAN! | No |
| Adobe32 ARM | X | rundll32.exe | Added by the SWISYN.ARLT TROJAN! Note - this is not the legitimate rundll32.exe process, which is found in %Windir% (98/ME) or %System% (NT/2K/XP). This one is found in %WinDir%\Adobe32 ARM | No |
| AdobeA | X | adobes.exe | Added by the FLOOD.BA TROJAN! | No |
all others A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Page No.: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 | ||||
Notes & Warnings
Variables:
DISCLAIMER: It is assumed that users are familiar with the operating system they are using and comfortable with making the suggested changes. We will not be held responsible if changes you make cause a system failure.
WARNING: 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 entries listed in this database where specific removal instructions haven't been given. If this is the case then you could try ComboFix, a program written by sUBs that can remove many different types of Trojans and Worms. See here for a tutorial on how to use the program
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.
SERVICES: "Services" from the NT/2K/XP/Vista/7 operating systems are not included. I fully understand that some programs with these OS's use "Services" as an alternative to load their component parts at startup but these are handled in a different way. We recommend you try BlackViper for information on services for the relevant operating systems.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
If you're looking for a startup manager then why not 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.
As there are more than 10,000 entries in this database related to viruses, trojans, worms and other malware we recommend you use a quality internet security package. Which ever you choose, keep it updated.
Copyright
Presentation, format & comments Copyright © 2001 - 2011 Pacman's Portal
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