Top 5 Startup Managers for Windows PC

As the application displays everything that is configured to start automatically, it can be used to quickly detect any malware or other malicious startup items. To disable a startup item, just deselect the checkbox next to the startup entry and you are good to go. Unfortunately, Autoruns won’t support delaying startup items.

Since Autoruns is mainly targeted towards power users, be cautious while using it as any unwise disabling of startup items may hinder your applications.

2. Starter

Starter startup manager is just like Autoruns but is much more organized and has a more refined user interface. Unlike Autoruns, Starter separates all the startup programs from the startup services and processes. This simple tweak in user interface helps you better manage the startup applications.

To disable an application, service or process from starting up automatically, just deselect the checkbox, and you are good to go. Besides disabling the startup items, you can also edit them to change their parameter and run state. To do that, simply right click on an item and select the option “Edit.”

That being said, Starter won’t filter the Windows services like Autoruns and also doesn’t have an option to delay the startup items. Since it doesn’t filter Windows services, be cautious while disabling the startup items.

3. CCleaner

CCleaner is one of the best cleaning utilities available for Windows and is also my favorite software. Though it is not as popular as other dedicated startup managers, it is quite functional and has all the basic options you need to manage the startup items.

To access the startup manager, open the CCleaner, select “Tools” and select the option “Startup.” As you can see, CCleaner neatly categorizes the startup items. To disable a startup program, right click on it and select the option “Disable.” That’s it; it is that simple to use CCleaner to manage startup items.

4. WhatInMyStartup

WhatInMyStartup is a part of the free Nirsoft utilities and is fairly minimal in design and features. Though this utility doesn’t separate the startup items, you can easily disable a startup item by simply right-clicking and selecting the option “Disable.” Moreover, you can also delete a startup item by selecting the option “Delete.”

Besides disabling and deleting the programs, you can gather more information about the target program or process by selecting the option “Google search – Executable name” or “Google search – Product name.”

5. WinPatrol

WinPatrol is yet another Windows startup manager whose user interface resembles the Autoruns application. Unlike Autoruns, it is not completely free but offers extra features like delaying the startup items, integration with Windows Explorer, one-click access to Windows hosts file, etc.