Using Autoruns
If your familiar with MSConfig and HijackThis, you already know how important Process Explorer Utilities are to optimizing Vista performance. Autoruns is is in this category. There are two versions, Autorunsc (systems console, aka command line) and Autoruns (image below) the graphical interface. You can easily sort processes by type (Startup, Login, etc.), with options to drill down to explore the performance of each process on your system (requires additional Process Explorer Utility), then make a decision to disable or delete entirely. This article focuses on installing AutoRuns and the Process Explorer Utilities, with beginner steps.