autoruns

The autoruns tag covers Microsoft Sysinternals Autoruns and its broader view of Windows startup configuration. It includes discussions of why Task Manager may show only familiar startup apps while Autoruns reveals many more configured auto-start entries, including services, scheduled tasks, drivers, shell extensions, updaters, and orphaned entries. Content under this tag helps explain the difference between the two tools and the layered nature of modern Windows startup. It is useful for readers investigating what launches when Windows starts, comparing startup inventories, and understanding why entries can appear outside the standard Startup Apps view.