Tips For Using Autorun To Deal With Startup Processing And Malware

By Author: Brook M. Perry
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Autorun is a Sysinternals tool provided with Windows that lets you see those things that has got loaded automatically on your computer. Autorun also lets you disable the unwanted things. Very often malware gets automatically uploaded on your PC therefore, Autorun can be of great help in removing those malware and other similar threats. The process of removal is as easy as clicking a checkbox. The application is incredibly easy to use and also self-explanatory, but you do need to have certain guidance, so that you don’t end up deleting something important.

The article offers you certain tips so that you become familiar with Autorun:

Autorun tool can be downloaded from the Sysinternals website and can be run without installation. When you run it for first time, you’ll see the list of things that have got automatically uploaded on your computer. The items in the list can be different colors, and here is what they mean:

· Pink : This means there is no information about the publisher or that the digital signature of the uploaded item doesn’t exist or doesn’t match

· Green: This indicates that ...
... the item was not there in the computer when Autorun was last time run

· Yellow: This means that the startup entry is there, but the file doesn’t exist anymore

Disabling Items

You can check the items and decide to disable them if you think they are malware. To disable any item in the list, you just need to remove the check box. However, by right clicking on the item, you can also perform a lot more other functions. After disabling the item, you need to reboot your computer, and then run it again. However, the main window will list all the items together, but there are numerous tabs through which you can categorize the items.

Listed below are the tabs:

· Logon: This tab checks the “normal” locations in Windows to find out the things loaded automatically

· Explorer: This tab lists those items in Windows that can load themselves into Windows Explorer

· Scheduled Tasks: You must become very careful about the items listed under this tab because there are chances that items listed under it can be malware. These days instead of hiding in places that people already know to look for, malware creator creates a scheduled task and thus performs all sorts of nefarious things like showing ads using such tasks. Task Scheduler is confusing app, so most people don’t even know to look here. But Autorun makes it easy to check the scheduled tasks.

· Services: Next to Scheduled tasks, services are the next probable with which malware can hide itself these days. The malware gets itself registered as a Service in Windows, so you must remain careful, as items listed under this tab can also be malware. However, don’t end up disabling all the items under this tab. Just become a little bit more careful while disabling things as some things are necessary and legit.

· Drivers: Nowadays, crapware and malware makers have started creating device drivers that contains malware. So don’t be in the wrong idea that drivers are always the very important component of PC and can’t be a malware.

· Codecs: These are libraries of codes, which are required to handle media playback for videos or audio. Videos and audios are very much accessed by the users, so there are high chances that the codes get abused by malware. Therefore, items listed under this tab can also be the malware.

Autorun is a great tool to find out the automatically loaded malware in a computer. It is difficult to say which item can be a malware, but the pink colored items are dangerous as there is no information about the publishers. Only a tech expert can read and understand these listed items and disable the malwares.

About the Author: Hi! I am Brook M. Perry, a prolific blog writer and writer and keen author of articles related to pc security supportand solution for issues related to computers and mobile devices. Being associated with the reputed computer virus removal service provider Qresolve, I have resolved thousands of tech issues for our customers from worldwide. online pc support .My areas of interest are virus removal, PC security, endpoint security system, router support etc. You can follow me for my useful computer support articles on Ezine and other article-oriented websites.