OSAM: Autorun Manager

Windows launches its services just as you’re about to gain control of the desktop. There are also third-party programs, and services which can do the same, some of which can even represent malicious content. Luckily, you can rely on specialized applications like OSAM: Autorun Manager to view startup items and take matters into your own hands.

Once the application starts, you’re taken through a scanner to have items identified on your computer. These are all enlisted in a tree list, which is cleverly structured to include AppInit DLLs, common, control panel objects, drivers, explorer, logon, print monitors, services, and winlogon.

On the other hand, you can select the entire list, to have a detailed view of all files, including details like publisher, name, full path, and risk factor. You can view related details in a dedicated section, which includes some more options than the table. You can save the log to file in case you want to later on analyze the entire operation.

Apart from the entries view, there’s the possibility to switch to a files view. It functions in a similar manner, but the list is built according to applications. Toggling startup status of the application is done from the corresponding menu, or simply clicking the corresponding checkbox.

The context menu also shows some more options, such as the possibility to copy text, registry key name, as well as file name. Advanced settings make it possible to jump to registry, to file, as well as dump the selected file. There’s also the possibility to have more info grabbed from online services to better analyze items.

OSAM: Autorun Manager is a reliable application which is a bit more than your average startup manager. It can come in handy for identifying suspicious types of items, or simply to have a clean list and know the items which automatically run with Windows.