Autoruns 14.0 released: dark theme support for the Windows autostart manager

[harlan4096]

Microsoft's Sysinternals division has released the Windows autostart manager Autoruns 14.0. The new version of the portable application comes with dark theme support and an user interface overhaul.

Autoruns is probably the most sophisticated and powerful autostart manager for Windows. The last major version, Autoruns 13, was released in 2015. Its big new feature was support for Google's Virustotal virus checking service.

Tip: you shouldn't rely solely on Autoruns for security.

Microsoft Windows operating systems come with built-in options to manage autorun entries, but these are not found in a single location. Some are displayed in the Task Manager, others in the Task Scheduler or in other locations such as the Registry.

Autoruns displays all of them in its interface. All you need to do is download the latest version of the program, extract its archive, and run the program from the location. Installation is not necessary.

Note that you may want to run Autoruns with elevated rights, as you may not be able to manage some autostart entries otherwise.

You may switch themes, lite and dark supported, by selecting Options > Theme in the program interface. The program is restarted automatically when you change the theme.

Note that you can't change colors, e.g. the color of the font or the background color of lines.

Line colors are identical to the Lite theme colors. Options to change these colors and the font color could improve accessibility, as the gray on dark color scheme for text is not the most eye pleasing.

Nothing has been changed functionality-wise in the new version. You may still go through the "everything" listing or manage common autostart locations such as logon, Explorer or Codecs.

Some entries have different background colors; these require special attention, as they may point to invalid entries, e.g. when an autostart entry exists but the linked file does not. It may happen when programs get deleted manually, or if the uninstallation routine of the program does not remove the entry, for whatever reason.

Closing Words

Autoruns remains the go-to program for many Windows system administrators and home users when it comes to managing autostart entries.

Windows users who prefer dark themes find it supported in Autoruns 14, albeit without any options to customize the color scheme.

You may download Autoruns 14 from the official Microsoft Sysinternals website.

Now You: how often do you check autostart entries, and which program do you use for that?
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