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I am using a computer with Windows 10 and, as a normal procedure to reduce the boot time, I accessed the Task Manager and checked what was "Enabled" during the "Start-up".

Some of the programs

When I opened that tab, I saw a program called "Program", without Publisher information, which I have now disabled.

Program Disabled it

After that, I went straight to the Control Panel -> Programs and Features, in order to find out what the program is and to delete it; however, nothing with that name appears.

Given that, assuming that I don't know since when do I have that program on this computer, how can I know what this program is, so that I can decide on whether to remove it or not?

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    You can also display more columns in Task Manager, by the way, including “Startup type” and “Command line”. Just right-click any column header.
    – Daniel B
    Commented Nov 5, 2019 at 12:20

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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You can go to Microsoft Downloads, SysInternals and get Autoruns 64-bit (download it here). Download it, install it and run it and see if it shows you the program on your computer.

For your specific problem, access the "Logon" Tab.

Autoruns Logon

Yellow highlighted sections in the Autoruns display are errors and can be deleted.

That should solve your problem.

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You can rightclick on an entry and click Open file location wich leads you to the directory where the program is installed.

Open file location

As mentioned in the comments by Ismael Miguel this answer only applies to Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (and the Windows Server variants). For Windows 7 and older, you need to use msconfig.

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    This answer only applies to Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (and the Windows Server variants). For Windows 7 and older, you need to use msconfig.
    – Ismael Miguel
    Commented Nov 6, 2019 at 18:21
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    @IsmaelMiguel OP clearly specified he uses Windows 10
    – Emanuel Vintilă
    Commented Nov 7, 2019 at 18:29
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    @EmanuelVintilă That's true, but someone who searches for an answer to this question, on older devices, will find that it doesn't work for them. Besides, it is just a sentence that was added, and only increases the value of the answer, without making it invalid for what the O.P. asked.
    – Ismael Miguel
    Commented Nov 7, 2019 at 18:35
  • "This answer only applies to Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (and the Windows Server variants)." Autoruns works just fine in Windows 7 and shows the Yellow entries to delete just fine
    – anon
    Commented Nov 7, 2019 at 23:33
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    This didn't work in this particular, as the "Open file location" was blocked (one couldn't press it). It just happened to me again.
    – Gonçalo Peres
    Commented Jun 14, 2020 at 18:26
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Start-up entries are in the registry at Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, and Software\WOW6432Node\... for 32-bit programs. There is one of these keys for each user and machine. For the current session that would be under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CURRENT_USER.

Any shortcuts in a Start Menu group called Startup (Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup) will also be run. Again there are both per-user and per-machine locations, under %AllUsersProfile% and %AppData% for the current session.

Additionally, a scheduled task can be set to run at boot or login. This data is also in the registry Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Schedule, but in a much more complex format. This can be explored with the "Task Scheduler" app.

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    @IMSoP yes, there's also the magic Start Menu folder in addition to the registry.
    – OrangeDog
    Commented Nov 6, 2019 at 15:53
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    @IMSoP Actually there's a lot of ways to make something start with the system. For example you can schedule a task that executes on logon. Autoruns is great at finding these.
    – gronostaj
    Commented Nov 7, 2019 at 8:31
  • @IMSoP I think it is in this case. We have a screenshot from Task Manager, so it must be in the registry.
    – gronostaj
    Commented Nov 7, 2019 at 10:10
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    @gronostaj I just checked Task Manager on my system, and the programs I load through the Start Menu folder show up there. I've no idea what other areas it includes, but it's certainly more than just that one set of registry entries.
    – IMSoP
    Commented Nov 7, 2019 at 10:13

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