Startup Monitor Information

StartupMonitor is a handy little program which, once installed, alerts you to any programs trying to place shortcuts into your startup section of your Registry. This is handy for stopping malicious programs such as Trojans, and other software that installs a lot of programs at startup.

Once installed, StartupMonitor starts up when your computer is started. If StartupMonitor is running, you should now see an option to Stop StartupMonitor on your start menu, like in the screenshot at right.

This is used to stop StartupMonitor until you next reboot, for example if you needed to install lots of software without it interfering.

Using StartupMonitor

Everytime you start your computer, StatupMonitor will be automatically started and protecting you. It will notify you when a program tries to create a key in your "Run" folder in the Registry - this is where a lot of new programs hide startup programs etc.

You will often find installing new programs will generate the Startup Monitor prompts, which look like the one at left:

This is basically telling you that the program "StartupMonitor" has tried to register a program to run at your system startup - this appeared when I reinstalled StartupMonitor for this FAQ, while StartupMonitor was running.

In cases like the above, it is normally safe to allow the change, especially if you recognize the program. If you are installing a program, and the alert includes the word ‘cleanup’, it is usually okay to allow it; these programs remove temporary files used by the installer.

But, a screen like the one at right, which appears when the Real Player is installed or started, is an attempt to add auto-update junk to your startup for itself. StartupMonitor is a handy little tool to catch programs like the Real Player trying to add sneaky things to your system startup - and gives you control over what you want added.

Why eliminate this item? The more icons on your task (Start) bar, the longer your computer takes to run, and the greater the potential for background processes to slow it down.

More importantly, it offers minimal protection over Trojans, potentially destructive programs that often try to add themselves to the startup section of your registry, with you unaware of whats going on. StartupMonitor will always alert you to these changes, and give you the choice if you would like it added or not.

Always bear in mind though - if you don't know what it is, don't allow it - until you know it's safe.