Application killer

[andreadebiase]

Does anyone know if there is a program out there that safely closes all apllications running in the background that affect the perfoamnce of my pc?
thank you

[Budfred]

In Windoze msconfig and Task Manager will do most of that.

To do more, Spybot Search and Destroy can tell you what is running background and allow you to delete.

Budfred

[Steve]

Hi Andrea,

EndItAll 2 (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,697,00.asp) is a pretty good one.

[Mark Miller]

msconfig is usually the best to see what is running in the backround. Taskmanager only shows active programs. Steve's choice is really good program I have used myself. Also try google search or look at wwwpcworld.com for uttilities that might do the same thing.

[kenja]

The PCMag site wouldn't work the download for me, so I got EndItAll 2 from here. (http://home.ptd.net/~don5408/toolbox/enditall/)

[mjc]

msconfig is usually the best to see what is running in the backround.

Not really, it will not show hidden items running in the background.

msconfig list:

Wineject
TclockEx
System Tray
ScanRegistry
InCD
NetLaunch
AVG (x2 entries)
SpywareGuard

Startup List:

--------------------------------------------------

Listing of startup folders:

Shell folders Startup:
[C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp]
SpywareGuard Control Panel.lnk = C:\Program Files\SpywareGuard\spywareguardcp.exe
User shell folders Startup:
*Folder not found*
Shell folders Common Startup:
[C:\WINDOWS\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp]
*No files*
User shell folders Common Startup:
*Folder not found*
User shell folders Alternate Common Startup:
*Folder not found*

Autorun entries from Registry:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
SystemTray = SysTray.Exe
ScanRegistry = C:\WINDOWS\scanregw.exe /autorun
InCD = C:\Program Files\Ahead\InCD\InCD.exe
NetLaunch = C:\PROGRAM FILES\NETLAUNCH\LAUNCH.EXE
AVG_CC = C:\PROGRAM FILES\GRISOFT\AVG6\avgcc32.exe /startup

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run Once
*No values found*
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run OnceEx
*No values found*
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run Services

Avgserv9.exe = C:\PROGRA~1\GRISOFT\AVG6\Avgserv9.exe

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run ServicesOnce
*No values found*
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
WinEjectAutoStart1 = C:\PROGRAM FILES\WINEJECT\WINEJECT.EXE -instance:1
TClockEx = C:\PROGRAM FILES\TCLOCKEX\TCLOCKEX.EXE

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run Once
*No values found*
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run OnceEx
*Registry key not found*
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run Services
*Registry key not found*
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run ServicesOnce
*Registry key not found*
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
*No subkeys found*
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run Once
*No subkeys found*
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run OnceEx
*No subkeys found*
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run Services
*No subkeys found*
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run ServicesOnce
*No subkeys found*
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
*No subkeys found*
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run Once
*No subkeys found*
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run OnceEx
*Registry key not found*
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run Services
*Registry key not found*
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run ServicesOnce
*Registry key not found*

The entries that show a not found after them are all ones that msconfig doesn't check, but programs can be entered in and often malware does use these locations....

[Budfred]

Spybot picks up on most of the stuff running background (though not as thoroughly as Startup List) and also provides the option to delete the program. Even msconfig only offers the option of disabling, but you can't actually delete from there.

Budfred

[Dinosaur]

Enditall mentioned in a previous post is very handy for use prior to running applications which might have problems due to other active programs. I use prior to defrag, the install of complex applications, and at various other times.

For control of programs started when Windows loads, Enditall is not the right utility. I use Startup.exe, available free fromn the PC Magazine site. It is better than the msconfig utility provided with Windows. I consider it better than Startupcop, also available free from PC mag.

[Dinosaur]

Enditall mentioned in a previous post is very handy for use prior to running applications which might have problems due to other active programs. I use prior to defrag, the install of complex applications, and at various other times.

For control of programs started when Windows loads, Enditall is not the right utility. I use Startup.exe, available free fromn the PC Magazine site. It is better than the msconfig utility provided with Windows. I consider it better than Startupcop, also available free from PC Mag.

BTW: I like StartupList for the data it provides, but it does not seem to work if you do not have the Visual Basic Studio (or perhaps just Visual Basic) installed on your system.