Autoruns

Autoruns utility shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup and shows you the entries in the order Windows processes them. These programs include ones in your startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys.

Autoruns shows you the currently configured auto-start applications as well as the full list of Registry and file system locations available for auto-start configuration. Autostart locations displayed by Autoruns include logon entries, Explorer add-ons, Internet Explorer add-ons including Browser Helper Objects (BHOs), Appinit DLLs, image hijacks, boot execute images, Winlogon notification DLLs, Windows Services and Winsock Layered Service Providers.

Run Autoruns and it shows you the currently configured auto-start applications as shown in the figure below. Due to limited place I crop the picture. So you can observe some applications only.

Disabling and Deleting Entries
If you don't want an entry to active the next time you boot you can either disable or delete it. To disable an entry uncheck it. You delete items by choosing Delete in the Entry menu. Only the currently selected item will be deleted.

Getting More Information about an Entry
There are several ways to get more information about an entry. To view a location or entry in Explorer or Regedit chose Jump To in the Entry menu. Autoruns automatically execute an Internet search in your browser by selecting Search Online in the Entry menu.

Autoruns works on all versions of Windows including 64-bit versions.

Download Autoruns

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment version 2.0

The Windows Vista Hardware Assessment is a tool that will find computers on a network and perform a detailed inventory of the computers using Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). Then the tool will assess and report whether the computers can run Windows Vista or not, with the use of the detailed inventory data. This tool will find drivers for devices on the computers, and provide recommendations for hardware upgrades.

System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems:
Windows Server 2003 R2 (32 Bit x86), Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista

Hardware Requirements:
1.6-GHz or high speed processor minimum
1 GB of RAM minimum
1 GB of free hard-disk space
10/100 Mbps network adapter card

Software Requirements:
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition for storing inventory and assessment data. Microsoft Word 2003 SP2 or Microsoft Word 2007 and Microsoft Excel 2003 SP2 or Microsoft Excel 2007 for generating reports.

Download Vista Hardware Assessment tool

Microsoft announces Windows Server 2008 release date

At the Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft announced that it will release Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 on Feb 27, 2008. It has already released Windows Server 2008 Beta 3, Visual Studio 2008 Beta 1 versions.

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 is the next generation of the Windows Server operating system with more secure, reliable, and robust server environment than ever before. Windows Server 2008 provides powerful improvements to the base operating system over Windows Server 2003. It made powerful improvements to networking, advanced security features, remote application access, centralized server role management, performance and reliability monitoring tools, failover clustering, deployment, and the file system.