Free Software to Monitor Windows Startup Locations. Software can be easily added to Windows startup so that it automatically runs when your computer is booted up. It is necessary for some software such as an antivirus to run at startup so it automatically starts protecting Windows once it has been loaded. However, there are many other software applications that come with an option to start with Windows and if you dont need them running all the time consuming unnecessary system resources that can potentially slow down the computer, it is better to just disable the option. Other than just legitimate programs adding themselves to Windows startup, any kind of malicious software such as viruses, trojans, rogueware, keyloggers, ransomware etc also quietly sneak into Windows startup locations without your knowledge to keep them active on the computer as long as possible until they are detected and cleaned. HIPS Host Intrusion Prevention System can effectively detect and prevent both legitimate and and malicious software from adding itself to startup but they are very sensitive and protect many other areas other than startup locations. If you are looking for a smaller and easy to use tool to just monitor Windows startup locations, here we have 1. The list of software are split into 2 categories which is real time and on demand. Real Time Windows Startup Location Monitoring. The list of real time Windows startup location monitoring tools below means that they need to be running to monitor changes on the startup location. If they are not running, anything added to Windows startup during that time will not be detected. Watch 4 Start. Watch 4 Start is one of many tools created by Lee. Lu Soft such as Watch 4 Folder, Zip. Fix, Quick Fix, etc. It is a free portable program to monitor a couple of unrevealed startup locations in Windows with multiple actions such as show desktop alert, popup message and running a program upon detecting a change. You can set it to auto run on Windows startup and checking the box at the bottom. Below is a sample of popup message when a startup is being detected. It does not have the ability to temporarily block the change, only notify you about it. The Live Log from the main GUI will show the exact location of the startup change. Watch 4 Start takes up 7. GlassWire free firewall software and network monitor can detect threats other miss. Download GlassWire free firewall now to protect your computer. SoftPerfect File Access Monitor Keep track of who read and made changes to each file. SoftPerfect File Access Monitor is a multipurpose tool that monitors access to. OsMonitor employee monitoring software is designed for network computer monitoring. You can find every detail of your employees computer on server. Spy software keylogger, chat logging, parental control, employee monitoring and other spy tools. You have the right to knowMB memory usage which is quite a lot for a small and simple program. If you got the error Thread error The handle is invalid 6 when trying to start monitoring, there is probably nothing much you can do from your side since it is a coding error. Try the next program below. Download Watch 4 Start. Ster. Jo Startup Patrol. Ster. Jo Startup Patrol is a free Windows startup monitoring program where it checks the registry run location and also startup folder. A few actions such as disable, enable, edit, delete, execute, viewing file properties and search online are available to assist in managing the list of startup programs shown in the main user interface. Upon detecting a new addition to Windows startup, Ster. Jo Startup Patrol instantly prompts a notice asking for your action which is either allow, disable or delete. It also shows if the file is digitally signed. It takes up about 3. MB memory usage when sitting in notification area. The setup installer version of Ster. Jo Startup Patrol prompts to install adware during installation. You can download the official portable version below that comes without the adware. Download Ster. Jo Startup Patrol. Startup. Monitor. Startup. Monitor is a really old software by Mike Lin that was released in the year 2. Even the official website and download links are no longer available but we managed to find it on the web. You would expect that it wont work on a newer operating system such as Windows 7, but surprisingly it does after testing. Startup. Monitor is really light taking up only 0. KB to 0. 5. KB of memory usage. It is purely a startup monitoring tool with only a warning popup telling you that it detects a change in system startup. You will not find a graphical user interface that lists all the startup programs nor configuration. Although it works, the possible problem is the additional startup locations found on newer Windows operating systems are not being monitored and there is no way to add them. Download Startup. Monitor. 4. Spybot Search Destroy 1. The previous version of Spybot has a feature called Tea. Timer which monitors called or initiated processes and also changes made on the critical areas in the registry which includes startup, but unfortunately this has been removed in the current version 2. Fortunately you can still download the older version of Spybot if youd like to use its Tea. Timer function. During installation, you get to choose if you want to enable Tea. Timer by selecting the checkbox Use system settings protection Tea. Timer. If you missed it, click on Mode at the menubar and select Advanced Mode. Go to Tools Resident enable the checkbox for Resident Tea. Timer Protection of over all system settings active. Do note that the Tea. Timer in 1. 6. 2 is unlike the older version of Spybot where it asks for your decision on any unknown actions. Network management software for mapping, monitoring, auditing, analyzing, diagramming your companys network devices, servers, and bandwidth. HeartMath products and services that reduce stress and enhance life built on over two decades of research. Website Tracker Widget lets you monitor forums, blogs, block IPs and secure SSL webpages an IP blocker for visitor IP traffic eCommerce. HD Tune Pro 5. 60 released. Changes Improved temperature detection Save options added option to export screenshot as jpg time and date format can be. From the inventors of computerised Test Charts, we have installed our software in over 8000 consulting rooms around the world including most of the major eye hospital. The Tea. Timer in 1. If you want Tea. Timer to prompt for actions whenever it detects a new addition to startup locations, you must enable paranoid mode by right clicking the tray icon and select Paranoid mode. Download Spybot Search Destroy 1. Startup. Eye. Startup. Monitor Website Changes Software InformerEye is another simple and light startup monitoring tool that uses slightly over 2. MB in memory. The only settings available for Startup. Eye are to load at Windows startup so that it starts monitoring once your computer is booted up, and whether to enable or disable the alarm when detect registry change. An advantage found in Startup. Eye that is not available on other startup monitoring software mentioned in this article is the ability to upload the file to Virus. Total for scanning by using the official Virus. Total Uploader program. Download Startup. Eye. On Demand Windows Startup Location Monitoring. Unlike the programs mentioned above, the programs listed below arent required to be running in order to detect the changes in startup locations. A snapshot is taken whenever the program runs and will be used to compare with the next snapshot when you run it again. They can also be used for monitoring startup locations in real time. Win. Patrol. Most people would have heard of Win. Patrol, a popular system monitoring utility that checks important areas in Windows such as startup locations and also allowing you to investigate hidden files, recently run programs, scheduled tasks, file types, cookies, active tasks, IE helpers and services. A huge turn off in the free version of Win. Patrol is it does not check for changes in real time which means youd get a delayed alert whenever an application is added to Windows startup. The default interval is 2 minutes and the fastest you can change it to is only 1 minute. Oddly weve tested the PLUS version with the real time protection turned on but it still took a while before the alert pops up. We also did not receive any popup alert to newly installed services and also the creation of scheduled tasks. Download Win. Patrol. Startup Inspector Startup Monitor. Startup Monitor automatically takes a snapshot at every second whenever the startup monitoring is enabled. It only monitors startup items in the registry such as Run and Run Once for both Local Machine and Current User.