Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Autoruns VS Userscripts

Compare Autoruns VS Userscripts and see what are their differences

Autoruns logo Autoruns

See what programs are configured to startup automatically when your system boots and you login.

Userscripts logo Userscripts

An open-source userscript editor for Safari.
  • Autoruns Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-16
  • Userscripts Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-10

Autoruns features and specs

  • Comprehensive
    Autoruns provides an exceptionally detailed view of all programs that start automatically with Windows, including those in startup folders, Run, RunOnce, and other registry keys.
  • Ease of Use
    The interface is straightforward and user-friendly, making it easy even for less experienced users to manage startup programs.
  • Free of Charge
    Autoruns is available for free, making it accessible to anyone without financial constraints.
  • Updated Regularly
    The tool is regularly updated by Microsoft, ensuring compatibility with new versions of Windows and incorporating the latest features and bug fixes.
  • Portable
    Autoruns does not require installation and can be run as a portable application, adding convenience for IT professionals who need to manage multiple systems.
  • Advanced Features
    It includes advanced options like virus total integration, allowing users to check startup items against multiple antivirus engines.

Possible disadvantages of Autoruns

  • Complexity for Novices
    While the interface is user-friendly, the vast amount of information presented can be overwhelming for those who are not familiar with Windows internals.
  • Risk of Critical Changes
    Modifying or disabling certain startup items without proper knowledge can lead to system instability or prevent essential services from running.
  • Lack of In-depth Documentation
    Although there is documentation available, it may not be sufficient for users who require more detailed instructions or case-specific guidance.
  • Manual Process
    Autoruns does not provide an automated way to clean or optimize the startup items; users must manually review and make decisions.
  • No Real-time Monitoring
    The tool does not offer real-time monitoring or alerting capabilities; it can only provide a snapshot of the current startup configuration.

Userscripts features and specs

  • Customization
    Userscripts allow for extensive customization of web experiences, as users can write scripts in JavaScript to modify the behavior and appearance of websites according to their needs.
  • Enhanced Productivity
    By automating repetitive tasks and adding useful shortcuts, userscripts can significantly enhance productivity for users who interact frequently with specific web applications.
  • Open Source Nature
    Being hosted on GitHub, Userscripts is open source, allowing developers to contribute, review the code for security purposes, and fork the project for personal use.
  • Community Support
    Userscripts have a strong community backing, with many scripts readily available through various online repositories, providing users with a wide array of pre-made scripts to choose from.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility
    Many userscripts are designed to be cross-browser compatible, functioning in browsers like Chrome, Firefox, and others that support userscript managers like Tampermonkey or Greasemonkey.

Possible disadvantages of Userscripts

  • Security Risks
    Userscripts can pose security risks, as malicious scripts could potentially capture sensitive user data or perform harmful actions on behalf of the user.
  • Maintenance Overhead
    As websites update their structures and functionalities, users may need to frequently maintain or update their scripts to ensure continued compatibility and performance.
  • Technical Barrier
    Creating and managing userscripts often requires a certain level of technical knowledge, particularly in JavaScript, which may not be accessible to non-technical users.
  • Browser Deprecation Concerns
    Future browser updates might deprecate some functionalities that userscripts rely on, potentially rendering some scripts useless unless updated.
  • Performance Impact
    Poorly written or overly complex scripts might lead to performance issues, slowing down browsers or websites as they perform additional processing on pages.

Analysis of Autoruns

Overall verdict

  • Autoruns is considered a good tool for both IT professionals and advanced users who need a deeper insight into what processes and services are set to start automatically on a Windows computer. Its detailed interface and robust feature set make it a preferred choice for system diagnostics and optimization.

Why this product is good

  • Autoruns, developed by Microsoft, offers a comprehensive way to manage and understand the programs that automatically start on your Windows computer. It provides detailed information about what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and it allows for easy management of these startup processes. This can be invaluable for troubleshooting issues related to system performance, security threats, or simply reducing the clutter of unnecessary programs.

Recommended for

  • IT professionals
  • System administrators
  • Advanced Windows users
  • Security analysts looking to detect and disable malicious startup items
  • Users seeking to improve system performance by managing startup applications

Autoruns videos

How to use Microsoft Autoruns

More videos:

  • Review - Make Your Computer Boot Fast for Free with AutoRuns | Autoruns Review
  • Review - Using Autoruns to optimize your computer & find viruses

Userscripts videos

5 Recommended Tampermonkey Userscripts in 2022

More videos:

  • Review - Creating TamperMonkey Userscripts | Augmented Browsing

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Autoruns and Userscripts)
Utilities
100 100%
0% 0
Browser Extensions
0 0%
100% 100
Monitoring Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Dark Mode
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Autoruns seems to be a lot more popular than Userscripts. While we know about 306 links to Autoruns, we've tracked only 14 mentions of Userscripts. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Autoruns mentions (306)

  • Microsoft wants Windows Update to handle all apps
    When I was using Windows many years ago, there used to be Sysinternals Autoruns[1] which could control your context menu entries. I have no idea whether it continues to work under Windows 11 though. [1] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Office is too slow, so Microsoft is making it load at Windows startup
    Autoruns utility still exists. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Booting an OS from a Preserved .E01 (EWF) Disk Image File Using Arsenal Image Mounter
    For example, when I want to actually run malware on the investigation target environment and observe its behavior, or when I want to run investigation tools (like Autoruns). - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Firefox 127
    To Firefox's credit, they are the last major browser to inject themselves into our computer's startup (and at least they are providing notice and a way to disable it). I find it not only annoying but arrogant how most other software companies assume our lives revolve around their particular tool. So much so that, obviously, we must want their software to leech our time, bandwidth and power running its setup... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • The Windows Context Menu โ€“ Is It a Lost Cause?
    Also Autoruns from SysInternals ( https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns ) "Explorer" tab lets you un-check / check individual entries. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
View more

Userscripts mentions (14)

  • Jeffgeerling.com has been Migrated to Hugo
    The looking icon is the Userscripts extensions. https://github.com/quoid/userscripts. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Show HN: My first programming project โ€“ userscripts to change forum UIs
    Hi, I'm Will. I'm 24, autistic, and have OCD tendencies. I'm learning to code and this is my first public project. Iโ€™d really appreciate your feedback and encouragement! This project lets me solve some of my OCD problems online. There are a couple of parts of the forums that I visit โ€“ Space Battles, Sufficient Velocity, and Questionable Questing โ€“ that I want to remove. Specifically, I hate seeing indicators of... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Show HN: HNRelevant โ€“ Explore Related Discussions on HN in an Integrated Sidebar
    You can use userscripts [1] which is a safari extension which allows you to add userscripts, and the author of this work have an userscript [2] that you can use with safari (or any other browser) [1] https://github.com/quoid/userscripts. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Apple and Safari playing catch-up?
    That Safari also supports UserScripts and Extensions also somewhat mutes some of Arc's benefits, so it will be interesting to see how/if Arc responds. Source: about 3 years ago
  • HN: Thank you for being fast, ad-free and text only
    }` In Safari, using Userscripts extension: https://github.com/quoid/userscripts#userscripts-safari. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Autoruns and Userscripts, you can also consider the following products

Process Explorer - The top window always shows a list of the currently active processes, including the names of their owning accounts, whereas the information displayed in the bottom window depends on the mode that Process Explorer is in: if it is in handle mode you'lโ€ฆ

Violentmonkey - Violentmonkey is a userscript manager to support running userscripts in web pages.

Tron Script - Tron is a glorified collection of batch files that automate the process of cleaning up Windows systems.

Greasemonkey - Customize the way a web page displays or behaves, by using small bits of JavaScript.

Tech Tool Store - Tech tool store is an IT professional application which contains more than 600 free technician tools packed in a simple, fully featured interface.

Tampermonkey - Greasemonkey compatible script manager.