Most Windows machines are set up to run many software packages when the machine starts Windows, such as:

* Anti-virus guard
* Firewall
* Graphics card taskbar icon
* Printer status monitor

However, if your machine is starting slower than normal, you may have other programs running at startup that you no longer need. Worse, some of these may be malicious.

Windows Defender lets you view the list of programs running at Windows startup. You can also disable or permanently remove unneeded entries.

1. From Windows Defender, click the "Tools" button.

2. Select "Software Explorer".

3. Next to "Category" make sure "Startup Programs" is selected.

4. Windows Defender will now go through each startup program and try to verify that it is legitimate against a database of known programs.

5. To view details on a particular startup entry just click the entry. Information you may see will include:

* File Name
* Display Name
* Description
* Publisher
* Digitally Signed By
* File Type
* Startup Value
* File Path
* File Size
* File Version
* Date Installed
* Startup Type
* Location
* Classification
* Ships with Operating System

6. If you want to remove an entry from your startup list, consider disabling it first. This way you can easily re-enable it later if you find out the startup entry was useful.

To temporarily disable an entry, click the entry and then click the "Disable" button.

7. To remove an entry from the startup list, click the entry and then the "Remove" button.

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Return to the Windows Defender page.