Autoruns vs Facter

Autoruns shows programs and drivers configured to run during Windows boot, login, or when certain built-in Windows applications start. It reports startup items from locations such as the Startup folder, Registry keys, Explorer extensions, services, scheduled tasks, and Winlogon entries. Users can hide signed Microsoft entries to focus on third-party items, inspect startup images configured for other accounts, and disable an entry or delete its configuration. Scan options include signature verification and VirusTotal hash checks; submitting files not previously scanned requires the upload option, and VirusTotal features require accepting its terms. The download includes Autorunsc, a command-line version that can output CSV or tab-delimited data, verify signatures, and scan an offline Windows system. The Autoruns and Autorunsc download is listed as 3 MB, and Microsoft offers a Sysinternals Live option. Autoruns costs nothing, with no limit on installation or use on devices owned or supported by the user, but no redistribution license. Microsoft says Sysinternals tools are provided as is without official support and points users to a community forum.

Facter is a free command-line tool that gathers system information such as hardware details, network settings, and operating system type and version. Puppet uses it to collect information before requesting a catalog or compiling one with puppet apply. Its built-in core facts include legacy and structured facts, though some facts do not apply to every system. Users can add custom facts in Ruby, with multiple resolutions available for determining a value, or external facts that return static data or output from a script or program. Facts can be hashes or arrays, and Boolean, numeric, and structured values retain their types. Configuration can block fact groups or cache results with time-to-live settings. Facts are available in Puppet manifests, while the --puppet option loads Puppet-specific facts from the command line. PuppetDB's API can support exploration, search, and reporting on infrastructure facts. Facter runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows and can be self-hosted. Legacy facts are omitted from default command-line output unless --show-legacy is used. Puppet's custom-fact examples require some Ruby familiarity, and facter.conf must be created manually or managed with a module.