Autoruns vs ManageEngine Free Process Manager

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.

ManageEngine Free Process Manager is a Windows utility for identifying processes that consume system resources and closing unwanted ones. Its local view lists running processes and memory usage, and a search lets you inspect memory used by a selected process. The tool can also display process-level memory usage on a remote machine and terminate processes locally or remotely. Remote connections require a server IP, domain, username, and password, plus WinRM and TrustedHosts configuration. The download page lists Free Process Manager 1.0 as a 5.7 MB Windows EXE with 32-bit main and mirror downloads. It requires Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5 or later. Minimum hardware is a 1 GHz x86 or 1.4 GHz x64 processor, 512 MB RAM, and 3 MB available disk space; installed use is under 10 MB. The plan costs nothing, with a license granted in perpetuity.