How To Prevent Applications From Automatically Starting With Windows

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Most malicious programs like Viruses, Trojans, Keyloggers and others are based upon the principle that they can be automatically loaded into the memory each time Windows boots. This automatic start can easily be configured through a simple registry entry. Hence, on many occasions it is a good idea for system administrators to disable automatic starting of applications through the Windows Registry. This can easily be done through the following registry tweak:

Step-1 Open the regedit.exe file.

Step-2 Scroll down to or create the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Step-3 Within the above registry key, it is possible to create a number of new DWORD entries each with a slightly different function:

DWORD Entry	Function
DisableLocalMachineRun	Disables all application from automatic start up during all sessions on that machine.
DisableLocalMachineRunOnce	Disables all applications from automatic startup during the next session on that machine.
DisableCurrentUserRun	Disables all application from automatic start up during all sessions of the particular user.
DisableCurrentUserRunOnce	Disable all applications from automatic start up during the next session of the user.

It is important to note that in each case, a data value of 1 prevents applications from automatically running each time Windows loads, while a data value of 0 enable automatic running.

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Step-4 Exit the Windows Registry. You Might need to restart the Windows session for the changes to implemented.

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It is also possible to implement the above by simply creating and executing Sky.reg extension file containing the data as below:

REGEDIT4

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

“DWORD Entry”=”Value”