One of my biggest pet peeves is software that when installed, assumes that I want to let it launch at startup, rather than when I want it to launch. Adobe Acrobat installs a utility to speed up launching Acrobat, for example, but all that really does is to pre-load parts of Acrobat, even when it's not needed. So, you end up with a computer that boots more slowly, and resources that are wasted in case you want to read a PDF.
WinPatrol will tell you when selfish software like this is trying to let itself launch when Windows starts, and gives you control over whether or not you will allow it to do so. WinPatrol is free, and there is also a Plus version available for a fee with added features.
Tags: winpatrol
