Solved Startup Programs - Which ones are absolutely necessary

[Wynona]

And which ones can I get rid of?

I think the title and my first line explain what I don't know enough about. There are a huge amount of startups on my Win 8 system and I've been advised by my computer to get rid of some of them. Problem is it just showed up once and isn't in my Action Center. However, listed below are all the startups.

Edit: I had these tabbed, but when posting, they ran together. Sorry.

Status Monitor App – Brother Industries Medium
PDF Pro7Hook.exe – Nuance Paper Port Medium
PDF Create8Hook.exe – Nuance PaperPort Medium
PaperPort Print to Desktop for NT Medium
PaperPort IndexSearch Medium
OP Agent – OmniPage? Not Measured
OmniPage Ultimate High
SkyDrive High
Logitech SetPoint Event Mgr High
Logitech Download Assistant High
IDT PC Audio Medium
HP Beats Low
GladLauncher (4) High
Ereg (Unicode version) - Nuance Medium
Control Center Launcher (3) Brother Medium
Common Software Manager – Flexera Not Measured
Catalyst Control Center Launcher (3) High
Bluetooth Application High
Adobe Reader and Acrobat Manager (2) Medium
Microsoft Office 2010 Component Low
QuickFinder Index Scheduler Medium
REGISTRYCONTROLLER.EXE – Nuance High

First, let me say that I don't need "instant startup" of a program I use. I'm not so pressed for time that I can't wait a few seconds for it to open.

That said, I am pretty sure I can get rid of most, if not all, of the Nuance stuff. I installed OmniPage Ultimate and it looks as if Nuance is pretty invasive.

I don't know what the Microsoft 2010 Component is, but it's pretty low, so it may not be "in the way". (For valid reasons, I have Office 2010 and Office 2013 both installed on this computer.)

I have three Brother printers; 1 Laser, 2 inkjets, all of which are MFCs, so I probably need the Brother stuff.

There are a couple which I haven't a clue about what they are or what they do; GladLauncher and Common Software (Flexera).

And yes, I see some that I'm pretty sure should not be touched, but I need advice on which ones I should keep and which ones I can disable.

Thanks in advance for any help given. It's much appreciated.

 

[antares]

Hi Wynona, HERE is the list of Windows 8.1 services and suggested tweaking. Regarding the Startup items you're listing, you can safely disable all of those from startup without crippling the OS. They are all 3rd party. You have to evaluate what impact it'll have for those specific programs, but I don't see a reason to keep them loading during startup.

 

[oneeyed]

I agree with the post above, nothing is necessary in your startup, even the ones associated with your printers should be safe disabling, they probably only give some icons in your tray.

I think you are safe disabling the 2 logitech startup programs. They are associated with your mouse or keyboard I assume. I've always disabled this setpoint application without any problems, keep in mind I don't use custom keys. You can even uninstall it completely and use the basic windows drivers.

I don't know about catalyst launcher but if it's the same as the nvidia app, then it's safe disabling it too, it gives an icon in the tray for quick access to the configuration options but you should still be able to do it without the laucher via control panel.

Gladlauncher and Common Software Manager (Flexera) are also part of the nuance stuff. Honestly they put a lot of things in startup, way too much to my taste...

 

[whs]

You need none of those. They will all start when needed.

 

[CountMike]

If you have just default settings in CCC then you can disable it from startup but if you changed anything or have custom presets you should keep it on, otherwise they would not be active.

 

[bluemoon]

suggest you get startup defender, or a similar program. its sits in your notification area, then pops up when a program tries to add itself to your startup. you then have the option to block or allow. 99% of programs can be blocked.

 

[Wynona]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the help.

Going in . . .