Startup List

[Graeme Ogg]

Following memory overload problems when using Photoshop Elements, I had a look at my Startup List to see if there was anything suspicious lurking there. I put various filenames into the PC Review "Startup" database and found a number of things (e.g." msmsgs.exe" or "explorer.exe") where legitimate processes and worm or Trojan infestations have exactly the same filename. Excuse my ignorance of these things, but without being capable of going in and looking at the code, how on earth can I tell whether items in my startup list are legit or not? By un-ticking them just to be on the safe side I could presumably cripple some PC function or other. I have AVG, SpyBot and AdAware and none of them have detected anything. So do I just assume the start-ups are the bona fide versions?