Executing a program at startup on Windows
Posted by Brian Clifton
Written September 8, 2008 at 21:45
Written September 8, 2008 at 21:45
Run and RunOnce registry keys cause programs to run each time that a user logs on. The data value for a key is a command line. Register programs to run by adding entries of the form description-string=commandline. You can write multiple entries under a key. If more than one program is registered under any particular key, the order in which those programs run is indeterminate.
The Windows registry includes the following four keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
By default, the value of a RunOnce key is deleted before the command line is run. You can prefix a RunOnce value name with an exclamation point (!) to defer deletion of the value until after the command runs. Without the exclamation point prefix, if the RunOnce operation fails the associated program will not be asked to run the next time you start the computer.
By default, these keys are ignored when the computer is started in Safe Mode. The value name of RunOnce keys can be prefixed with an asterisk (*) to force the program to run even in Safe mode.
For more information, check out these articles:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/179365
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa376977(VS.85).aspx
The Windows registry includes the following four keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
By default, the value of a RunOnce key is deleted before the command line is run. You can prefix a RunOnce value name with an exclamation point (!) to defer deletion of the value until after the command runs. Without the exclamation point prefix, if the RunOnce operation fails the associated program will not be asked to run the next time you start the computer.
By default, these keys are ignored when the computer is started in Safe Mode. The value name of RunOnce keys can be prefixed with an asterisk (*) to force the program to run even in Safe mode.
For more information, check out these articles:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/179365
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa376977(VS.85).aspx