Will the real XP startup folder please stand up?

Ronald Epstein · 08-31-2005, 06:35 AM

Hey Guys!

I want to have a particular program start when my
XP boots up. There is no "auto start up" in the
program's options menu.

I would imagine all I need is to make a shortcut
of the program .exe icon and place it in the startup
folder to have it automatically start up.

....but which folder is that? Windows has a few
startup folders and I am not sure which is the one
I need.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Mike SD · 08-31-2005, 07:14 AM

If you want the program to start for all users on your PC, put it here:

\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Otherwise, instead of All Users, put it under your login name.

Paul Padilla · 08-31-2005, 11:13 AM

If there is more than one person logging on with their own accounts to that computer, then it depends if you want that program to start up for everyone or just you.

For everyone the shortcut should go in

C:\Documents and Settings\all users\start menu\programs\startup

For just yourself the shortcut should go in

C:\Documents and Settings\your account name here\start menu\programs\startup

Hunter P · 08-31-2005, 12:59 PM

I like to use a quick and easy way to do this. If you click on your Start button and pull up the "All Programs" menu there should be a "Startup" folder in there. You can just click and drag your icon into that. This folder should be the user specific Startup folder.

Mike Fassler · 08-31-2005, 06:59 PM

what Mike and Paul said are both correct.

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Brian Perry · 08-31-2005, 10:14 PM

On a related note, I've got programs that start automatically upon login but are not in the start folder. I heard they could be somewhere in the registry. Any ideas on how to find those and safely remove them?

Thanks

Mike SD · 08-31-2005, 11:38 PM

Quote:

On a related note, I've got programs that start automatically upon login but are not in the start folder. I heard they could be somewhere in the registry. Any ideas on how to find those and safely remove them?

Disclaimer: You can fudge up your Windows pretty good if you don't know what you are doing.

Ok, that out of the way, click Start then Run. Type regedit into the box and click ok. Welcome to the Registry.

Next, click My Computer so it's highlighted, then File -> Export. Name it and save it in a location you'll remember. This back's up your entire registry should you fudge it up. you can later restore it back by right-clicking the file and choosing merge.

Ok, now go to My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Win dows\CurrentVersion\Run

On the right side you'll see references to a number of programs (exe). You can delete the reference you want by clicking on it and hitting delete. It will NOT delete the program, but will prevent it from starting.

If you don't know what the program is, simply type the name of the exe in Google and you'll usually find out what it's for.

You may also want to check out the Add/Remove programs in control panels.

Hunter P · 09-01-2005, 12:16 AM

what Mike and Paul said are both correct.

Um, and I'm not?:b

As for the registry question, before you do any of that, I would check the program's options menu. Many of them are courteous enough to allow you to choose if you want it to run at startup or not.

nolesrule · 09-01-2005, 02:09 AM

And before you edit the registry...

Start>Run...
type in "msconfig".

The last tab has a list of things set to run at startup. Uncheck the ones you don't want to start.

Joseph Bolus · 09-01-2005, 02:17 AM

Quote:

On a related note, I've got programs that start automatically upon login but are not in the start folder. I heard they could be somewhere in the registry. Any ideas on how to find those and safely remove them?

There is an easier and safer way to prevent programs from starting automatically than mucking around in the registry.

The 'System Configuration Utility' could be used to disable and/or re-enable the launching of a program on log-in.

To launch the 'System Configuration Utility' simply click the 'Start' button and chose the 'Run ...' option. In the resulting dialog box type "MSCONFIG" and click 'OK'.

The 'System Configuration Utility' will then appear.

Click the Utility's 'Startup' TAB, and you will then be presented with a complete list of all the programs that are launched from the registry on log-in. Simply 'Uncheck' the ones that you don't want to launch. (As Mike SD pointed out above, you can 'Google' the EXE to determine what it does before unchecking it if you're not sure.) Then click the 'APPLY' button. The next time you log-in, 'System Configuration Utility' will warn you that changes have been made. If you later need to re-enable the program to launch as you log-in, simply repeat the above procedure, but this time click the 'Check' box for the program.

EDIT: Oops! I see that Joe Kauffman beat me to it!

Mike SD · 09-01-2005, 07:14 AM

MUCH better idea to use the System Configuration Utility. I didn't realize XP had it. I use to use it Win2k as it was a burried menu item in the system tools, but I was never able to find it in XP. Never realized it was easily accessible as typing it in the run menu. :b

You learn something new every day.

Mike Fassler · 09-01-2005, 07:34 PM

If you dont wanna botch your registery but you wanna remove stuff from it easily there is a free tool called regcleaner it works pretty good and allows you to make instant backups before you remove anything it is easy to use.