How to put a program in Registry to run at startup (NOT: Startup folder !) ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michael Walsh
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Michael Walsh

Ok, there are two ways to tell WinXp to start a certain program whenever it boots:

1.) The user puts a shortcut into the "startup" folder
2.) The user puts an entry in the registry e.g. at

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Now, I am interested on how to put an entry in the Regsitry through WInXP GUI.
Do I really have to write such an entry manually into the Regsitry?
Is there another "official" way to setup a start through registry?

Michael
 
You forgot Scheduled tasks and also the Runonce key. In the GUI you
would start Regedit to edit the registry.
 
Run regedit.exe and navigate to the run key and add a String Value, call it
whatever you want and change its value to the full path to the program you
want to run. Put it inside quotes if there is a space in the path. (ie:
"c:\program files\my program.exe") Back up your registry first or at least
export the run key.
Louis
 
You can import a registry key. You don't say what you are trying to
accomplish but if you want to provide a key to a user you can create it,
export it, transfer it to the user and then the key can be added by
doubleclicking on it.
 
The only GUI to do this operation, by default, is regedit. Theoretically,
writing an independent GUI to do the same thing would not be hard, but where
is the value?

Trevor Sullivan
 
Michael said:
Ok, there are two ways to tell WinXp to start a certain program whenever
it boots:

1.) The user puts a shortcut into the "startup" folder
2.) The user puts an entry in the registry e.g. at

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Now, I am interested on how to put an entry in the Regsitry through
WInXP GUI. Do I really have to write such an entry manually into the
Regsitry? Is there another "official" way to setup a start through
registry?
Click to expand...

When you put the shortcut in the Startup folder, it will magically appear in
the registry. You don't need to do anything else.

Malke
 
Michael Walsh said:
Ok, there are two ways to tell WinXp to start a certain program whenever
it boots:

1.) The user puts a shortcut into the "startup" folder
2.) The user puts an entry in the registry e.g. at
Click to expand...

You forgot the third method: the Task Scheduler. It has a GUI
interface too!
 
Ok, there are two ways to tell WinXp to start a certain program whenever
it boots:

1.) The user puts a shortcut into the "startup" folder
2.) The user puts an entry in the registry e.g. at

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Now, I am interested on how to put an entry in the Regsitry through
WInXP GUI.
Do I really have to write such an entry manually into the Regsitry?
Is there another "official" way to setup a start through registry?
Click to expand...

Create the entry as usual through Regedit. Export that entry as a .reg
file. Now you can re-create that key at will just by double-clicking the
..reg file, and do it on other machines as well.

Maybe not as GUI-driven as you would like, but can this be done with just a
few clicks.
 
It's so easy to just make one manually like this:

Run regedit.exe

Go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run (All Users
Key) or

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run (Current
User Key)

Right-click an empty spot on the right side of RegEdit and select "New" then
"String Value". Enter any word you want to describe the startup program and
press "Enter". Now right-click the value you just created and select "Modify"
to add Data. Enter the path to the programs executable. Use quotes if the
path contains spaces.

Example:

Value: My Program

Data: "C:\Program Files\My Program\executable.exe"


Like Shell Bussey says, "It's just that easy!"
 
Michael said:
Now, I am interested on how to put an entry in the Regsitry through WInXP GUI.
Do I really have to write such an entry manually into the Regsitry?
Is there another "official" way to setup a start through registry?
Click to expand...

I use "Startup Control Panel" by Mike Lin which was at www.mlin.net when
I found it.

It shows the different sorts of startup tasks in separate tabs, and a
right mouse click contains a "New..." dialog.
 
What is the procedure for *removing* a program from the
Startup list?

*TimDaniels*
 
Michael said:
Ok, there are two ways to tell WinXp to start a certain program whenever it boots:

1.) The user puts a shortcut into the "startup" folder
2.) The user puts an entry in the registry e.g. at

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Now, I am interested on how to put an entry in the Regsitry through WInXP GUI.
Do I really have to write such an entry manually into the Registry?
Is there another "official" way to setup a start through registry?

Michael
Click to expand...

This might work, though I've never tried it.

Open a CMD prompt and type:

REG ADD /?

..for help on adding to the registry.
 
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