Manage the Programs Run at Windows Startup

Overview

You can automatically start programs whenever Windows launches. If you have programs automatically starting that you have not loaded then you can remove them using this tip as well.

Add a new startup application

Open your registry and find the key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

For each program you want to start automatically create a new string value using a descriptive name, and set the value of the string to the program executable.

For example, to automatically start Notepad, add a new entry of:

"Notepad"="c:\windows\notepad.exe".

Remove a startup application

If you're trying to remove a program and can not find it in the StartUp folder (usually C:\WINDOWS\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp), then it may be launching from one of the registry keys below. To remove it, delete the value associated with the program you want to remove.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Userinit]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows]

Registry Tutorial

Click here for the Tutorial.