Roan's Registry Startup Guide

Registry Startup

Roan Sez:

If you are willing to edit the registry, you can change the startup items for individual users or all users.

There are actually two different ways for things to be started up. Many things use the registry. Some things use the "Startup" folder. With each of those two methods, there is information for each individual user, and also all users.

I'll start with the registry, which is mostly what "msconfig" shows you, but with the all users and current user's information merged.

Startup information for all users is under this registry key.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run

NOTE: The forward slashes should really be back slashes but you usually don't type in the registry key name anyway.

Under the key you will see string values identified as "REG_SZ". Each one has a name and a value. The name is not really important, except that it must be unique (different than the others). The value of the string is a command to start up the program, including any options for the program. To copy a startup item, you can double click on the value, and then use Ctrl C to copy the text to the clipboard. Then create a new "REG_SZ" value somewhere else, rename it to the correct name, and edit the value. Use Ctrl V to paste the string value that you copied. If you use the "rename" function on an existing value name then you can copy the name to the clipboard to paste in the new key's name. You can't copy BOTH the name and value to the clipboard at the same time, so you may have to do a bit of bouncing back and forth between the original and the copy of a startup value.

Startup information for an individual user is located here (only while that user is logged on).

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run

It works the same way as the information for all users but it applies only to that single user's logon.

There is an alternative way to edit the startup information for a user that is not currently logged on. You can load their user registry hive and edit that. When you load a registry hive you have to give it a key name. For example, use the name "otheruser".

To load a user registry hive, click on the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" key in the Registry editor to select it. In the menu at the top of the Registry Editor, click "File" and then "Load Hive...". Find the user's "ntuser.dat" file located inside the folder with their user name in "Documents and Settings".

C:..Documents and Settings..Username..ntuser.dat

Replace every ".." above with a backslash if you type in the name. Replace "Username" with the actual user account name.

Type in the name that you want to temporarily assign to the registry hive, such as "otheruser".

Edit the "Run" key underneath the registry hive key that you loaded. For example, this would be the key name under "otheruser".

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/otheruser/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run

When you are done editing click on the hive key such as "otheruser" and then use "File" and "Unload Hive" from the Registry Editor menu.

To change something from individual user startup to all user startup, just copy the string value and name to the all users "Run" key. Then remove the string value from the individual user's startup. You can also add the startup item to every user's "Run" key and then it will run when any of them logs in. That doesn't affect new accounts that you create.

If you want something in every new user's "Run" key then you can load the hive for the "Default" user and add it to the "Run" key there. The next time a new user logs in (that has never logged in before) the default user profile will be copied to make their profile.

To change something from all users startup to just a few individual users, remove the string value from the all users "Run" key. Copy the string value to each user's "Run" key as desired.

Now I'll provide information about the "Startup" folder. Not many things seem to use the "Startup" folder except Microsoft Office. There are really two "Startup" folders, with one for all users and one for each individual user when they log on.

The all user's startup folder is most easily located by right clicking on the "Startup" folder in the Start Menu. It should be located under "All Programs" or "Programs". In the menu that appears, click "Al users" to open the copy of "Startup" for all users. You should be in the following folder.

C:..Documents and Settings..All Users..Start Menu..Programs..Startup

Any shortcuts that you place in that folder will be run at startup for any user that logs on. NOTE: You can disable running those items by holding down the Shift key while a user is being logged on.

The folder for an individual user can be opened the same way, when the user is logged on. Just click "Open" instead of "Open all users" in the right-click menu. You should be in a folder with a name like this.

C:..Documents and Settings..Username..Start Menu..Programs..Startup

The "Username" will be the name assigned to the account. You can change "Startup" for other users by opening the correct folder from drive C: in My Computer. Just drag the shortcuts to the correct Startup folder. If you hold Ctrl while you drag it will create a copy. If you hold Shift while you drag it will move the shortcut. You can also drag with the right hand mose button and you will be asked if you want to Move, Copy, or create a shortcut.

Even if you put something in the correct registry key or startup folder, the user has to have permissions to access and execute the program. Depending on how you install programs, some of them can only be accessed and executed by administrators. Some programs have an option to install for all users or just one individual user.

Most programs seem to use the "Run" registry key for all users under "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software". Very few create entries for an individual user or put something in one of the "Startup" folders.