howtothings.co.uk

Making programs auto start when you log in


DISCLAIMER: This tutorial is for educational purposes only, please do not practice this on equipment you do not own.

STEP ONE:

Dependant on your operating system, the location of the start up folder will be different.

To find the start up folder, open run from the windows menu (Press Win+R)




type "%userprofile%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup" without the quotes then press OK.





STEP TWO:

A folder should then open, this is your start up folder - anything you put in to this folder will run as soon as you log in.

STEP THREE:

There are two ways to put programs / files in to the folder, the easiest way would be to drag and drop them.

The second way is to create a simple batch script that'll do it for you.

Here is an example of a script that can be used.




The code:

cd "%userprofile%\Desktop"
copy test.bat "%userprofile%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup"
del %0
What it does:

The first line: "cd" tells windows that it's looking for a directory. We then tell it what directory to use.
The second line: This copys test.bat and puts it into the start up folder.
The last line: This deletes the file once it has been copied.

STEP FOUR:

To make your own batch file:

open up notepad and type:

cd "directory the file is in"
copy file name "directory to copy to"
del %0

Then go to File > Save As...

File name: anything.bat
Save as type: All Files
Encoding: ANSI

STEP FIVE:

Some useful programs to auto run;

Notepad

"start notepad.exe"




Internet explorer:

"start iexplore.exe"




Firefox:

"start firefox.exe"





I hope this has helped.