Startup Control Panel
Startup Control Panel is a nifty control panel applet that
allows you to easily configure which programs run when your
computer starts. It's simple to use and, like all my programs,
it's very small and won't burden your system. A valuable tool
for system administrators!
Startup Control Panel is compatible with all modern versions
of Windows through Windows XP. Windows Vista, after all these
years, finally has a very good startup manager built-in; go to
Control Panel > Performance Information and Tools, and then
click on Manage Startup Programs on the left.
Installing
Run the setup program in the zip file.
Standalone EXE version: just extract the program wherever you
want.
Starting
Double-click the Startup icon in the Control Panel. On
Windows XP, you must switch the Control Panel to Classic View in
order to see this icon.
Standalone EXE version: just run the program.
Using
The dialog contains six to seven tabs, depending on your
system configuration. Each tab represents one place where a
program can be registered to run at system startup. These
include:
- Startup (user) - the current user's
Startup folder in the Start Menu.
- Startup (common) - the common (all users)
Startup folder in the Start Menu.
- HKLM / Run - the Run registry key located
in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. These apply for all users.
- HKCU / Run - the Run registry key located
in HKEY_CURRENT_USER. These apply for the current user only.
- Services - system services that are
started before the user logs in. This appears only in Win9x;
on NT/2000/XP, use the Services control panel, or the Services
item in Computer Management.
- Run Once - started once and once only at
the next system startup.
- Deleted - programs go to the Deleted tab
when you remove them from another location. They will not run
at system startup, but will merely be stored should you ever
want to use them again. If you delete an item from the Deleted
tab, it is removed permanently.
Each page contains a list of the programs registered at that
location. Use the checkbox to enable or disable individual
items. Additional operations are available by right-clicking an
item. You can select multiple items using the Shift and Control
keys. Options include:
- New... - create a new entry. You can also
drag & drop files from My Computer or Explorer.
- Edit... - edit an existing entry.
- Delete - delete the currently selected
entry.
- Disable / Enable - disable or enable the
selected entry. A disabled program will appear in the list
with a special icon, and will not run at system startup. You
can also use the checkbox next to an item to enable or disable
it.
- Run Now - executes the program now.
- Send To - moves the entry from the
current location to another.
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