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windowsstartupwindows-explorer

Application Start Before Windows Explorer

Some installation applications stop (or appear to stop) the normal windows booting. The computer starts, the user logs in and then the installation program starts before others (like Windows explorer).

How can I replicate this behaviour in my own program?

E.g.

  • OS Boot
  • Login
  • The program runs, updates etc.
  • The rest of the programs run (e.g. windows explorer and what ever runs on startup)
Solution

  • I have not tried it but I assume that this is done by the registry entry

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce\Setup

    There are even more registry keys - see the complete list documented here: Definition of the RunOnce Keys in the Registry

    But for your use case I would recommend to start your application as desktop shell similar to the proposed solution by "vcsjones". When your program has finished you can call explorer.exe to start loading the regular desktop.