autostart c# winApp upon system boot

[batmanAgen]

hi guys, i need to autostart my c# windows application upon boot time of the pc. is it possible using windows service? if not, what are other ways of doing it? tnx...:)

[Vasudevan Deepak Kumar]

Lot of ways... (*) You can have a shortcut to the application in the Users->Startup folder in STart Menu or (AllUsers -> Startup folder, to affect all users. I think for the latter you need to have Administrative Privileges on the system). (*) You can have a entry in HKLM->Sofware->Microsoft->Windows->CurrentVersion->Run (*) You can configure your application as a Windows Service itself. Developing a Windows Service in C# and deploying them is a breeze. A lot of samples anyway. I think the first two are logon based. Some user should logon for the app to launch. The latter, by virtue of being a Windows Service, would start immediately on system boot. Vasudevan Deepak Kumar Personal Web: http://www.lavanyadeepak.tk/ I Blog At: http://deepak.blogdrive.com/

[batmanAgen]

thanks for the immediate response.:) when i will develop a windows service, is it possible to have a method from the service that will call a c# windows app to run? i need this because i need to generate message prompts to the users in the network... i know with the other two methods, i can do this, but im not sure if it can be done using windows service and another c# app. tnx

[mav northwind]

I think you can run an application from a service, but usually the service will not have the right to interact with the desktop, so expect your WindowsForms application to crash as soon as it tries to open a window. Regards, mav

[engsrini]

What about the autoexec.bat file :^)

[mav northwind]

You mean placing a call to a .NET application inside autoexec.bat? :omg: One word: Don't. The solutions given so far are about the only options you have available. First you have to decide whether you want your program to run when the system is started (then use a service) or if you want it to run when a user logs in (then you can use the other two methods). But nevertheless, for a windows service to run nobody has to be logged on so you usually don't have a desktop to perform user interaction with. You _can_ allow a service desktop interaction, though. But allowing this is usually considered bad style. Regards, mav

[malharone]

engsrini wrote:

What about the autoexec.bat file

:wtf::wtf::wtf: The solution suggested to use registry seems proper. Everything else is a hack! - Malhar

[drc_no1]

if i remember well, if u add your program to program files/startup, it will start once with windows...

[Dave Kreskowiak]

Noooooo, it will start when the user logs in, not when Windows starts. There is a HUGE difference. RageInTheMachine9532 "...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome

[Daniel Grunwald]

You can also try to - use Win.ini (from good Win 3.11 times) - write a Windows Explorer extension that starts your application - replace a process used by the system with a modified version. On XP, you need to disable system restore for this. - find more strange autostart locations

[drc_no1]

yup, u'r right... my mistake... if u want, u can mess with the boot section and make it be a win service that starts when windows starts...

[Dan Neely]

Daniel Grunwald wrote:

- replace a process used by the system with a modified version. On XP, you need to disable system restore for this.

This solution will break on 64 bit windows. To stymie rootkit authors it'll no longer be possible to replace/modify OS runtime files without convincing MS you can't do it any otehr way and getting them to digitally sign your files.