I have a big handful of programs in my startup folder.  I like it that way.

But XP Pro doesn't: Every time I reboot, I have two problems...

1) Starting windows takes a really long time because, as far as I can
tell, WinXP tries to load EVERYTHING AT ONCE.

2) The tray icons of programs in my startup folder don't always
appear.  In fact, there's ALWAYS one or two or three programs that I
have to kill (with Task Manager) and restart, just to get the tray
icon to show up.


What can I do?  Here are some leads you can follow...

--) Perhaps there's an applet that creates a sequential startup script.

--) Maybe there's a way to tell WinXP to start the startup programs in
a certain sequence... or an arbitrary but sequential order.


Note:

--) I already use Startup Cop to keep junk out of my startup folder. 
Everything that is set to load on startup is something I want, not
some random junk I don't know about.


So what, dear researcher, shall I do?  I've laid out my problem.  Can
you help solve it?  Feel free to request clarification or haiku.

---

Request for Question Clarification by livioflores-ga on 21 Jan 2004 07:41 PST

Hi!!

I need some additional info.
Please go to Start --> Run --> and type msconfig and press Enter. This
will open the System Configuration utility. Now go to the Startup tab
andlist all the checked item and please bring us the list. With this
additional info we can give you more accurate help.

Regards.
livioflores-ga

---

Clarification of Question by donphiltrodt-ga on 21 Jan 2004 09:18 PST

Here's the list of apps, in the order they appear, grouped by location.

--HKLM
Pdesk
DUMeter
kxmixer
ccApp
ccRegVfy
ADVCHK
NetLimiter

--HKCU
Dirkey
RoboTaskBarIcon

--Startup
DC++
Girder3
HIDEIT
mirc32
Powermarks
Radio Userland
Run POPFile in the background
Shortkeys Lite
Soulseek
SpamKiller 2
Trillian

Hi donphiltrodt-ga, 
     There are a number of utilities available on the net that allow
you to manage the order of your startup programs, and/or insert delays
between them. I list three such utilities below:
       - StartRight v1.1.2
         Status: Freeware
         Description: Allows you to select the order in which your
programs startup, and optionally insert delays between them.
         ( http://jackass.arsware.org/sr.php )

       - Startup Delayer v2.0.54
         Status: Freeware
         Description: Allows you to insert delays of upto 2 minutes
between your startup programs.
         ( http://www.r2.com.au/software.php?page=2&show=startdelay )

       - Absolute StartUp 4.0
         Status: Shareware, 21 day trial
         Cost: $29.95
         Description: Offers a plethora of options to control your
startup programs, including inserting time delays during startup.
         ( http://www.fgroupsoft.com/Absolutestartup/index.html )


If, instead of using one of the above utilities, you would like to try
the batch file method (as suggested by sudipto-ga in his comment), the
following article provides the necessary instructions:
       - Technofile: Make your own launcher for startup programs
         By Al Fasoldt
         ( http://aroundcny.com/technofile/texts/bklauncher98.html )

================================================

Hope this helps.
If you need any clarifications, just ask!

Regards,
Theta-ga
:-)



===============================================
Google Search Terms Used:
  free utility delay startup programs

Great!

You could put the links to the startup programs in the Registry
instead of in the Startup folder.

Press Windows-R to bring up the Run dialog. Type Regedit to start the
Registry Editor. On the left pane, you will find a tree structure.
Navigate to this key:
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE->SOFTWARE->Microst->Windows->CurrentVersion->Run

Make sure all the programs on the right pane are the ones you want.
You can add keys to this list by right-clicking->New->String Value.
Enter the name of the application in the textbox with "New String
Value #1". Right-click this new key, select Modify and paste a link
from your statup folder. Repeat the process for all the links in your
Startup folder. This should help your problem.

However, if you want to use an 'applet' as you indicated, you probably
mean a batch file or a script. A batch file (.bat) is a text file that
contains commands which are executed serially. A VBScript can also be
used to similar effect. I can provide you with details of how to write
a batch file/script if the first solution does not work for you.

Note: Tray icons in WinXP often disappear without warning, especially
when some program crashes. The actual program is still running
correctly, but the tray icon disappears. I have encountered this
problem too; but as far as I know there is no solution other than
starting the program again. This seems to be a bug that Microsoft
didn't bother to fix.