Windows startup process

Startup is the usual term for Microsoft Windows from automatically starting programs when booting the system or your account login. Such a program does not have to be started by a user, but will start automatically without action on their part. Autorun is, however, the function of operating systems to launch a specific action when loading or inserting removable media.

The portmanteau word made ​​up of the words together and Automatic Restart.

Microsoft Windows

At system startup, (or more precisely, after user login ), all files in the Start Menu folder located autostart, run automatically. In the real multi-user systems, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP, there is this startup folder at least twice: once for each user that it can manage itself, and once for all users ( All Users ), the normally only administrators of the system or the system itself (eg, within a setup procedure) can manage. In general, there are only shortcuts in this folder, but it can be executed or opened, all other files. In addition, there are places that are rooted deep in the operating system and also have the function of auto-start. An example of this are certain positions of the registry, such as, among others, the key to RUN or RUNONCE.

There are loaded all the programs that are located in the following registry keys:

• HKLM ( HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE ) \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run
• HKLM \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ RunOnce ( only once, after which the key will be deleted )
• HKLM \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ RunServices ( as a system service, only with Windows systems based on NT possible)
• HKLM \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ RunServicesOnce ( only once )

The paths in these keys are started for all users. An exception is the safe mode, normally here, none of these keys are observed.

• HKCU ( HKEY_CURRENT_USER ) \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Run
• HKCU \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ RunOnce ( only once, after which the key will be deleted )
• HKCU \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ RunServices ( as a system service, only with Windows systems based on NT possible)
• HKCU \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ RunServicesOnce ( only once )

The paths in these keys are started only for the current user. An exception is the safe mode.

Furthermore, it is possible that the install process as a service ( HKLM \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ ) and also start at every system startup in the background, left to the user but often hidden. Almost all viruses and malware write itself automatically into the registry in one of these keys, or install itself as a service, to ensure that they are executed at every system startup.

Automatic starting of programs at boot time can be prevented by holding the Shift key during the boot process on Microsoft Windows. In older versions of Windows Startup is also in the WIN.INI file with the entries load = or run = possible.

Special software to edit autostart entries usually offers an automatic backup. There are on the market a whole range of free and paid software that dominate this work. As of Windows 8 such additional software could be unnecessary for some users. The operating system itself provides a new and more user-friendly way to manage the startup entries.

MS DOS

Under MS- DOS batch file AUTOEXEC.BAT fulfills this purpose. All commands that are entered here are executed automatically at boot time.

Unix / Linux

Under Unix-like operating systems (eg Linux) runs the execution of startup scripts, depending on the distribution you use and the preference of the administrator. Generally, it is the start of services on runlevel call the other in turn. Such recursions it is possible to use a fully automatic system to move to a desired state, without having to type commands at runtime. This start scripts are usually stored in separate directories within / etc and running or stopped depending on the required runlevel. Custom Startup Scripts can be started, for example, from the login shell or by the window manager from.

Mac OS X

In Mac OS X version 10.3 to so-called StartUp items were used to fulfill the purpose of a car boot. As of version 10.4. Launch Services are responsible for this.

AmigaOS

In AmigaOS all programs in WBStartup folder are executed. The tooltype STARTPRI shall specify the order.