Have you ever wondered how to make a program run when you load up your computer?
Having certain programs or applications load when you log into Windows XP will make things easier for you. You would do this for programs such as HoverSnap or YzDock (see How To Take A Screenshot) so that you don't have to open up the program yourself each time you turn on your computer.
It'll be automatically loaded so that you can use the program right away. Some programs have an option for you to check off when you install the program to load it on start up.
Other programs allow you to do this under it's Options or Preferences menus. And some, like HoverSnap and YzDock require you to put the programs executable file into the Startup folder.
This tutorial will show you how to do the latter. Making a program load when Windows XP starts up is very simple to do. Go to C:\Documents and Settings\username\Start Menu\Programs\Startup in your Windows Explorer (you can press Start + E).
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Next, find your program's executable file (.exe). Your programs are usually saved in Program Files, so go to C:\Program Files and find your program's folder.
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Go into the program folder, right click the executable and create shortcut. Note: If you cannot find the exe or are unsure which one it is, you can view the file extensions. View this tutorial here.
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Drag this newly created shortcut into the Startup folder that you found in the first step. And now you're done.
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To test, restart your computer, and the program should automatically start up when Windows XP loads.If you ever want to remove these programs that you have added yourself, you can just delete the shortcut from the Start Up folder. If you would like to stop other programs which start up automatically see 'How to Remove Programs From Start Up'.
