Windows 7: Launching Outlook at startup (in a smarter way)

I know many people start Outlook as the first application directly after they start their computer and close it as the last one when they shutdown. You might already know that you can automatically start any application at startup by placing a shortcut to this application in the Startup folder in the Start Menu. This is a great way to save you a click and/or to ensure that you do not forget to start Outlook.
However, the problem with this method is that you are putting quite a bit of stress on your computer directly when you login and starting up your computer might actually take a lot longer as a result. Especially if you are also starting some other applications directly at logon, you could render your computer unresponsive for quite some time.
Want to know a smarter way?

The “smarter way” is to use a delayed Scheduled Task instead. This will require you to have Windows Vista or Windows 7 since the delay option got first introduced in Windows Vista.

More responsive and quicker boot
By adding a delay of somewhere between 30 seconds or a couple of minutes, your computer will have time to complete the startup and log you on properly first. This will make the logon process much quicker and leave the computer more responsive. This also means that when you started the computer not to check your mail, but to check something on the Internet, you don’t have to wait until your computer comes back to life again and launch your browser in between.

Creating a Delayed Scheduled Task
To start Outlook at logon via a delayed Scheduled Task use the following steps below;
(This may look like a lot of steps, but you’ll be done in less than 5 minutes.)