Suggestions for delaying Startup programs- my new SSD is too fast!

[madkiwi]

I just purchased a new Acer 4830TG (i5 2.5 GHz) and immediately replaced the HD with a SanDisk Extreme (550 MB/s read, 510 MB/s write).

I have certain programs in the Startup folder- Excel workspace (6 spreadsheets) for my business, Word, Firefox (with approx 35 tabs) and Thunderbird. I like to hit the power button, enter my password, then go make my coffee and come back to find everything loaded and my morning emails all downloaded (4 different accounts).

Except now Firefox and Thunderbird are loading so fast the wireless network has not finished connecting before they start sending requests, and of course I am getting network connection errors.

I can't believe I am actually having to ask this, but does anyone have any suggestions for freebie programs that can delay the loading of programs in the startup folder? Or tell me how to write a batch file of some kind that call these programs with a delay scripted in?

Thanks

(PS without loading those programs boot times are less than 20 seconds- I am very happy with that part of it)

 

[Phone Man]

BillP Studios - WinPatrol 2012 has a delay start feature and you can control the time. It is also a highly recommended security program that monitors you system. Give the free version a try and see how it works out.

Jim

 

[boohbah]

here you go, its all in 7 already

Delay launch of applications at Windows 7 startup

 

[gregrocker]

Why do you need any freeloaders to Startup at all except your AV and gadgets/stickies if you use them?

The very best performance comes with running a Clean Boot at all times. Click on a program to start it.

There are several steps to achieve this given here: Clean Up Factory Bloatware

 

[Frank1]

Why do you need any freeloaders to Startup at all except your AV and gadgets/stickies if you use them?

The very best performance comes with running a Clean Boot at all times. Click on a program to start it.

There are several steps to achieve this given here: Clean Up Factory Bloatware

I totally agree with that. There are far too many things that want to run in the back ground. I, too, get into MSCONFIG and select "Selective startup", then on the Startup tab, I unchecd most of the stuff except my anti-malware stuff.

 

[bbearren]

My routine maintenance is done by Task Scheduler at night while I sleep. I seldom shut down, so startup is not an issue. My laptops hibernate, so startup is not an issue with them, either.

As for performance, my PC is already way faster than I am, so any increase would not really be noticable. As for SSD's, when their $/GB matches or beats spinners, I might consider one.

 

[madkiwi]

The link was for services, and most of the talk here is more of the same. My problem is with the apps I am loading, FF and Thunderbird are working before the networking is ready.

While I agree clean boots are probably wonderful, I am interested in efficiency- if I have a computer that can load all my work programs automatically, why wouldn't I? This is not the 1980's, and this computer is not my Tandy 1000 that had to boot from a floppy, then remove the floppy, then insert my program disk in floppy a: and my data disk in b:

I think we moved beyond that

 

[Albuquerque]

Your answer is Task Scheduler.

First, remove your startup items from the Start Menu -> Startup section. I'm going to show you the far better way to do things in Win7...

Next, type Task Scheduler into your start menu and press enter. This is your new home for all tasks that start due to an event (ie, startup) or on a schedule. There's good stuff in here

You want to click on Action -> Create Task.

A new dialog box will appear. Give it a description, like "Start Firefox". Then navigate to the Triggers tab.

In the Triggers tab, click the New button. On the "Begin the task" drop-down, select At Startup. Here is where you can find your "Delay task for..." drop down! Go check it, give it a minute or so, and press OK to return to the Triggers tab.

Navigate to the Action tab.

In the Action tab, click the New button. Your action will be "Start a Program"; you can now go browse for your hyperlink shortcut OR you can browse for firefox and then enter the URL as an argument. Press OK to return to the Action tab.

Navigate to the Conditions tab.

Depending on your needs, you can modify the power state requirement (by default, it only runs if you're NOT on battery... But maybe you want it to run even if you're battery?) You probably don't want it to stop if you disconnect from AC, so you should probably uncheck that.

Navigate to the Settings tab.

In settings, I'd uncheck the "stop the task if it runs for..." setting, just because you will want to close it on your own.

You can do some seriously awesome stuff with this tool, to include multiple triggers, multiple application launches, blah-de-blah. Task Scheduler turned pretty bad-ass as of Windows Vista but nobody noticed because they were too busy hating the OS It's still bad-ass under Win7, and any true power user should be using it for anything that "starts up" with Windows.

I use it to control pretty much every startup task, for reasons similar to yours as well as things like only starting apps when I'm on AC power or starting apps that need UAC permission but I don't want to type in my credentials every time (I refuse to turn off UAC.) It can do a LOT of interesting things...

 

[Thorsen]

Great Post Albuquerque

There are two tutorials on this site that are excellent for the task scheduler:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/12444-task-scheduler-create-new-task.html

And if you have a program that requires administrative priveledges, this is for creating a shortcut, but you can just use the first section for how to get it to start without prompting for UAC

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/11949-elevated-program-shortcut-without-uac-prompt-create.html

 

[Sir George]

Your answer is Task Scheduler.

First, remove your startup items from the Start Menu -> Startup section. I'm going to show you the far better way to do things in Win7...

Next, type Task Scheduler into your start menu and press enter. This is your new home for all tasks that start due to an event (ie, startup) or on a schedule. There's good stuff in here

You want to click on Action -> Create Task.

A new dialog box will appear. Give it a description, like "Start Firefox". Then navigate to the Triggers tab.

In the Triggers tab, click the New button. On the "Begin the task" drop-down, select At Startup. Here is where you can find your "Delay task for..." drop down! Go check it, give it a minute or so, and press OK to return to the Triggers tab.

Navigate to the Action tab.

In the Action tab, click the New button. Your action will be "Start a Program"; you can now go browse for your hyperlink shortcut OR you can browse for firefox and then enter the URL as an argument. Press OK to return to the Action tab.

Navigate to the Conditions tab.

Depending on your needs, you can modify the power state requirement (by default, it only runs if you're NOT on battery... But maybe you want it to run even if you're battery?) You probably don't want it to stop if you disconnect from AC, so you should probably uncheck that.

Navigate to the Settings tab.

In settings, I'd uncheck the "stop the task if it runs for..." setting, just because you will want to close it on your own.

You can do some seriously awesome stuff with this tool, to include multiple triggers, multiple application launches, blah-de-blah. Task Scheduler turned pretty bad-ass as of Windows Vista but nobody noticed because they were too busy hating the OS It's still bad-ass under Win7, and any true power user should be using it for anything that "starts up" with Windows.

I use it to control pretty much every startup task, for reasons similar to yours as well as things like only starting apps when I'm on AC power or starting apps that need UAC permission but I don't want to type in my credentials every time (I refuse to turn off UAC.) It can do a LOT of interesting things...

That seems like a lot of steps to accomplish a pretty simple thing, like delayed start. I use WinPatrol from BillP Studios which does the same thing in a very easy to use format and provides additional functions as well.

If you're happy with what you use, stay with it, but I am lazy and like the easy way most of the time.

 

[gregrocker]

The link was for services, and most of the talk here is more of the same. My problem is with the apps I am loading, FF and Thunderbird are working before the networking is ready.

While I agree clean boots are probably wonderful, I am interested in efficiency- if I have a computer that can load all my work programs automatically, why wouldn't I? This is not the 1980's, and this computer is not my Tandy 1000 that had to boot from a floppy, then remove the floppy, then insert my program disk in floppy a: and my data disk in b:

I think we moved beyond that

Let me tell you where we've moved:

The vast majority of end consumers who we serve here buy rigs that come preloaded with dozens of applications - trialware, useless factory utilities that duplicate better versions built into Win7 - almost all of which spy and are set to start with the computer, placing a load on the back of Win7 which throttles it so that one can't even tell that it's native state is featherlight and instantaneous with zero hangs ever.

While you may have special need for programs to start even if you're not using them at the moment and I probably should have paid more heed to that, these forums have led the way in helping users strip the freeloaders out. Our tutorial on turning off Startup items alone has nearly two million views. And we have helped tens of thousands of users Clean Reinstall to get all corrupting residue of the factory bloatware out. There is no other resource on the web that comes close.

Don't denigrate these efforts by pretending they are a throwback to Tandy floppy days just because you like riding in a car full of hitchhikers, even if they are all chosen by you. This is where they get off.

 

[Albuquerque]

That seems like a lot of steps to accomplish a pretty simple thing, like delayed start. I use WinPatrol from BillP Studios which does the same thing in a very easy to use format and provides additional functions as well.

If you're happy with what you use, stay with it, but I am lazy and like the easy way most of the time.

Seems like installing a piece of software to do something the OS is already entirely capable of doing is more steps than mine. And involves more services running, which further increases load on the system, which further reduces overall performance to some degree.

If you're happy with a piece of software to schedule tasks, good on you I just use task scheduler since, you know, it came with the OS...

 

[profdlp]

You could try what I do, which is map the programs I use all the time (Firefox, Thunderbird, Q-Dir and Sunbird) to hotkeys. I tap four shortcut keys and I have all my stuff going. If I want just a clean boot I don't do anything.

Now tapping those four keys is a lot of extra work, but...

 

[Britton30]

I agree, don't have all the bloat in startup, as you point out, it ain't the Tandy days and your apps will SNAP open with a hotkey after the net has had time to connect.

 

[kado897]

This is the one I use. It is quite flexible. r2 Studios - Startup Delayer