Add application to Windows start-up registry for Current user

Question

I know there are a lot of similar topics on SO about this and I have tried most of the solutions without success. I want to create a string value for the startup of application on Windows start in current user registry. So I have created a class for that purpose. While looking at output provided by code

        Debug.WriteLine(subKey + " -- " + applicationPath);
        foreach (string s in names)
        {
          Debug.WriteLine(" ->>> " + s);
        }

I can see my application has been added. However while trying to Refresh or open close or restart my computer, I do not see this string value in my Registry path. Why so and how to fix it? Does this code work for others?

My application is 64 bit. I have tried also to change code to Local Machine and with admin rights string value is created properly in Registry path for Local Machine. However I do not want to run my application with admin rights all the time this parameter needs to be changed from application settings. For that reason I would like to use Current user. Also I have tried to do it with SID GetCurrentUserSid() that got SID correctly, but was not able to create string value in proper path either.

Here is my current class:

   public class WindowsStartupManager : IWindowsStartupManager
    {
      private const string RegistryKeyPath = "SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run";
    
      public bool IsStartupEnabled()
      {
        string applicationName = GetApplicationName();
    
        using (RegistryKey key = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(RegistryKeyPath))
        {
          if (key != null)
          {
            return key.GetValue(applicationName) != null;
          }
          else
          {
            // Handle the case where the Registry key is not found
            return false; 
          }
        }
      }
    
      public void EnableStartup()
      {
        string applicationName = GetApplicationName();
        string applicationPath = System.Diagnostics.Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule.FileName;
        string currentUserSid = GetCurrentUserSid();
    
        using (RegistryKey key = RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.CurrentUser, this.GetRegistryView()))
        {
          using (RegistryKey subKey = key.OpenSubKey(RegistryKeyPath, RegistryKeyPermissionCheck.ReadWriteSubTree, RegistryRights.FullControl))
          {
            subKey.SetValue(applicationName, applicationPath, RegistryValueKind.String);
    
            string[] names = subKey.GetValueNames();
    
            Debug.WriteLine(subKey + " -- " + applicationPath);
    
            foreach (string s in names)
            {
              Debug.WriteLine(" ->>> " + s);
            }
    
            subKey.Dispose();
          }
        }
      }
    
      public void DisableStartup()
      {
        string applicationName = GetApplicationName();
        string applicationPath = System.Diagnostics.Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule.FileName;
        string currentUserSid = GetCurrentUserSid();
    
        try
        {
          RegistryKey myKey = RegistryKey.OpenBaseKey(RegistryHive.CurrentUser, this.GetRegistryView());
          {
            using (RegistryKey subKey = myKey.OpenSubKey(RegistryKeyPath, RegistryKeyPermissionCheck.ReadWriteSubTree, RegistryRights.FullControl))
            {
              subKey.DeleteValue(applicationName, false);
    
              string[] names = subKey.GetValueNames();
    
              Debug.WriteLine(subKey);
    
              foreach (string s in names)
              {
                Debug.WriteLine(" - " + s);
              }
    
              subKey.Close();
            }
          }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
          // Handle or log the exception
          Console.WriteLine("Failed to disable startup: " + ex.Message);
        }
      }
    
      public string GetApplicationName()
      {
        Assembly assembly = Assembly.GetEntryAssembly();
        return assembly.GetName().Name;
      }
    
      public string GetApplicationPath()
      {
        Assembly assembly = Assembly.GetEntryAssembly();
        return Path.GetDirectoryName(assembly.Location);
      }
    
      private RegistryView GetRegistryView()
      {
        // Determine the registry view based on the application's target platform
        bool is64BitProcess = Environment.Is64BitProcess;
        return is64BitProcess ? RegistryView.Registry64 : RegistryView.Registry32;
      }
    
      private string GetCurrentUserSid()
      {
        try
        {
          // Get the current user's Windows identity
          WindowsIdentity windowsIdentity = WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent();
    
          if (windowsIdentity != null)
          {
            // Get the user's SID
            return windowsIdentity.User.Value;
          }
          else
          {
            // Handle the case where the Windows identity is not available
            return string.Empty; // or throw new Exception("Windows identity not available");
          }
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
          // Handle or log any exceptions that may occur
          Console.WriteLine("Failed to retrieve current user's SID: " + ex.Message);
          return string.Empty; // or throw the exception if necessary
        }
      }
    }

Answer 1

Hello there,

Open your registry and find the key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

For each program you want to start automatically create a new string value using a descriptive name, and set the value of the string to the program executable.

For example, to automatically start Notepad, add a new entry of:

"Notepad"="c:\windows\notepad.exe".

Hope this resolves your Query !!

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