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RunOnce Registry Key

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All versions of Windows support a registry key, RunOnce, which can be used to specify commands that the system will execute one time and then delete. Creation of RunOnce registry keys can be done from a driver package.

Note

Creation of a RunOnce registry key for anything other than software-only SWENUM devices is not compliant with driver package isolation and cannot be done from a Windows Driver.

In Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, RunOnce entries for installation of software-only SWENUM devices are processed during device installation. Other RunOnce entries are added to the RunOnce key. These are applied the next time the system processes the RunOnce key. Device installation does not force the system to process RunOnce entries.

In Windows 7 and previous versions, immediately after a device is installed, Windows executes the command stored under the RunOnce key and then removes the key. Additionally, each time the system starts, it executes the command stored under the RunOnce key and then removes the key. Therefore, if you put a command under the RunOnce key, you cannot easily predict when it is executed.

Immediately after a device has been installed, Windows executes the command stored under the RunOnce key and then removes the key. Additionally, each time the system starts, it executes the command stored under the RunOnce key and then removes the key. Therefore, if you put a command under the RunOnce key, you cannot easily predict when it is executed.

For device installations, RunOnce registry keys can be created by using add-registry-sections, which are specified through INF AddReg directives. Each add-registry-section has the following syntax:

reg-root, [subkey], [value-entry-name], [flags], [value]

The registry root (reg-root) and subkey values for the RunOnce registry key are as follows:

HKLM, "Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce"

The value-entry-name string is omitted from a RunOnce registry entry. The type of the entry, which is indicated by the Flags value, must be either REG_SZ (Flags value of 0x00000000) or REG_EXPAND_SZ (Flags value of 0x00010000). For an entry of type REG_SZ (the default), the Flags value can be omitted.

The value parameter in a RunOnce key specifies the command to be executed. This parameter is a quoted string that has the following format:

Rundll32[.exe] DllName,EntryPoint[Arguments]

By default, a RunOnce key is deleted after the specified command is executed. You can prefix a RunOnce key value parameter with an exclamation point (!) to defer deletion of the key until after the command runs successfully. Without the exclamation point prefix, if the specified command fails, the RunOnce key will still be deleted and the command will not be executed the next time that the system starts.

Also, by default, the RunOnce keys are ignored when the system is started in Safe Mode. The value parameter of RunOnce keys can be prefixed with an asterisk (*) to force the command to be executed even in Safe Mode.

Consider the following guidelines when you create a value string entry:

  • Rundll32 can appear either with or without its .exe file name extension.

  • DllName is the full path of a DLL or executable image. Except for a required terminating comma, the expression must not otherwise contain any commas. If no file name extension is supplied, the default extension is .dll.

  • EntryPoint is the name of the entry point within the DLL indicated by DllName.

  • Arguments is an optional substring that contains any arguments that must be passed to the specified DLL.

  • Exactly one space must separate the EntryPoint string from the Arguments substring.

The following code example shows the add-registry-section entry that stores a command and its arguments under the RunOnce key:

;; WDMAud swenum install

HKLM,%RunOnce%,"WDM_WDMAUD",,\
"rundll32.exe streamci.dll,StreamingDeviceSetup %WDM_WDMAUD.DeviceId%,%KSNAME_Filter%,%KSCATEGORY_WDMAUD%,%17%\WDMAUDIO.inf,WDM_WDMAUD.Interface.Install"

[Strings]
RunOnce = "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce"
WDM_WDMAUD.DeviceId = "{CD171DE3-69E5-11D2-B56D-0000F8754380}"
KSNAME_Filter = "{9B365890-165F-11D0-A195-0020AFD156E4}"
KSCATEGORY_WDMAUD = "{3E227E76-690D-11D2-8161-0000F8775BF1}"

The following rules apply when you use RunOnce registry keys for device installations:

  • These registry keys must be used only for installations of software-only devices that are enumerated by SWENUM, the software device enumerator.

  • RunOnce keys must consist only of calls to Rundll32.exe. Otherwise, WHQL will not digitally sign the driver package.

  • The code to be executed must not prompt for user input.

  • Server-side installations execute in a system context. For this reason, you must be certain that the code to be executed contains no security vulnerabilities and that file permissions prevent the code from being maliciously modified.

  • Starting with Windows Vista, the system will not execute the commands specified by the RunOnce keys if a user without administrator privileges is logged on to the system. This could lead to incomplete or corrupted installations following a system restart.

    Before the device installation application creates the RunOnce entries, it informs the current user that a user who has administrator privileges must log on after a system restart.

    For more information, see Developing Applications that Run at Logon on Windows Vista.