Start up program minimized

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I’m having a problem autostarting a program on login and have that program be minimized.

The current program in question is Windows Media Player 11, but I will probably want to expand this possibility to other commonly used files/applications.

I created a shortcut to WMP on the desktop and then dragged that shortcut into my All Programs–>Startup folder. Then I right-clicked that shortcut (in the Startup folder) and chose Properties. On the Shortcut tab, I chose Run: Minimized.

When I log in, WMP automatically opens (along with a few other programs), but it isn’t minimized. Furthermore, after I log in, when I close out WMP and then reopen it via that shortcut, it doesn’t open minimized that way, either. Is this just a WMP snafu?

I very rarely need WMP full-screen. I’d like it to open up with the taskbar controls only…

Any ideas?

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Is WMP the only program that you are having this issue with? Does WMP start minimized if you use a desktop shortcut? You could try uninstalling and re-installing WMP.

Joe

--Joe

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I did a little more testing, and I can’t get WMP to start minimized anywhere — from the desktop, from the taskbar, from the Start Up menu. I also have a shortcut to an Excel spreadsheet and to Lotus Notes in my Start Up folder. I tried setting those to open minimized and this happened: The Excel file opens in a regular window; the Louts Notes windows opens (not minimized) but it doesn’t connect to my email correctly.

I tried going to the source — wmplayer.exe — and changing that to Run: Minimized, but the option doesn’t appear there.

I did notice, though, that the shortcut address to each of my WMP shortcuts ends with “prefetch:1”. What does that mean?

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Re Prefetch: Try this blog at msdn.com

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If you have AutoIt v3 you could compile the following script into an executable and use that to start WMP minimized:

	Dim $Program, $PID, $i, $params

	if $CmdLine[0] > 0 Then
		for $i = 1 to $CmdLine[0]
			$params = $params & " " & $CmdLine[$i]
		Next
	EndIf
	
	$Program = "C:Program FilesWindows Media Playerwmplayer.exe" & $params
	$PID = Run($Program, "", @SW_MINIMIZE)

If not, I’ve already done it and posted it at http://397.port5.com/WMPmin.zip%5B/url%5D – 172KB.
Note that it only works for the program path shown in the script above. Let’s know if you need that changed. It seems to work fine with my WMP 11 on XP Pro.

Alan

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I was hoping for something simpler…

But, what ho!, I found a roundabout solution that I think I’m happy with. It involves adjusting the shortcut address. My thanks to one Mr. Woody Leonhard for sending me in the right direction via his discussions of customizing shortcuts in Windows XP Timesaving Techniques For Dummies.

Here’s the whole story:
First, create a very small, empty sound file using the Windows sound recorder:
1. Choose Start–>Run and type sndrec32.
2. In the sound recorder, click the Record button, wait a second or so, and click the Stop button.
3. Save the file as something innocuous. (I saved mine to the Desktop as “blank.wav.”)
4. Close the sound recorder.

Second, adjust WMP settings:
1. In WMP, press Alt and choose Tools–>Options.
2. On the Player tab, check the Start the Mini Player for File Names That Contain This Text option.
3. In the text box beneath that, enter the full name (blank.wav) of the sound file you just created.
4. Click OK.

Third, adjust the shortcut.
1. Right-click the WMP shortcut in the Start Up folder and choose Properties.
2. On the Shortcut tab, go to the end of the Target command path and add the name of the sound file. This tells WMP to start with that particular file open.

So, in my case, the Target for my shortcut reads “C:Program FilesWindows Media Playerwmplayer.exe” “blank.wav” /prefetch:1

Notes:
I put the blank.wav file BEFORE the prefetch switch, but I’m not sure that it matters.
I probably need the quotation marks only if my little sound file’s name has a space in it, but apparently it doesn’t hurt to include them.
If your Desktop is already cluttered, you can put the short sound file in a folder somewhere. Then, in the Properties dialog box, change the Start In text box to point to the folder that contains the file. That way, you don’t have to put the whole command path in the Target box. (Depending on how deep you bury the file, you might run out of space there.)

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[indent]

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I was hoping for something simpler…

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[/indent]Boy, you’re either a hard man to please or a glutton for punishment! I can’t imagine anything simpler than Alan’s FREE compilation, but I guess that’s what’s meant by different strokes for different folks.

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No, mine’s simpler – 13 lines vs. your 29 line post. But I’m glad you hit on a solution you like. I remember a similar thing with the 98 Find dialog. You had to “feed it” a dummy (saved?) search to get it to open up to its usual appearance.

Alan

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