[Solved] How do i run a program on startup? c# [closed]

As a non-admin, you can only set something to startup automatically for your own user account. You would use the per-user startup folder (or one of the HKCU registry keys) for this.

FOLDERID_CommonStartup

For all users, requires admin privileges to modify. Location depends on OS version and customization, but by default is either:

%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp
%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp

For C#, you can retrieve the path with Environment.GetFolderPath(SpecialFolder.CommonStartup).

FOLDERID_Startup

Per-user startup. Location depends on OS version and customization, but by default is either:

%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp
%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp

For C#, you can retrieve the path with Environment.GetFolderPath(SpecialFolder.Startup). You’d normally want to place a shortcut to your app here, but there is no managed API for this so you’ll need to pinvoke or have your installer create one for you.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

For all users, requires admin privileges to modify. For C#, can add an entry using the static Microsoft.Win32.Registry class.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Per user. To add a new entry:

const string HKCU = "HKEY_CURRENT_USER";
const string RUN_KEY = @"SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run";
string exePath = System.Windows.Forms.Application.ExecutablePath;
Microsoft.Win32.Registry.SetValue(HKCU + "\\" + RUN_KEY, "AppName", exePath);