Delaying WinXP Startup Programs?

[mefu]

Is it possible to delay the execution of programs placed in the startup folder?
For ex., add a switch like "-t 30" to the end of the shortcuts?

 

[NumbaJuan]

Originally posted by: mefu
Is it possible to delay the execution of programs placed in the startup folder?
For ex., add a switch like "-t 30" to the end of the shortcuts?

don't know if you can delay them but you can run msconfig and pick what loads and what doesn't at startup

 

[mefu]

thanks numbajuan, i do know about msconfig.

the problem is that i have a program in startup which needs to access a drive on my network.
this program starts up before the network is active, hence it can't find the drive.

i just need to delay starup like 10~20 seconds...

 

[mikecel79]

Do you have your network drive connecting through a logon script or are you doing it manually?

 

[brandonm]

Good point Mikecel. If you run logon scripts, the desktop shouldn't come up (and the startup folder shouldn't execute) until the script finishes. Though, 10-20 seconds is a long time for a drive mapping to reconnect (especially one that you are running an application from).

 

[mefu]

Thanks guys, I'm not computer-savvy so if you would just bear with me...

Both machines are running XP, so I haven't explicitly set up any scripts, although
I assume that's what's going on behind my back, since the network becomes active
soon after Windows loads.

However, the desktop, and other the other entry I have in the Startup folder, both
display and run before I can "see" the rest of the network.

Going back to the initial question, I suppose there is no way to delay programs, huh.

 

[brandonm]

Don't know of anyway to delay the startup but I want to point out that networking services are one of the first things that starts, before you even login and get a desktop. If it looks like your machine isn't getting on the network (it is not obtaining an IP address) until after you get a desktop, you may be having problems with your LAN.

Side note: In Windows NT/2000/XP you don't need to be on the network to login even if you log into a domain. It will use cached account credentials to authenticate, as long as you have logged onto the PC before.