C#•9mo ago

Starting Project with Windows and Minimizing to System Tray

I would like to start my program with Windows and then minimize my program to the system tray using the C# WinForms .Net Framework. I am using the below code to start the project with Windows, but it does not open my project, it only starts it in the Task Manager. Am I doing something wrong?

private void SetStartup2()
{
    try
    {
        string keys =
        @"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run";
        string value = "CopyThat";

        if (startWithWindowsCheckBox.Checked)
        {
            if (Registry.GetValue(keys, value, null) == null)
            {
                // if key doesn't exist
                using (RegistryKey key =
                Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey
                ("SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run", true))
                {
                    key.SetValue("CopyThat", (Application.ExecutablePath));
                    key.Dispose();
                    key.Flush();
                }
            }
        }
        else
        {
            if (Registry.GetValue(keys, value, null) != null)
            {
                // if key doesn't exist
                using (RegistryKey key =
                Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey
                ("SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run", true))
                {
                    key.DeleteValue("CopyThat", false);
                    key.Dispose();
                    key.Flush();
                }
            }
        }
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
    }
}

private void SetStartup2()
{
    try
    {
        string keys =
        @"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run";
        string value = "CopyThat";

        if (startWithWindowsCheckBox.Checked)
        {
            if (Registry.GetValue(keys, value, null) == null)
            {
                // if key doesn't exist
                using (RegistryKey key =
                Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey
                ("SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run", true))
                {
                    key.SetValue("CopyThat", (Application.ExecutablePath));
                    key.Dispose();
                    key.Flush();
                }
            }
        }
        else
        {
            if (Registry.GetValue(keys, value, null) != null)
            {
                // if key doesn't exist
                using (RegistryKey key =
                Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey
                ("SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run", true))
                {
                    key.DeleteValue("CopyThat", false);
                    key.Dispose();
                    key.Flush();
                }
            }
        }
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
    }
}

2 Replies

『H』『A』『V』『O』『C』OP•9mo ago

I know that I have not added any code to minimize it to the system tray, which I will do on the Form_Load event. I am just trying to get it to show the main form when Windows starts. I am using the latest .Net Framework with Windows 11 Home.

Stefanidze•9mo ago

This seems overcomplicated. All you need to do is create a link in the autostart folder, that will pass an argument to your app to start minimized

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Starting Project with Windows and Minimizing to System Tray