QT auto start application on Windows

Question

Im trying to get my application to start one the user logs on to his or hers account.

My current code:

#ifdef Q_OS_WIN
QSettings bootUpSettings("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Wow6432Node\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run", QSettings::NativeFormat);
QString base_dir = qApp->applicationDirPath() + "\\MyApp.exe";

if (autoStartChecked == "true") {
    bootUpSettings.setValue("MyApp","\""+base_dir+"\"");
} else {
    bootUpSettings.remove("MyApp");
}
#endif

When I look in regedit I can see that my application has added the key with value, but for some reason the application wont auto start when i logon to Windows.

Any ideas?

not sure you need to quote the path, the reg setting is already a string and does not needs to be escaped... — Leonardo Bernardini, Apr 28 '14 at 09:13
this link https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9534415/run-application-on-startup/ and my answer — S At, Jun 17 '21 at 12:55

vahancho · Answer 1 · 2014-04-28T09:19:46.447

3

You have to put the path to your application executable into the

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

key instead. I.e.:

QSettings bootUpSettings("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run", QSettings::NativeFormat);
QString app_path = QCoreApplication::applicationFilePath();
if (autoStartChecked == "true") {
    bootUpSettings.setValue("MyApp", app_path);
} else {
    bootUpSettings.remove("MyApp");
}

edited Apr 28 '14 at 09:19

answered Apr 28 '14 at 09:12

vahancho

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For some reason it wont add the key at that location (Im testing on Windows 7).. testing your update – user3490755 Apr 28 '14 at 09:15
@user3490755, what is the error? Can you diagnose it? – vahancho Apr 28 '14 at 09:17
Just wont get added for some reason. How can i make QSettings return the error? – user3490755 Apr 28 '14 at 09:20
It doesn't work on Windows 10 because writing to `HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE` requires administrator privileges, changing it to `HKEY_CURRENT_USER` works fine. – Sprite May 24 '21 at 15:01

QT auto start application on Windows

1 Answers1