How can I add a shortcut to Startup folder?

Angry Coder
11th May 2006 02:27 UTC

How can I add a shortcut to Startup folder?
Hello,

I am wondering how I add a shortcut of my program to Startup folder?

Please help. Thanks.

Comperio
11th May 2006 02:57 UTC


CreateShortCut "$SMPROGRAMS\Startup\My Program.lnk" "$INSTDIR\My Program.exe" \
  "some command line parameters" "$INSTDIR\My Program.exe" 2 SW_SHOWNORMAL \
  ALT|CTRL|SHIFT|F5 "a description"

A Few notes:

$SMPROGRRAMS is a constant for the programs folder under the start menu. Default is for the user's start menu. For all users, use SetShellVarContext. Refer to NSIS help for more info
The example CreateShortcut command is from the help files. For a complete list of all the options, refer to NSIS help files

Angry Coder
11th May 2006 03:14 UTC

Thanks!

What's "some command line parameters" or "a description"?

Should I leave it as is?

Comperio
11th May 2006 03:20 UTC

"some command line parameters"
This would be extra command line parmaters for the EXE. Normally, this would be null ("").

"a desciption"
This can be anything you want. It just serves as a way to describe the shortcut. It can be blank if you wish.

Angry Coder
11th May 2006 03:51 UTC

Really appreciate your help. Thanks :)

Angry Coder
11th May 2006 04:05 UTC

But the shortcut icon is not showing. I am getting the default windows exe icon :(

What's wrong?

JasonFriday13
11th May 2006 05:19 UTC

Keep it simple:

CreateShortCut "$SMPROGRAMS\Startup\My Program.lnk" "$INSTDIR\My Program.exe"

Anders
11th May 2006 10:21 UTC

the correct folder variable is $SMSTARTUP not $SMPROGRAMS\Startup so the instructions should be: CreateShortCut "$SMSTARTUP\My Program.lnk" "$INSTDIR\My Program.exe"

JasonFriday13
11th May 2006 22:47 UTC

Good point. Our mistake.

Angry Coder
11th May 2006 23:54 UTC

Thanks guys for your follow-ups. But as I have mentionned:

The shortcut icon is not showing. I am getting the default windows exe icon... What's wrong?

Comperio
12th May 2006 02:57 UTC

Is it just the icon that is messed up or is the entire shortcut screwed up? What was the exact command you used in your script?

Angry Coder
12th May 2006 03:02 UTC

Everything is working fine, but the icon is not showing up.

SetShellVarContext all

CreateShortCut "$SMSTARTUP\my prog.lnk" "$INSTDIR\my prog.exe" \
"" "$INSTDIR\my prog.exe" 2 SW_SHOWNORMAL \
ALT|CTRL|SHIFT|F5 "Do not delete this shortcut!"

I found this on the manual but I didn't get it.

4.9.3.4 CreateShortCut
link.lnk target.file [parameters [icon.file [icon_index_number [start_options [keyboard_shortcut [description]]]]]]
Creates a shortcut 'link.lnk' that links to 'target.file', with optional parameters 'parameters'. The icon used for the shortcut is 'icon.file,icon_index_number'; for default icon settings use empty strings for both icon.file and icon_index_number. start_options should be one of: SW_SHOWNORMAL, SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED, SW_SHOWMINIMIZED, or an empty string. keyboard_shortcut should be in the form of 'flag|c' where flag can be a combination (using |) of: ALT, CONTROL, EXT, or SHIFT. c is the character to use (a-z, A-Z, 0-9, F1-F24, etc). Note that no spaces are allowed in this string. A good example is "ALT|CONTROL|F8". $OUTDIR is used for the working directory. You can change it by using SetOutPath before creating the Shortcut. description should be the description of the shortcut, or comment as it is called under XP. The error flag is set if the shortcut cannot be created (i.e. either of the paths (link or target) does not exist, or some other error).

CreateDirectory "$SMPROGRAMS\My Company"
CreateShortCut "$SMPROGRAMS\My Company\My Program.lnk" "$INSTDIR\My Program.exe" \
"some command line parameters" "$INSTDIR\My Program.exe" 2 SW_SHOWNORMAL \
ALT|CTRL|SHIFT|F5 "a description"

Angry Coder
12th May 2006 03:08 UTC

Ok, it worked when I did:

CreateShortCut "$SMSTARTUP\My Program.lnk" "$INSTDIR\My Program.exe" "hourglass.ico"

But how can I add the comment: "Do not delete this shortcut"?

Angry Coder
12th May 2006 03:11 UTC

And...

This is not working also:

Section "Uninstall"

Delete "$INSTDIR\Uninstall My Program.exe"
Delete "$INSTDIR\My Program.exe"
RMDir $INSTDIR
Delete "$SMSTARTUP\My Program.lnk" <------- Everything is ok, except this line. It doesn't remove the shortcut!

SectionEnd

Please help. Thanks.

JasonFriday13
12th May 2006 04:30 UTC

Please, PLEEEEEESE do not double post. They are often ignored, or people will stop posting.

Shortcut description:


CreateShortCut "$SMPROGRAMS\My Company\My Program.lnk" "$INSTDIR\My Program.exe" "" "hourglass.ico" "" "" "" "a description"

Angry Coder
12th May 2006 05:44 UTC

It worked
I'm really, Realllllly sorry :o

gbstack
24th June 2013 07:28 UTC

Actually you can add program path to registry "Run" key as well. If you add program to Start Menu/Startup folder, users can easily remove them by "Right Click->Delete". This post describes how to start program automatically in several ways, Also RunOnce key is an available option.