i have this older laptop- but it has alot of ram ( 2gig) it hardly utilizes any of it. but the cpu is only 1.6 pent M.so its a little on the slow side for the newer programs. i would like to install certain programs of my choice to run at startup ( but not show up on the taskbar) ( meaning i dont want to use the startup folder in the Start menu' s Program folder. i want the programs to be loaded ONCE during startup and be loaded into the system tray as an ICON.. since its in the tray, it will be in memory.that way, when i click on any of the programs i want such as firefox,adobe acrobat, MS word, and other programs that i frequently use, the program would open up right away becuase it has been loaded into memory.(but arent taking up room on the taskbar) and after startup if i open the programs and then later close the programs, i want it to be removed from memory, then if i load it AGAIN during that windows session i want it to appear on the taskbar. what im trying to say is i want to be able to load programs without showing up that they are loaded. and only have them do it once- minimized to tray. afterwards i want to be able to run them normally if i could. is there anyway i can do this? is there a program out there that can do this for me?

Use the Run key in the registry... -run REGEDIT - HKEY LOCAL MACHINE - Software - Microsoft - Windows - Current Version - Run Any item added to this key will run when windows start. Also it sounds like you need a PIF for each program. Windows did away with the PIF editor and now they are kinda created when you create a ShortCut... - Right Click your Desktop - Select New - Choose Shortcut - Follow the wizard - Once the Shortcut is created Right Click and goto properties. - Goto the Shortcut Tab - Select Minimized under the Run: section - Copy the Shortcut to a directory everyone has access to. - Put the new shortcut into the Run Registry Key. The path will be something like "c:\program files\myapp\myappshortcut.pif"

that simply adds the program to my taskbar minimized i dont want the program to take up room on my task bar i want it to be minimized( only once at startup to my system tray near my clock) i want any program i want to do this when i turn my computer on( to run but be hidden in the tray) that way the program will open very fast becuase its already in memory. is there any way i could do this on windows xp or vista?

"the cpu is only 1.6 pent M.so its a little on the slow side for the newer programs" The Pentium M is based on the P3 & is the direct precursor to the Core 2 Duo. Your P-M 1.6GHz is roughly equivalent to a P4 2.2GHz. You mean to tell me that you can't wait a second or two for a program to load?

I am pretty sure that you would have to modify the application to have it go to the System Tray.

Making a program load in the Taskbar requires you to modify its MUTEX which can't be done with a safe program because it would open a major security hole in Windows. It can be done if you have the source code then you can compile it as such. Being that this is not a Linux Box I don't know if you will be able to load a program into the tray that is not designed to run there. Besides there is no advantage to running a program in the tray than minimized because it still uses the same amount of memory.

im not looking for it to run in the taskbar( i could simply use the startup folder in Programs for that), im looking for it to run in the system TRAY.( the right side of the taskbar where the clock is) , hidden during startup. yes i know it uses the same about of memory i just wanted to be able to. ive seen some of programs that appear to do something like this. but usually its only if you manually click on a button to minimize to tray. i just wanted to find one that will automatically load several programs at windows startup into the tray so it doesnt take up taskbar space. any help would be appreciated