Windows XP Hacks [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Hack 5 Create Multiple Startup Profiles with Advanced Startup Manager

If you need to start different programs on
startup, depending on what you need to do on your PC, create
different startup profiles with this startup utility.

With the hacks covered in this chapter,
you can customize how XP starts up. But there's one
thing these hacks won't be able to do for
youcreate different startup profiles. For that, you need
downloadable software.

Let's say, for example, you have a laptop that you
sometimes run attached to a keyboard, monitor, and an always-on
Internet connection, and other times you travel with it, so it is not
connected to the Internet. When you use it when you travel, you use
it primarily in airplanes, airports, and other places where you
typically aren't connected to the Internet. You also
run a piece of monitoring software that will send a signal to a call
center if your laptop is stolen. You don't need to
run that software when you're not on the road.

Ideally, you would have one set of programs that run automatically at
home and another set of programs that run when
you're on the road. At home, you might want instant
messenger software and file sharing software to load at startup; on
the road, you don't want that software to load
automatically, but you do want your monitoring software to load.

Advanced StartUp Managera piece of shareware from
Ray's Lab (http://www.rayslab.com), shown in Figure 1-8lets you create multiple startup
profiles so that you can have separate profiles for your laptop at
home and the roador for any other purpose.
It's free to try, but it costs $19.95 if you decide
to keep it.

Figure 1-8. Create multiple startup profiles with Advanced Startup Manager

In addition to creating a profile for traveling and one for home, you
may want to create other profiles. For example, when you want to play
games, you'll want to start your system with a
minimal number of services and programs running in the background, so
you'll create a profile that disables a variety of
services, such as the Indexing service, the Task Scheduler, and the
Themes service that lets you apply themes to your PC. If you
frequently need to troubleshoot your network, you'll
want to create a network-troubleshooting profile that automatically
starts networking analysis software, such as QCheck. [Hack #57].

To create a profile, add all the programs you want to run on startup,
by having them start from the Startup folder,
the Registry, or the Win.ini file. Where you
want them to start from is up to you. To add a program, just
highlight where you want it to run from, choose File Add
Program, and choose the program's executable file.
You can add switches, if you want, in the Flags field of the screen
you use to add the program. You can also choose whether the program
should run for just one specific user or for all users of the
machine. To delete a program from the profile, right-click on it and
choose Delete.

When you have built a profile with all the programs you want to run
at startup, save it by choosing File Backup Configuration
as, and then choosing a name for the profile. Create as many profiles
as you want. To load a profile, choose File Open Backup,
and choose the profile you want to load. After
you've loaded a profile, the next time you start
your computer it will load with that startup software. Be aware that
this means you can't choose a profile when you boot
your system. You have to run Advanced StartUp Manager before you exit
XP, choose the profile you want to run next time you start XP, and
then exit.

1.6.1 See Also

OSL 2000 (http://www.osloader.com) lets you boot from
up to 100 separate operating systems (including multiple copies of XP
or other versions of Windows), lets you boot from a second hard disk,
and offers a variety of other features, such as an automatic boot
timer. It's shareware and free to try, but it costs
$25 if you decide to continue using it.

For software to customize shutdowns, try Shutdown Now! (http://www.dworld.de). It gives you just
about every option you can imagine for shutdown. You can specify
applications to launch or documents to load automatically before
shutdown, schedule shutdowns, perform actions such as ejecting and
loading CDs on shutdown, empty directories on shutdown, and the list
goes on. It's shareware and free to try, but if you
keep using it you're expected to pay $19.50.

For a free shutdown manager, try Switch Off
(http://yasoft.km.ru/eng/switchoff), a simple
shutdown utility that runs in your system tray. It lets you schedule
shutdowns and perform other tasks on shutdown, such as locking your
workstation, and it also lets you do any of them quickly from the
system tray. It's not nearly as powerful as Shutdown
Now!, but it's free.