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AutoStartup allows you to define a set of applications which should be started on particular Virtual Desktops, when DesktopPlus starts.
When DesktopPlus starts, AutoStartup scans the contents of the AutoStartup folder in the DesktopPlus Start Menu group. When DesktopPlus finds shortcuts in any of the AutoStartup sub folders, it starts the associated application and begins monitoring the system. Whenever a window belonging to any of the applications is detected, it is rerouted to the specific desktop.
To configure a specific application to automatically start on a particular desktop, copy a shortcut to it into the appropriate AutoStartup sub folder. For example, if you want DesktopPlus to automatically start notepad on Desktop 2, copy a shortcut to it into the DesktopPlus->AutoStartup->Desktop 2 folder.
The shortcut you place in the AutoStartup sub folder can either be an existing shortcut or a new one you create yourself. To use an existing shortcut you will first need to locate it. Typically you will copy the shortcut out of the Start Menu. To do this open an Explorer window on the Start Menu by right-clicking the Start Menu and selecting Explore. Browse through the Start Menu hierarchy until you have found the icon. Now select Browse AutoStartup Folder from the DesktopPlus Start Menu Folder. A new Explorer window, containing the AutoStartup sub folders will appear. Hold down the Control key and drag the shortcut from the first Explorer window into the desired sub folder.
If you want to manually create a shortcut, open the AutoStartup folder as described above, then open the desired sub folder, right-click a blank part of the window and select New->Shortcut. The wizard will guide you through the process of creating a new shortcut.
TIP: Creating a new shortcut can be necessary in the case where a standard shortcut does not work correctly with AutoStartup. AutoStartup is unable to extract application information from some types of shortcut. Typical culprits in this area are the Microsoft Office 2000 and later application shortcuts, which use Windows Installer shortcuts instead of 'normal' shortcuts.
You may want some of the applications you AutoStart to be automatically put in the Global Desktop, so that they appear on every Virtual Desktop in DesktopPlus. This can be achieved by use of the Global AutoStartup sub folder. Simply copy the shortcuts into the Global AutoStartup sub folder, just as you would any other AutoStartup shortcut.
As AutoStartup runs, it will display a report of its progress in the AutoStartup monitor.
The AutoStartup monitor shows each application configured in AutoStartup, its status and the number of windows that have been re-routed.
Applications can fail to start in AutoStartup for a number of reasons. You can obtain a brief description of an AutoStartup applications state by double clicking the application in the AutoStartup monitor.
AutoStartup applications can have the following states:
Scanning: DesktopPlus has started the application and is scanning the system waiting for windows belonging to the application to be created.
Completed: DesktopPlus has finished scanning for windows belonging to the application. No problems were encountered during the scan.
DIED:
The application stopped before DesktopPlus was able to complete scanning.
This can be caused by an execution failure or by an application which
launches another, separate process.
FAILED:
No windows were found in the process. This can be caused by the fact that
the application simply doesn't create windows (e.g. background processes
and command prompt-based applications) or because the application doesn't
create its windows within the AutoStartup inactivity timeout (which can
be sent from the Advanced Tab of the Options
Dialog)
Couldn't
Execute: DesktopPlus was unable to execute an AutoStartup shortcut
target. This could be due to a problem with the executable itself (such
as a missing DLL).
Bad shortcut: DesktopPlus was unable to retrieve a valid target from an AutoStartup shortcut. This can occur when there is no target in the shortcut, or the shortcut is of a special type, which cannot be interpreted by DesktopPlus (see the TIP, above).
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