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To run outside a normal user session a program must be run as a windows service. Windows already has built in the facility for configuring Windows services to run at boot up. Microsoft has always encouraged, and with Vista has begun enforcing the maxim that windows services should not have user interfaces. StartWatch was built to start up and monitor programs that run within a user session. Accordingly, StartWatch only starts programs after the user logs in. There are two ways to configure your computer so that a particular user account logs in automatically after boot up, without any user intervention. 1) set up a single user account without any password, or 2) configure windows to automatically log in a particular user account, even if the account has a password. I use the second option because it works even if there are multiple accounts set up on the computer, and you can use it with password protected accounts. To do option #2 see here:
http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2007/01/04/auto-login-windows-xp-without-typing-password/ -
Since StartWatch was made with the intention of using with an account that logs in automatically on a 24x7 unattended computer, it was written with the assumption of a single user environment. I’m working on changes to StartWatch to operate better under Vista, and the main thing that involves is working well with multiple accounts. Each user account will have their own StartWatch configuration.
Steve
SoftWx