FreeCommander Forum

Hi there

A really simple question, and no doubt I'm doing something really stupid to cause my problem.
I decided I'd like Free Commander to autostart at boot of my Windows 11 Pro system.
But I've been completely unsuccessful so far.

I have a shortcut to FC in C:\Users\[MyUserName]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
I also have a shortcut to FC in C:\Users\All Users\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

If I go to Windows > Settings > Apps > Startup I see two entries for Free Commander (presumably as a result of the two shortcuts?) and both are set to "On".

Any ideas?

Thanks and best wishes

_____________________________________
Windows 11 Pro 25H2 Build 26200.7462
Free Commander XE 2025 Build 938 64-bit donor

Try running as administrator (right click on shortcut-properties- advanced button.
Also check the file path in the shortcut is correct and in quote marks.

Hi there

Thanks for the reply.

I confirmed the paths both shortcuts were using to launch FC. I navigated to them (using FC), double-clicked and they both started another instance of FC.
So far, so good.
I then looked at the 'run as administrator' box. It was already checked in both shortcuts.

But then I thought - perhaps 'autorun at start' shouldn't be run as admin?
So I unchecked them, re-started and immediately got two instances of FC at start-up, exactly as expected.
I'll delete the shortcut in the All Users path so in future I only get one instance starting.

Thank you for pointing in me in the right area, even if it was facing the wrong way!

Glad you got there. Mine is set to run as Administrator which is why I suggested it.
It's all Black Magic...

Walter Eagle wrote: 13.12.2025, 11:49 [...]
But then I thought - perhaps 'autorun at start' shouldn't be run as admin?
[...]

The User Account Control blocks autorunning of elevated programs from StartUp folder even if it set to >>Never notify<<. This is a safety measure to prevent malware from automatically and silently gaining admin rights after boot-up

But if one needs to actually execute some program with privileges, there is workaround: LNKs >>Target<< can use CMD wrapper or some other launcher to trigger elevation. Although some targets, like certain AutoHotkey scripts, might require addition of a time delay