The RunServices and RunServicesOnce Keys

During system startup, the Service Control Manager starts the applications listed under the following registry keys: RunServices and RunServicesOnce. These keys are located under the key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

You can use any unique value name for each application. For the value data, use a string that represents the command line the Service Control Manager will use to start the application. Following is an example of a RunServices list that contains entries for three applications:

MyApp1="myapp1.exe"
MyApp2="myapp2.exe" param1 param2
MyApp3="c:\mydir\myapp3.exe"

The system deletes values under the key RunServicesOnce after the application starts.

These applications start before the user logs on. The user is not yet validated, and the applications cannot assume that networking permissions are enabled. Until the user logs on, the application does not have access to network resources that the user has access to.