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My Problem:

I use an EQ program on my PC for my mic. This program has integration with another device I have called a Stream Deck.

I've come across an issue where the streamdeck software is not connecting to my EQ software on startup.

The support page for the EQ software offers a fix for this, which is to kill both applications, then restart them, EQ first, then streamdeck. This fixes the issue, but it requires me to repeat this process after each restart.

I'm assuming that the root cause of this issue is that the streamdeck application is starting before the EQ application.

My Question:

Is there a way I can edit the order of the startup applications in Windows so that the EQ application is launched first?

Note that they don't launch from %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup folder.

If there's a registry edit I could make, that would be great, but I'm not sure where I would find the correct keys.

Any help is appreciated, and thanks in advance.

ant0n
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  • I think you can only do that by running some script on boot, that will start your EQ, and wait for it to start, and then start other needed applications. – Luuk Aug 11 '23 at 16:00
  • Where are these apps defined (where do they start from) ? (Add to your comment @harrymc for me to be notified.) – harrymc Aug 11 '23 at 16:03

2 Answers2

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Windows Services embrace the concept of dependencies. For example, the ActiveX Installer service will not start until Remote Procedure Call service is already running. If those apps can be run as services, then you could make EQ a dependency for streamdeck.

  • Make both apps into Windows NT Services (which should still work in Windows 11). Use SrvStart (which you might need to build) or NSSM to make each application a Service.
  • Open Regedit and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\<streamdeck service name>.
  • If the value DependOnService does not exist, add it as type REG_MULTI_SZ.
  • Edit DependOnService to include the service name for EQ.
  • Set Start value to 2 (automatic), or otherwise as needed, for both Services.

Caveats:

  • Using a Service requires that that it be started and stopped as a Service.
  • The applications used to create a Service are considered "hack tools", since they make changes on a deep system level, not apparent to the user.
  • Use care... it is possible to make a system unusable with mistakes in this process. Make a disk image so you can roll back if there is an issue!
DrMoishe Pippik
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Take a look at the registry path HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run for the current user or the HKLM variant for all users.

I can't verify whether the order of keys matters, and whether the system waits for each application to fully open or just calls them all in bulk regardless of which one finishes first.

Alternatively you can create a task using the Task Scheduler taskschd.msc which runs When you log on which would call a batch script that starts the applications in the order as you desire.