On startup, Windows looks for programs to load in the following locations and generally in the sequence given below. Some entries may not be present. See
Win Startup folder.
Registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
WIN.INI File
Load= and Run= lines.
Registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
Startup Folder - Windows 7, 8.1 and 10
c:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
Startup Folder - Windows XP
c:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Start Menu\Programs\Startup