CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#winforms
Dan Sosedoff
Dan Sosedoff

Reputation: 2869

C# user-defined application settings are not loaded on system startup

I have a C# WindowsForms application that uses Properties.Settings.Default to store application and user settings. Reading and writing custom user values works correct.

Application is set to automatically run on system startup or user sign on. Here's the problem: when the app starts on system startup it cant load any user-specific settings. They're all set to their default values. When i close the app and restart it - all user settings are back.

After debugging and logging i narrowed down the issue: on normal start application's working directory is set to the directory it was installed into. On system start (or user sign in) working directory is set to C:\system32 (or similar). That's when user settings are not loaded.

Is this a proper behavior ? If so, how would i correctly load (or reload) user settings?

NOTE: My application is deployed with ClickOnce so i can't really control where the settings file is stored. Also, i don't have any issues persisting the settings between the version upgrades.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 296

Answers (1)

Dan Sosedoff
Dan Sosedoff

Reputation: 2869

Found a solution, although i'm not sure how "correct" it is.

In my application when user clicks on "Start on boot" checkbox option, i was writing the following into the registry:

string keyname = "SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Run";
RegistryKey key = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(keyname, true);
key.SetValue("MyApp", Application.ExecutablePath.ToString());

The issue was resolved when i changed the app path to:

var startPath = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Programs)
  + @"\Published\App.appref-ms";
key.SetValue("MyApp", startPath);

I think it has something to do with how ClickOnce apps are typically launched. I start the app using the desktop shortcut, not directly running exe file.

Upvotes: 2

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