KB00041 - Stickies doesn't start with my computer

This is a known issue under Windows XP, that some programs in the Startup group just don't start when Windows does. They work okay - you can click on them manually once Windows is running and the program they refer to starts, but just not at startup.

I get a lot of questions about this problem, so I've collated some of the ideas I've found on the web relating to this problem. They are below for your information, but please use them at your own risk. I don't have this problem on machines I've got access to, so I've not tried any of the below:

• Disable some networking services:
  1. Open Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs.
  2. In the sidebar, click on Add/Remove Windows Components.
  3. Scroll down to Networking Services, select it, and click the Details... button.
  4. Uncheck UPnP User Interface, and maybe SSDP discovery service as well
  5. OK your way out, close Add/Remove Programs, and reboot.
• Remove those network services - do the above, but uninstall the services rather than disable them
• People who have Windows XP, have it set to "classic look" and have Symantec Anti-Virus suffer from this problem.
• Norton AntiVirus causes the problem
• Having web items displayed on your desktop fixes the problem
• Create the following registry value:

  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer] Name: NoTrayItemsDisplay Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value) Value: 0

• Find where the application systray.exe is started in your registry and alter the value to be the full path to the executable, eg C:\WINDOWS\system32\systray.exe
• Put a shortcut to systray.exe in your Startup folder
• Use SysTrayHack

Michael Wiens solution

In October 2007, Michael Wiens wrote to say he was having this trouble on a W2K machine. He continued:

Finally, I opted for the brute strength approach: I wrote and compiled a three line AutoIT3 script that waits 30 seconds and then launches Stickies. When I dropped a shortcut to this into my Startup folder, it worked on my computer, which leads me to believe that the problem has something to do with one of my startup programs being a resource hog, probably my AV software, but perhaps Stickies itself. I don't know if this solution will provide relief for anyone else that experiences this problem, but I have attached the source code and the executable to this email. You are welcome to include this in the Stickies release if testing shows that it will help. Note that 'Launch Stickies.exe' expects to reside in the same folder that 'stickies.exe' is in.

The file which Michael sent me can be downloaded below.

Yirmeyahu's solution

In August 2015, Yirmeyahu wrote with more information about this problem under Windows 7. For him, dragging and moving the order of icons in the tray, next to the clock helped Stickies run with his machine. When he told me, I described this as "crazy" and said that it makes no sense at all, but if it worked for him, then perhaps it will work for you as well!