The Active Setup key in the registry allows you to specify a command that should run the first time a new user logs on. You can do some pretty cool things once you know how to leverage this key. Read on to get started.

Problem:

Using Active Setup

An application needs to launch a repair when a new user logs on to insert per-user information in to the user profile. Examples of per-user information might be a registry key under HKCU or a file in the user profile under the My Documents folder.

In order to activate a repair a valid application entry point must be launched (advertised shortcut, extension, COM information).

What if an application doesn't have an entry point? What about a plug-in for Excel with no shortcut? Oh dear.

Solution:

Active Setup

The Active Setup key in the registry allows you to easily specify a command that should run the first time a new user logs on. You can use this to force a repair with the command line msiexec /f {ProductCode} where ProductCode is a the ProductCode property taken from the Property table of the MSI. This is in the GUID format.

Example:

1. Add the following key to the registry
   

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{3bf42070-b3b1-11d1-b5c5-0000f8056996}
   
   

   Note: The GUID can be any valid GUID as long as it is unique on the machine.

2. Add the following value for that key
   Value name: StubPath
   Type: Reg_Expand_Sz
   Value: C:\windows\notepad.exe
3. Log off your machine and log on as a new user. Notepad will appear the first time you log on to the machine.

Notepad is just an example. You could specify any command line here. Typically you would specify msiexec /f and then the ProductCode of the package you wish to force a repair on.