WiX: How to register application to start when Windows launches?

.net, windows-installer, wix, wix3

Solution

I found this using Google (Providing automatic program start via the Registry); it also includes adding UI. Don't forget you should also provide an option outside the setup to enable/disable autostart.

The basic Wix for it is:

  <Property Id="ASSISTANCE_START_VIA_REGISTRY">1</Property>

  <!-- Auto-start via Registry -->
  <Component Id="MerliniAssistanceAutostart" Guid="Place-your-own-GUID-here">
    <RegistryValue Id="MerAs.rst" Root="HKMU" Action="write"
                   Key="Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run"
                   Name="Merlinia Assistance Client"
                   Value="[INSTALLDIR]Assistance.exe"
                   Type="string" />
    <Condition>ASSISTANCE_START_VIA_REGISTRY</Condition>
  </Component>

  <ComponentRef Id="MerliniaAssistanceAutostart" />

Problem

I'm exploring distribution of .NET desktop applications with MSI generated by WiX. So far it works great. But I've got a few questions, googling can't help out with. What's the advised way of registering application to start when windows launches (in WiX)? What WixUI could I use and how? Notes: - The application is not a Windows Service and should not be registered as such. - It would be nice to let user to disable that option in the setup process. Thanks in advance!

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