Windows Active Setup
Active Setup is a component of the Windows operating system. It is used to execute one-time actions for each user who logs into the system. Many Microsoft applications use Active Setup to set user configurations (registry entries and files in the user profile) once during login.Application
- Sets default settings in the user profile for each logging-in user.
- Executes arbitrary command line actions once for each logging-in user.
Description
When a user logs in, Active Setup compares two registry keys and their subkeys:- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components
Each installation managed via Active Setup has its own key under these paths. Typically, this is the product GUID, but any other unique identifier can be used, such as:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\AllSync-Install
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\AllSync-Install
The registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\AllSync-Install\ requires the following entry:
| Registry Value | Description |
|---|---|
| Version | The version number to be compared with the corresponding entry in the registry key under HKCU, e.g.: 4,0,0,1 The version number must be separated by commas, not periods. |
The registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\AllSync-Install\ may contain the following entries:
| Registry Value | Description |
|---|---|
| (Default) | The default value contains the text displayed during user login, e.g.: "Register AllSync License" |
| StubPath | The command line to be executed when the user logs in. Example: C:\Tools\AllSync\AllSync.exe -l:"{Licensee}","{License Key}" |
| Version | e.g.: 4,0,0,0 If the version number under HKLM is higher than the user's version, the command under StubPath is executed. |
Process
- The user logs in.
- Active Setup checks Installed Components under HKLM and compares it with the entries in the user profile under HKCU.
- If an installation is missing under HKCU or the version under HKLM is higher than the version under HKCU, the command in the registry value StubPath (HKLM) is executed.
Notes
- Any command line instruction can be used under StubPath.
- The command line under StubPath is executed with the rights of the logged-in user.