bug(windows): startup apps on Windows do not sync up with startup in Keyman

[Meng-Heng]

Describe the bug

From community site: https://community.software.sil.org/t/keyman-doesnt-open-at-startup/11280

I have used keyman for some time, but since a recent update it will no longer open when i restart (the box in configurations is checked).
[/quote]

I am able to reproduce the issue where in Keyman settings "Start when Windows starts" stay checked while Windows startup apps for Keyman Configuration is disabled.

Reproduce the bug

1. Go to Keyman Configuration -> Options -> Check "Start when Windows starts"

2. Go to Windows Startup apps > Disable "Keyman Configuration"

3. Restart the machine

4. After a reboot, Keyman do not startup but the Options stay checked
   

   

Expected behavior

Could the two settings sync up when one startup is triggered?

Related issues

No response

Keyman apps

• Keyman for Android
• Keyman for iPhone and iPad
• Keyman for Linux
• Keyman for macOS
• Keyman for Windows
• Keyman Developer
• KeymanWeb
• Other - give details at bottom of form

Keyman version

18.0.248

Operating system

Windows 10 Bootcamp

Device

MacBook

Target application

No response

Browser

No response

Keyboard name

No response

Keyboard version

No response

Language name

No response

Additional context

No response

[rc-swag]

The Start Up Approved setting added to Windows has not been done well. I worked out what was happening using procmon. Then this blog overview I found confirms and adds additional insight pt1 and pt2 as well as stack overflow.

TLDR; jump to Proposed Change

Basically, an application adds a startup entry in
[HKLM|HKCU]\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
this only appears here. However when either Settings->Startup Apps or TaskManager -> StartUp tab is opened then a entry is added to.
[HKLM|HKCU]\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartupApproved\Run

The value associated with it is 12 bytes in length the first being the enbabled state. The rest of the byte is the timestamp of when it was disabled. In the enalbed case it is zero.

03 - startup disabled, user with admin rights can enable

02 - startup enabled, user with admin rights can disable

It appeats 06 - may also be enabled I can't verify

This will therefore have the effect of disabling the startup entyr in \CurrentVersion\Run.
But it is a mess because if the value is removed from CurrentVersion\Run the StartUpApproved\Run entry will remain.
There is Microsoft tool called autoruns. It does something different to Settings and TaskManager. quoting the blog
"AutorunsDisabled subkey is created beneath the Run key, and the disabled value is moved to that subkey. If an entry beneath the Startup folder is disabled via Autoruns, an AutorunsDisable subdirectory is created beneath the Startup folder, and the entry (shortcut, executable, batch file, etc.) is moved to that subdirectory."

Proposed Change
Keyman still just write to and remove from CurrentVersion\Run. However, in the configurations checkbox the value will have to also Read [HKLM|HKCU]\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\StartupApproved\Run to show if it is enabled or disabled. If the key is not there at all then that means it is enabled also. When enabling it via Keyman Configuration if the StartupApproved\Run value exists we can write the 02 0000..00 to it. When Disabling just removing it from CurrentVersion\Run will be sufficent but we could also remove it from StartupApproved\Run to be nice system citzens.

[mcdurdin]

My thoughts.

1. We should not attempt to write to this key, either to delete or to modify values.
2. We should detect if there is an entry per the discussion above for "Keyman" (as that is what we call our Run registry value), and if it has a reg binary start of 03 then we detect startup as disabled.

If we have startup disabled by Windows, but enabled in Keyman Configuration, then we should show a prominent banner in Keyman Configuration / Options, with a button to open Apps>Startup in Windows Settings (TUtilExecute.Shell('ms-settings:startupapps') (ref)). That banner could also be shown in the splash screen in that situation.

Similarly, if the user turns on the setting in Keyman Configuration, but it is disabled in Windows Settings, pop a dialog offering to take them to Apps>Startup in Windows Settings to enable there.

Finally, we could also offer this in the installer?

And update the documentation accordingly.