Add or remove applications from Startup in LION

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Level 1

5 points

Add or remove applications from Startup in LION

We just did a migration from Tiger to Lion for our primary Mac user and now, on her new machine running Lion, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Entourage launch every time she starts up her PC. Microsoft Excel was not even in her Startup on her old system.

I followed the instructions provided in this link: http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/#appstartup for adding and removing applications from a user's Startup in Lion. For this user, there are no Microsoft 2008 applications listed. She is the only user on the computer - there is a guest account that is shown but cannot be accessed or modified from the Users and Groups folder in System Preferences.

So, my question is: Is there another way to see what would be the equivalent of the "Startup" folder in Windows on an iMac running Lion? Or am I missing something? How did Excel get into Startup? How do I get it out?

Marty

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Nov 8, 2011 7:44 AM

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Answer 1

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CT

Level 7

23,987 points

Nov 8, 2011 7:52 AM in response to MjFranek

Are these applications running at the time of logout/shutdown/restart?

charlie

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Answer 2

mtatmc

Level 1

80 points

Nov 8, 2011 7:53 AM in response to MjFranek

When the offending programs are running right click on them (ctrl click if using 1 button) and select options. Is Open at Login checked?

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Answer 3

Nov 8, 2011 8:00 AM in response to MjFranek

Couple of places to check -

System Preferernces > Users & Groups > Login Items (the button near the top). If Excel or another app you don't want to autoload at startup is shown in the list, remove it.

System Preferences > General. In the Recent Items area, uncheck the "Restore windows..." item.

*****

Make it a habit to quit apps before shutting the machine down. Doing so will help prevent the intrusion of Lion's Resume function.

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Answer 4

MjFranek Author

Level 1

5 points

Nov 8, 2011 1:01 PM in response to mtatmc

As it turned out, I noticed that when you shut down or restart the computer, a question box comes up asking "Are you sure you want to restart/shutdown your computer now?" There is a check box next to the option "Reopen windows when logging back in", which is checked by default. I discovered that if you uncheck that box just one time, it will not attempt to open any applications that were open during any previous shutdown. It appears to sort of 'wipe the slate clean'. That is how I got it to stop launching Microsoft 2008 applications on every startup even when they were not in the user's Login Items. And they were not set for Open At Login.

This one led me a merry chase! Thanks to all who responded.

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