On Windows 7 (or earlier windows versions like windows Vista or Windows XP) it was easy to add auto-start items to the ‘Startup’ folder of the Start Menu: Once added, the dedicated programs was started automatically every time Windows was booted. On Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 there is no Start menu anymore, but the so-called ‘Start Screen’. Beside this, the ‘startup’ folder is not visible any more. However, there is a work-around to get programs automatically started on Window 8 or Windows 8.1. Find the Startup folder on your PC and paste the shortcut of the program you want to get auto-started. For easy access later on, you just need to pin the Startup folder to the Windows 8 Start screen.
After Windows 8.1 is started and you logged in, open the Explorer and go to the folder ‘C:\Users\Your_Username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup’.
Now Add shortcuts of the programs you want to start automatically into this folder.
