Open at Login Not Reliable

Freshly installed (not upgraded) Mountain Lion, OSX 10.8, all updates installed. I'm the admin of the computer.
I have several items that I want to Open at Login. I right click their icon on the dock, go to Options, and then Open at Login. I only have a few of them, such as Outlook, Messages, and Firefox.
After a complete restart, those items only Open at Login about 50% of the time. The rest of the time, they just sit there, unopened, no matter how long I wait.
Note that I am NOT talking about the "Reopen windows when logging back in" checkbox when I restart the computer using the Apple menu. I have that option unchecked (and have always had it unchecked) and it performs like it's supposed to. It doesn't re-open apps or their windows, which is what I want, and this checkbox shouldn't control the "Open at Login" dock / app setting anyway.
The morning routine is the same. I power off my computer the day before, come in during the next morning, turn it back on, wait for the login screen and I click on my name and put in my password.
I like to log into my computer and get some coffee while it loads my apps and starts my Outlook mailbox sync, load up my Firefox tabs, etc. It's aggravating to come back to my computer 5 minutes later and see that none of the apps I told to Open at Login actually opened.
I absolutely never had this problem with Lion or Snow Leopard. It worked 100% of the time with those operating systems.
How do I fix this on Mountain Lion?

I don't need to re-arrange them, but I could see it being a useful troubleshooting step if only one app was Opening at Login but the rest were not.
Sadly this is not the case anyway, as it's an all-or-nothing kind of problem. Either all the apps are loading on a login, or none of them are. I'll have to restart the computer a few more times now that I did a permission repair and see if that resolved anything.

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Safari 5.1 -- 'Open at Login' not opening a browser window?

I have Safari set to open at login (right-click Safari in the Dock > Options > Open at Login). When I reach my desktop, the Safari icon in the Dock bounces and the spotlight lights up as expected, but Safari does not open a browser window -- I have to click the Safari icon or click File > New Window to see a window.
I've used Open at Login with Firefox and Mail and have never experienced this issue; the application window always opens. I've also tried disabling Safari's extensions and resetting Safari's settings (Safari > Reset Safari) with no luck.
I know I can probably trick Safari by adding a shortcut to my homepage to the Dock and have that open at login, but I would like to resolve this if I can. Any ideas?

I found this discussion about three or four months ago. I was having the same problem with Safari not opening, along with my other login items.
The tip posted by Linc on Oct 3, 2011 9:22 AM, resolved the issue.
Thanks Linc!
HOWEVER... Today, all of the sudden... Out of out of the blue... I have the same problem, again!?
I tried removing, then re-adding, the URL file from the log in items, automatic open list.
It did not work?
Does anybody have any ideas/solutions regarding this issue? This is becoming VERY aggravating!

How to I get iCal to open on login (not just startup but also open a new window)

I have added iCal to the startup on login in user preferences but it only starts the program, what I am trying to achieve is it startup and open a new window for me to review my daily calendar as soon as I login to my computer.

Thank you, "the-edmeister" -- You render a great service, one that lifts my spirits.
Your answer also taught me to be a little more persistent, as I had started looking at Preferences, and just didn't notice the icons (including Applications) at the top of that window that would have led me to my answer.
Dave

How can I disable Firefox from automatically opening on system startup on my Mac - unchecking the "open at login" does not work?

We have Firefox 10.o on our Macbook Pro OS X 10.5.8. I prefer using Firefox as my browser but my husband prefers Safari for now because of a long history of bookmarks and saved information he doesn't have time to re-do. He is tired of Firefox automatically opening when we start up the laptop, and even when we uncheck the "open at login" it still opens at login every time. He is about to uninstall it because of this. How can we disable? It does NOT show up in our account on the Mac OS as an application that starts at login, so we can't disable it there.

For those of you running Windows, I found this on another site. (Unfortunately, not before getting totally disgusted and switching to chrome.)
1. click start (or the windows flag button at the bottom left) 2. in the "search programs and files" or the RUN dialog box, enter "msconfig.exe" or "msconfig". 3. That should open the system configuration program. 4. click the "Startup" tab at the top of the opened program. 5. Under the "startup item" column, look for Mozilla firefox. 6. uncheck that one. 7. Click OK or apply. 8. click "exit without restart". 9. you're good to go.

Safari will not open a window when "open at login" is enabled

I seem to be having this issue where I can't seem to get a Safari window to open at login. I've tried many many settings from disabling the pop-up blocker to application permissions, it just doesn't want to open a window upon login. The icon in the dock has the indicator light that it is open, but no window appears.
I had no issues with this up until the past few updates that were done. I don't have any 3rd party plug-ins installed and it happens on both my Macbook Pro and Mac Mini and it is not profile specific.
Does anyone have any suggestions?

Lisa --Welcome to Apple Discussions!
We're other Mac users here, asking questions and sharing solutions.
You're having symptoms of a common problem here.
Your problem may be with the Community Toolbar.
It's a terrible app/plugin that messes up Macs like the plague.
Did you ever install a customized toolbar? Like a Facebook one? Or for watching sports?
Here's how to search and destroy:
Close Safari.
Check here for CT Loader
Locate and delete:
HD/Library/Application Support/Conduit
HD/Library/InputManagers/CTLoader
HD/Library/Receipts/ctloader.pkg
HD/Library/Receipts/<Toolbar name>.pkg
HD/Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins/CT2285220.bundle
HD/Users/<User name>/Library/Application Support/Conduit
It may not be in every single location, but get it out where ever you find it.
Restart Safari. Any Better?

Firefox opens at startup on my iMac. It is not in startup items and not checked to open at login.

There aren't really any more details to add. I have checked everything I can think of in the Library folder and thrown out anything I thought might affect it. Firefox is not set as my default browser.
I have read many threads of people having this problem both here and on the Apple Support site. Most seem to be solved by unchecking "Open at Login" in the Dock icon or removing Firefox from the Startup Items in the System Preferences. Neither applies here. HELP!!! I like Firefox and use it from time to time but it seems the only way to stop this behavior is to remove it from my computer, which I will do if a solution can't be found.
Thanks for your efforts.

Yes. I checked all of the places I could think of and those mentioned in the threads I read. Login items is what I was referring to when I said, "removing Firefox from the Startup Items in the System Preferences".
This is a nefarious problem!

I just downloaded the latest software OS X on my mac book pro, now whenever I start my computer I have to wait for windows mac to open up. The open at login is not even checked. How can I stop this from happening?

I have a Mac Book Pro and downloaded the latest software OS X. Now whenever I start my computer, I have to wait for Windows Mac to do its thing. I checked and the "open at login" option is not checked. How can I turn this feature off? It's driving me nuts!!

All fixed Barry. When I went to restart my computer, the question was right there. Do you want to open Windows when opening. NOPE!!
I tried it a few times and thank goodness it worked. Thank you for your help today.
Best,
Michelle

I need a reliable office suite. Open Office is not working well for me. Any suggestions?

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If you mean Open Office is not always able to correctly open documents received from clients created with MS Office, then the only real solution is to purchase Office 2011 for Mac. As good as some of the free alternatives are, they can't duplicate every feature of MS Office.

Script to open Remote Login in "sharing" not working after move to 10.5

Under 10.4 I sued the following script to open Remote Login (tick the box). Under 10.5.6 it does not work.
do shell script "/usr/bin/open /System/Library/PreferencePanes/SharingPref.prefPane"
activate application "System Preferences"
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"
click checkbox 1 of row 6 of table 1 of scroll area 1 of tab group 1 of window "Sharing"
delay 3
tell application "System Events"
quit application "System Preferences"
end tell
end tell
end tell
I get the following error:
System Events got an error: Can’t get tab group 1 of window "Sharing" of process "System Preferences". Invalid index.
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give this a spin
activate application "System Preferences"
tell application "System Events"
tell process "System Preferences"
click button "Sharing" of scroll area 1 of window "System Preferences"
select scroll area 1 of group 1 of window "Sharing"
select static text "File Sharing" of row 3 of table 1 of scroll area 1 of group 1 of window "Sharing"
select checkbox 1 of row 3 of table 1 of scroll area 1 of group 1 of window "Sharing"
click button "Options…" of splitter group 1 of group 1 of window "Sharing"
click checkbox "Share files and folders using FTP" of sheet 1 of window "Sharing"
delay 0.5
select button 2 of sheet 1 of window "Sharing"
keystroke return
delay 0.5
tell application "System Events"
quit application "System Preferences"
end tell
end tell
end tell
-----------------

Iphone not opening web login

Hi i wondered if anyone could anser my question as to why if i am somewhere logging into internet on my computer and click the wifi i want to use that it opens a login screens to put user name and password in no problem and connects to internet
but my iphone 4 wont. does the same thing, i click the wifi i want to use same as computer and it has full wifi signal says i am connected but wont open the browser to enter a login and password, so actually internet doesnt work on the phone
Thanks
Cal

The same thing happened to me. I tried deep-cleaning the cache, which was recommended elsewhere, but that didn't help.
The Apple support page on iPhone not being recognized in iTunes recommended reinstalling iTunes, among other things to try. That fixed it for me; I didn't even have to reboot, and the problem was eliminated.

Programs marked to open at login are not opening

I have opted for a few programs to open at login, such as Firefox, Safari, etc. Even tho they are checked in the options window to open at login, they are not listed in the systems preference folder to open, and there doesn't seem to be any way to enter them there. What should I do?

So what are you trying to get to open on login?
You are pressing the + symbol & going to your Applications folder to select your app?
And when you login there's no light under your app?

How do I stop iTunes (10.7) from automatically launching upon restart? "Open at Login" is NOT checked in the dock and I have removed the app from Login Items under Users/Groups. I am using a MacBook version 10.7.5. Thank you!

How do I stop iTunes (10.7) from automatically launching upon restart? "Open at Login" is NOT checked in the dock and I have removed the app from Login Items under Users/Groups. I am using a MacBook version 10.7.5. Thank you!

Thanks for the response gakker, but I've double-checked the camera / iPhoto / Image Capture scenario, and I'm 100% positive it's got nothing to do with that.
Plugging in my iPhone has no effect on anything related to this.
The other thing I should have mentioned is that when iTunes on my Mac is NOT running, then nothing happens on my iPhone screen when I plug it in to my Mac. I only get the "Sync in progress" message when iTunes IS running.
It's interesting though that you say you also get this "Sync in progress" message, albeit only for a second or two though.
Can I just double-check something with you however... When you say:
+"at no time was my iTunes playback interrupted"+
do you mean the iTunes on your Mac? Because the problem I have is that the iPod-playback on my iPhone is interrupted.
So can you clarify that for me, please? If you have music playing on your iPhone, and you then plug your iPhone into your Mac when iTunes is running on your Mac, does the music playback on the iPhone get interrupted?

Since upgrading from Lion to Mountain Lion, when I login 1 of 2 disk images I have set to open on login does not mount.

Since upgrading from Lion to Mountain Lion, when I login 1 of 2 disk images I have set to open on login does not mount. It worked under Lion. Stickies opens just fine. The disk images are sparse disk bundles. Are there any suggested remedies? I have already tried repairing permissions. One interesting thing is that previously in LIon, the disk images were just sparse images, not sparse bundles. I switched to bundles after reading that Time Machine backups of sparse bundles would not copy the entire image, only the changed parts. The sprase images are for sharing of photo and iTUnes libraries among multiple family member on the same computer.

If it is working as expected, what do you need with the old backup?
If you want to be able to go back to where you were prior to an upgrade, isolate that backup and don't use it again. As far as Time Machine can tell, the whole drive changed.
The link I posted contains probably everything that anybody knows about Time Machine and how to manipulate it to work as you would like as opposed to how it was designed to work. There are FAQs to continue a backup as opposed to starting fresh, but I wouldn't recommend it for the reasons above. Pondini probably doesn't, either.
If you are going to do a wholesale upgrade of the OS, I would create a bootable clone using something like Carbon Copy Cloner or Super Duper. A bootable clone on an external drive can have you back up and running instantly if the upgrade fails in any way. If the upgrade goes fine, store it away in case you find the current system isn't to your liking.

Not Reliably Going To Sleep With Lid Open?

I've had my new MacBook Pro for a few days. I think it is absolutely brilliant. However, last night I left it running on battery with the lid open and returned to find the battery dead. It will go to sleep if you shut the lid or select sleep from the Apple menu.
I called Apple and they talked me through numerous procedures including resetting the SMC, PRAM, deleting various plists and finally a permissions repair on the disk. The latter seemed to make it work.
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When it does work, the computer takes 2-3 minutes to go to sleep after the display sleeps.
I'm running Snow Leopard with all the available updates.
Please can anyone suggest what I might do next?

Hi,
I've been struggling with same issue too, idle timer sleep just didn't work most of the time. I am a recent convert from Windows world and there were never issues with PC to go to sleep after idle timeout. With SL it was not so easy.
However, I found a reason (Or two actually) why it was not sleeping, after going through my applications and web pages one by one.
One of them is flash plugin in browsers, if I had any page open with flash, the computer would not sleep. Apparently flash somehow makes SL think it is not idle. Solution to this was to set up flash blockers to browsers. Which is not bad thing overall, flash is mostly adverts anyway on the pages I visit.
Other one was facebook, even with flash disabled. Something in their real-time updating of statuses again prevents sleeping. I tried disabling java and java script too, it might help but then facebook does not work at all. Solution is to always close facebook after using it. Not a really good one, it's easy to forget running.
Hope this helps!

Apps will not open at login. what can i do?

hi,
i've set a few of my apps to open at login/startup. the problem is they never open, i have to open each of them manually. it is really frustrating. i've set my apps through System Preferences and the apps themselves. is there anything i can do to remedy this situation?
thank you

Back up all data.
Triple-click the line below to select it:
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginitems.plist
Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
Services ▹ Reveal
from the contextual menu.* A folder should open with an item selected. Quit the System Preferences application if it's running. Move the selected item to the Desktop, leaving the window open. Relaunch the application, recreate some of your login items, and test. If there's no change, quit again and put the item you moved back where it was, overwriting the one that may have been created in its place. Otherwise, delete the item you moved.
*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C). In the Finder, select
Go ▹ Go to Folder...
from the menu bar, paste into the box that opens (command-V). You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Open at Login Not Reliable

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