XFolder can now (V0.70) handle separate startup and shutdown folders.

Note: The startup and shutdown folders are not automatically created by the install program to avoid confusion. Please go to page 2 of the "XDesktop" settings page in the Desktop's settings notebook to create them manually.

If XFolder finds the XFolder Startup Folder upon WPS startup, it will process its contents in a way much similar to what the WPS does with its own startup folder. The main differences are:

- You may set a certain time which XFolder will wait in between starting objects. The conventional startup folder sometimes leads to problems if you have many objects in there, which are normally all started at the same time, sometimes causing the WPS to hang at startup. The XFolder Startup Folder's delay may also be set on "XDesktop" settings page 2.
- You will be able to watch the progress of the startup process in a separate window (which can also be turned off on "XDesktop" settings page 2, if you don't like it).
- Startup can be cancelled while it is running.
- Startup can completely be skipped by holding down the "Shift" key until the WPS has displayed the Desktop completely.
- The XFolder Startup Folder is also processed after a WPS restart, while the regular WPS startup folder is not. This applies only if you had selected the respective checkbox in the "Restart WPS" confirmation dialog box.
- The XFolder Startup Folder now (V0.80) has a "Start folder content" menu item which allows you to have its contents started even after the WPS is up.

On the other hand, the XFolder Shutdown Folder will be processed before the eXtended Shutdown (and not before the regular shutdown). As apposed to with the Startup Folder, you may not set a delay here, but XFolder waits before starting the next object until the currently opened object has been closed again. Only if all objects started from the Shutdown Folder have been closed, the eXtended Shutdown actually begins.

The Shutdown folder can be useful if you need to have certain programs executed before turning off your system. (I have no use for this, but apparently many people have.) You could, for example, create some REXX script which does some cleanup before shutting down, such as properly logging off your network, deleting TEMP files, or whatever you can think of.

For both the XFolder Startup and Shutdown folders, you may define the order in which objects are started. This works just the same way as described on the respective page for the XFolder Configuration Folders.