1025613 - minimize on startup

Status: UNCONFIRMED

(Firefox :: Session Restore, enhancement)

Description

[Anne Zwaan]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:30.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/30.0 (Beta/Release)
Build ID: 20140605174243

Steps to reproduce:

I use version 30 with Windows 7 (x64) and I do want to open a minimized browser window automatically when starting up the computer.
That should be easy enough! Make a shortcut to firefox.exe in your Startup folder and make it running minimized.
For testing reasons I removed localstore.rdf from my personal folder.


Actual results:

Starting up the computer resulted indeed in a minimized browser window.
But .... ! I sometimes use my browser. Click on the icon on the taskbar made de browser visible in a window that is too small. So I maximized it.
Closing the window and restarting the computer.
This time the Browser was maximized instead of minimized as should be according the shortcut in the startup folder.

I removed again localstore.rdf (after closing firefox).
First start indeed minimized, second time (as above) maximized.

Then I tried something different. 
After the first start (minimized) I did not maximize the window by its button, but resized the window so that it (nearly) filled the whole screen.
Restarting again gave me a minimized window and clicking on the icon in the taskbar showed the nearly maximized window. So that works!


Expected results:

Problem solved? No!
Sometimes a link in another program asks for a maximized browser window, and after that the problem reappears.

I think that the origin lays in the way the configuration is stored in localstore.rdf and apparently that is overruling the shortcut.

Comment 1

[Andre Klapper]

I already fail to see a usecase for opening a minimized browser window...

Comment 2

[Anne Zwaan]

(In reply to Andre Klapper from comment #1)

Not everyone need to have the same taste in using programs, but I do want them crisp. Waiting for several seconds to launch, short as it is, is rather annoying. Personally I am fully capable of solving this matter (with the use of a utillity that changes the system buttons on a window and minimize the window to the systray) but that was not the point of using this forum. In my opinion it concerns a (small) 'bug' in the program that needs correction. It does not function as meant to (I do hope so), or at least 'ought to'.

Anne Zwaan

Comment 3

[:Gijs (he/him)]

(In reply to Anne Zwaan from comment #0)
> Make a shortcut to firefox.exe in your Startup
> folder and make it running minimized.

How do you do this? I.e. how are you telling Windows/Firefox to start Firefox minimized?

> I think that the origin lays in the way the configuration is stored in
> localstore.rdf and apparently that is overruling the shortcut.

That depends. I hope you agree that, under normal circumstances, if I:

a) start the browser
b) maximize it
c) close the browser
d) reopen the browser

I would then expect it to be maximized again. (alternatively, repeat the above steps with a non-maximized window, and then I would expect it to be sized and positioned the same way as it was before)

I don't know how much Firefox hears from the OS about this 'minimize' option, and if it's viable to listen for whatever that option does, rather than race session restore with it (which is what's currently happening, I expect).

Comment 4

[Anne Zwaan]

First question:

Go to  C:\Users\your name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
In that folder right-click and choose New > Shortcut. Give it a name (Firefox?) and browse for C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe  . Now you have your shortcut. Standard does that run the program in Normal modus, and you want that minimized . Right-Click on that shortcut in the Startup folder and choose Properties. There are several tabs, but it opens in the tab called Shortcut. Look downwards for running mode and change that to minimized.

Second question:

As I mentioned before, which you can repeat, it does not allways startup minimized. I think that it works as follows;
Shortcut says to open firefox.exe minimized. Firefox does not mind, but has to checkup localstore.rdf (to know the profile) and in localstore.rdf is says that last time it was maximized when closed, so it has to be a maximized window.

How to solve it:

At first I created a macro (with Macro Express) to start firefox minimized. That did not work too because, I guess, it follows the same routine as mentioned before.
Another possibility is to minimize the window of Firefox as it appears the first time. That can be tricky depending on the speed of opening (making it visible) of the window, its window yes or no being topmost, and several other things specific for Macro Express.

The better way for me was using 4T Tray Minimizer. I made the minimize button minimize the window to the systray, and de close button (X) do the same. So you can not accidently close firefox, it allways stays visible in the systray. The other window button (Restore Down) is kept unchanged. Sometimes I prefer a smaller window than maximized. So in fact the browser is allways opened, or visible or minimized to the tray. And allways immediately ready for use. (But firefox.exe has to start later than 
4T Tray Minimizer. Try Startup Delayer.)