How in the Tech

Preserving the state of your running apps after a reboot

By Adam Myers ⋅ January 18, 2010 ⋅ Tags: Windows

You are probably aware that the second Tuesday of every month is referred to as Patch Tuesday. Patch Tuesday is the day Microsoft pushes out the monthly security fixes through their Windows Update service. Patch Tuesday is also likely the day you see the tray icon notifying you that it’s time to reboot Windows in order to finalize the installation of said patches.

If you are like most, you choose to ignore the notification and go about your day until a reboot is more conveinent. You may even continue to say restart later or remind me in x hours upon each reminder nag. Furthermore, you’ve probably accidentally hit Enter on the ill-timed dialog to cause an abrupt reboot. Sound familiar?

To me, it’s not the time lost that the actual reboot takes – we all use the bathroom or grab that third cup of coffee; no, it’s the time it takes to get all your applications up and running after the reboot and into a state of productivity that eats into our day. While a reboot may take a minute, a working desktop may take 10 minutes – with most of that at your whim because you must launch everything or return to the proper page in a document, etc.

CacheMyWork is a fantastic little utility that assembles a check-list of all running applications. From the list you designate which programs CacheMyWork should relaunch upon reboot – often times to the appropriate spot from which you left off. Did I mention it is free and also open-source? Simple and to the point; just what I look for.