Yes, I also feel that the boot difficulty with the program is germane to my computer.

This morning, when I booted up, 7TT ran . . . however, based on my past experiences with 7TT, I suspect that it will not always start with the boot in the future.

Fortunately, the work-around of clicking on the desktop icon is easy and simple.

Thanks for your help and quick responses to this minor frustration. 

Well, the weekend has come and gone . . . 7TT sometimes starts at boot, sometimes not.

When it starts at boot, that is good; when it doesn't, I simply have to click on the desktop icon and it starts.

While it is frustrating not being able to figure out why 7TT starts so seemingly random for me, the program is still very, very useful and one of my favorites!

Nope, when I rebooted without the check mark in the Settings start box, 7TT did not start.

When I substitute the existing shortcut Target with http://i.snag.gy/YY1Ex.jpg

the tabs on the bottom of the Properties window are "OK, Cancel, and Apply" . . . when I click Apply I get:  "The name 'http://i.snag.gy/YY1Ex.jpg' specified in the Target box is not valid.  Make sure the path and file name are correct."

No, I had actually checked the start up box in Settings not realizing that it may be trying to double start . . . I'll uncheck and see if the Items popup is hidden upon booting at this time.  

Being discouraged by being unable to solve this conundrum, about 3 days ago I uninstalled and reinstalled 7TT . . . and  I was gratified that it started at each boot (about 5).

However, this morning, inexplicably, 7TT failed to start at boot . . . so I took a look at any possible "'killer' maintenance or update" programs that ran since the last boot yesterday and and saw that the only automatic update was Microsoft Security Essentials . . . and looking at that could find no references or actions for 7TT.

As for the desktop shortcut Properties Target it reads: "C:\Users\ --- \AppData\Roaming\7+ Taskbar Tweaker\7+ Taskbar Tweaker.exe".

When I substituted "http://i.snag.gy/YY1Ex.jpg

for the aforementioned Target, it would not apply.

So I dragged the existing desktop shortcut to the startup folder . . . and added " -hidewnd" and 7TT now starts at boot but I have to delete the Items screen from my desktop with each boot as it does not start hidden.

Any more thoughts?

Results over the past several days have been . . . well, inconclusive.

I put 7TT in the startup folder and it started with each boot; however, it was always annoyingly superimposed on top of my desktop, even though I had "-hidewnd".

Since deleting the 7TT startup folder entry,  7TT automatically starts about half the time; for the other half, I just click the desktop icon and it starts . . . a little annoying but not too bad . . . no  rhyme or reason that I can figure out.

For me, the "Run at start up" check box simply won't stay checked.

Good idea . . . worth a try . . . however, 7TT was there when I booted up this morning . . . very inconsistent, for me . . . sad, because this is one of the most useful programs that I have . . . have now put 7TT into the startup folder . . . will see what happens during the next several days boots . . . lastly, thanks for your suggestions and prompt responses!

I texted too soon . . . back to the same problem.

Maybe some maintenance app I run (ran Advanced System Care today) is killing the 7TT automatic start up?

Voila . . . since installing the latest 7TT version, 4.2.7, this past week,  the Settings "Run at start up" checked box has become stable, resulting in the desired automatic start at boot.