Startup Items folder

Startup Items is a folder inside the System Folder on a Macintosh running System 7 through Mac OS 9.2.2.

As the name suggests, any item placed inside the Startup Items folder would be launched automatically at startup.

To stop items from inside the folder from launching at startup, you need to press and hold down the shift key after the desktop pattern or desktop image appears once the startup progress bar has disappeared.

Usage
Most people don't put copies of applications inside the folder; instead, aliases of applications and other items (such as documents and folders) are dragged into the folder.

The launch order is alphabetical. Thus, ClarisWorks would launch before Microsoft Word, and after BBEdit.

A classic prank is to put a copy of the • Shut Down application inside the folder, so as to make the Mac shut down immediately after it was started.