Alrighty, let me see if I get this right You want a way to use the 'windows update' inf installation method once the user has logged fully on and the desktop is showing? After trying a few different things this is what I came up with: Firstly you need to add a key to the registry during setup. The method I use for this is a modified moviemk.inf but you could use cmdlines.txt or guirunonce I would imagine. Here's my current moviemk.inf [Version] Signature="$Windows NT$" [DefaultInstall] AddReg=PreLogon [PreLogon] HKCU,"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Runonce","runonce",,"rundll32.exe setupapi.dll,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 132 %10%\runonce.inf" HKCU,"Software\Microsoft\CTF","Disable Thread Input Manager",0x00010001,1 HKLM,"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Applets\Tour","RunCount",0x00010001,0 HKCU,"Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams","Settings",0x00000001,\ 09,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,e0,d0,57,00,73,35,cf,11,ae,69,08,00,2b,\ 2e,12,62,04,00,00,00,08,00,00,00,43,00,00,00 HKCU,"Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Defaults","{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}",0x00000001,\ 1c,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,9a,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,ff,\ ff,ff,ff,f0,f0,f0,f0,14,00,03,00,9a,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,30,00,00,00,fd,df,\ df,fd,0f,00,05,00,24,00,10,00,2e,00,46,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,02,00,00,\ 00,03,00,00,00,04,00,00,00,78,00,96,00,60,00,60,00,78,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,\ 00,00,02,00,00,00,03,00,00,00,05,00,00,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,cf,f3,a8,b0,33,43,ab,\ 4b,88,73,1c,cb,1c,ad,a4,8b,30,f1,25,b7,ef,47,1a,10,a5,f1,02,60,8c,9e,eb,ac,\ 04,00,00,00 HKCU,"Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Defaults","{F3364BA0-65B9-11CE-A9BA-00AA004AE837}",0x00000001,\ 1c,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,90,00,02,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,f0,f0,f0,f0,14,00,03,00,90,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,30,00,00,00,fd,df,\ df,fd,0f,00,04,00,20,00,10,00,28,00,3c,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,02,00,00,\ 00,03,00,00,00,d2,00,70,00,8c,00,8c,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,\ 03,00,00,00,ff,ff,ff,ff,22,3e,37,3e,99,da,b7,4c,a8,86,75,4e,ae,98,4c,b4,30,\ f1,25,b7,ef,47,1a,10,a5,f1,02,60,8c,9e,eb,ac,04,00,00,00 HKCU,"Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Desktop","TaskbarWinXP",0x00000001,\ 0c,00,00,00,08,00,00,00,02,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,b0,e2,2b,d8,64,57,d0,11,a9,\ 6e,00,c0,4f,d7,05,a2,22,00,1c,00,0a,10,00,00,1a,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,4c,00,00,00,01,14,02,00,00,00,00,00,c0,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,46,81,00,00,00,10,00,00,00,e0,ce,55,ee,fe,ee,c2,01,00,c0,d5,bc,\ 54,b1,c3,01,00,8b,14,ef,fe,ee,c2,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,15,02,14,00,1f,50,e0,4f,d0,20,ea,3a,69,10,\ a2,d8,08,00,2b,30,30,9d,19,00,2f,43,3a,5c,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,5c,00,31,00,00,00,00,00,74,2e,12,7a,10,00,44,4f,43,\ 55,4d,45,7e,31,00,00,44,00,03,00,04,00,ef,be,74,2e,12,7a,79,2f,00,00,14,00,\ 00,00,44,00,6f,00,63,00,75,00,6d,00,65,00,6e,00,74,00,73,00,20,00,61,00,6e,\ 00,64,00,20,00,53,00,65,00,74,00,74,00,69,00,6e,00,67,00,73,00,00,00,18,00,\ 4a,00,31,00,00,00,00,00,74,2e,9c,84,10,00,41,44,4d,49,4e,49,7e,31,00,00,32,\ 00,03,00,04,00,ef,be,74,2e,9c,84,7b,2f,00,00,14,00,00,00,41,00,64,00,6d,00,\ 69,00,6e,00,69,00,73,00,74,00,72,00,61,00,74,00,6f,00,72,00,00,00,18,00,64,\ 00,31,00,00,00,00,00,74,2e,23,7a,13,00,41,50,50,4c,49,43,7e,31,00,00,4c,00,\ 03,00,04,00,ef,be,74,2e,9c,84,77,2f,00,00,14,00,36,00,41,00,70,00,70,00,6c,\ 00,69,00,63,00,61,00,74,00,69,00,6f,00,6e,00,20,00,44,00,61,00,74,00,61,00,\ 00,00,40,73,68,65,6c,6c,33,32,2e,64,6c,6c,2c,2d,32,31,37,36,35,00,18,00,42,\ 00,31,00,00,00,00,00,74,2e,18,72,14,00,4d,49,43,52,4f,53,7e,31,00,00,2a,00,\ 03,00,04,00,ef,be,74,2e,9c,7c,9a,2e,00,b8,14,00,00,00,4d,00,69,00,63,00,72,\ 00,6f,00,73,00,6f,00,66,00,74,00,00,00,18,00,52,00,31,00,00,00,00,00,74,2e,\ ea,73,10,00,49,4e,54,45,52,4e,7e,31,00,00,3a,00,03,00,04,00,ef,be,74,2e,9c,\ 7c,9a,2e,00,b8,14,00,00,00,49,00,6e,00,74,00,65,00,72,00,6e,00,65,00,74,00,\ 20,00,45,00,78,00,70,00,6c,00,6f,00,72,00,65,00,72,00,00,00,18,00,48,00,31,\ 00,00,00,00,00,74,2e,a1,7c,10,00,51,55,49,43,4b,4c,7e,31,00,00,30,00,03,00,\ 04,00,ef,be,74,2e,a1,7c,9a,2e,00,b8,14,00,00,00,51,00,75,00,69,00,63,00,6b,\ 00,20,00,4c,00,61,00,75,00,6e,00,63,00,68,00,00,00,18,00,00,00,10,00,00,00,\ 05,00,00,a0,1a,00,00,00,37,01,00,00,00,00,00,00,26,00,00,00,61,07,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,19,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,19,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,\ 00,00,01,00,00,00,aa,4f,28,68,48,6a,d0,11,8c,78,00,c0,4f,d9,18,b4,04,04,00,\ 00,60,0d,00,00,00,00,00,00,19,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,19,00,00,00,\ 00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00 Note the first line of the addreg section. It adds an entry in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER RunOnce registry key. This key is that last to be processed during the startup sequence, being run even after the startup folder. The entry tells the system to run another inf, runonce.inf. Here's runonce.inf [Version] Signature="$Windows NT$" [DefaultInstall] AddReg=Setup [Setup] HKLM,"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce\Setup","Windows Registry",,"%10%\regedit.exe guiset.reg" This inf adds a value to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE RunOnce\Setup key. As the user has already logged on, this command is run immediately. It tells the system to start the installation process and a nice 'windows update' box pops up and runs your setup programs, in this case registry entries. Here's a screenshot of it in action