How to hide Windows 2012 Server Manager at login

If you have servers which are low on resources, having to wait for the server manager process to finish loading can be a little too long. Automating this process is simple although you can disable it directly from Server Manager.

Perform task via: [Command Prompt|PowerShell|Registry|Server Manager]


via Command Prompt

  1. To query this via cmd prompt:
    REG.exe  Query HKCU\Software\Microsoft\ServerManager /V DoNotOpenServerManagerAtLogon
  2. To set this via cmd prompt:
    REG.exe Add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\ServerManager /V DoNotOpenServerManagerAtLogon /t REG_DWORD /D 0x1 /F
    (Note that the above is one line that may wrap)

via PowerShell

  1. We can retrieve the current configuration either of these two commands:
    1. Get-Item HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\ServerManager
    2. Get-ItemProperty -Path HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\ServerManager -Name DoNotOpenServerManagerAtLogon | select DoNot OpenServerManagerAtLogon | Ft —AutoSize
  2. Whilst this one sets the value:
    New-ItemProperty -Path HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\ServerManager -Name DoNotOpenServerManagerAtLogon -PropertyType DWORD -Value "0x1" —Force
    (Note that the above are all one line that may wrap)

via Registry

  1. In addition we can also set a registry key automatically via a script to set the required registry key:
    HKCU\Software\Microsoft\ServerManager\DoNotOpenServerManagerAtLogon
    REG_DWORD 0x1

via Server Manager

  1. Open Server Manager by clicking the Server Manager icon on the bottom taskbar right next to the start button
  2. Under the Manage drop-down in upper right corner, select Server Properties, then click the box by Do Not Start Server Manager Automatically... (or uncheck it is you want it to start automatically upon login)

You can always open Server Manager by clicking on the icon in the task manager next to the start button that looks like a toolbox