Installation guide · for technicians

OBS Studio — always on

Make OBS start by itself when the PC boots, come back on its own if it closes or crashes, and never stop to ask a question — not even after a power cut.

Time neededAbout 10 minutes per PC
WindowsWindows 10 or 11, a current release
OBS StudioStandard installer, default folder
Admin tools neededNone — two double-clicks

01What you get

A small watchdog runs quietly in the background and looks after OBS. Nothing else about OBS or your scenes changes.

Starts with the PC

OBS opens by itself about 20 seconds after Windows has started — no one needs to be there.

Comes back if it stops

Closed by accident or crashed — OBS is running again within 5 seconds.

No questions after a power cut

After an unexpected shutdown OBS normally asks whether to start in Safe Mode and waits for a click. The watchdog clears that first, so OBS always opens normally.

No pop-ups

Update notices and “missing files” warnings are switched off, and OBS starts tucked away next to the clock.

How it works

PC powers on→ Windows signs in→ Watchdog starts→ Waits 20 s→ Clears Safe Mode flag→ OBS running

If OBS closes for any reason, the watchdog waits 5 seconds and starts it again — day and night.

02Download

Everything is in one small ZIP file. You'll use the same file on every PC.

Expromo OBS Autostart
ZIP · 7 small files · no installer, no admin tools
Download ZIP
Install.cmdSets it up for the Windows user you are signed in as.
Pause OBS.cmdCloses OBS and keeps it closed — for maintenance.
Resume OBS.cmdBack to normal: OBS starts and is kept running.
Uninstall.cmdRemoves everything again. OBS itself is not touched.
obs-watchdog.ps1The watchdog itself. view
setup.ps1Does the work behind the four buttons above. view
README.txtA short reminder of the above.
What it adds to the PC: one scheduled task called OBS Appliance Watchdog and one folder, %LOCALAPPDATA%\OBS-Appliance. That's all — and Uninstall.cmd removes both.

03Set it up, step by step

Steps 1–3 prepare the PC, steps 4–5 install the watchdog, and step 6 proves it works. Do them in this order.

  1. 1

    Install OBS Studio and set it up

    Download OBS Studio from obsproject.com and install it with the standard installer, keeping the default folder. The portable ZIP version won't work with the watchdog.

    Open OBS, finish its first-start wizard, build your scenes and sources, and check that everything looks right. Then close OBS.

  2. 2

    Make Windows sign in by itself

    The watchdog starts when the Windows user signs in. After a restart or power cut, Windows must reach the desktop without anyone typing a password. Choose one:

    Account without a password SimplestA local Windows account with no password goes straight to the desktop. This is how the Expromo showroom is set up.
    Account with a passwordUse Microsoft's free Autologon tool: enter the user name and password once, click Enable. The password is stored encrypted.

    Use one dedicated Windows user for OBS, and do the rest of this guide signed in as that user.

  3. 3

    Let the PC switch itself back on after a power cut

    In the PC's BIOS/UEFI setup (usually Del or F2 during start-up), find the power setting and set it to Power On. Each manufacturer names it differently, for example Restore on AC Power Loss, AC Back or After Power Failure.

    Without this, the PC stays off after a power cut until someone presses its power button.

  4. 4

    Unblock and unzip the download

    1. Right-click Expromo-OBS-Autostart.zip → Properties, tick Unblock at the bottom, click OK.
    2. Right-click it again → Extract All… and extract it to a permanent place, for example C:\Expromo.

    Keep the folder: its Pause, Resume and Uninstall buttons are what you'll use later.

  5. 5

    Double-click Install.cmd

    A small window appears and confirms: “Installed for user …”. Press any key to close it. About 20 seconds later OBS starts — you'll find its icon next to the clock.

    If Windows shows a blue “Windows protected your PC” screen, click More info → Run anyway. That appears for any downloaded script, and step 4's Unblock normally prevents it.

  6. 6

    Test it — three quick checks

    • Right-click the OBS icon next to the clock → Exit. OBS is back within about 5 seconds.
    • Restart the PC and don't touch it. Windows reaches the desktop and OBS opens by itself.
    • Optional, the real test: pull the power plug while OBS is running, then plug it back in. The PC starts, and OBS opens normally without asking about Safe Mode.

04Day to day

Working in OBS

Just open it

Click the OBS icon next to the clock to bring OBS up and edit scenes as usual. The watchdog doesn't get in the way.

Maintenance

Keep OBS closed

For example, to update OBS or install a plugin, double-click

Pause OBS.cmd

If OBS is still open afterwards, right-click its icon → Exit. It now stays closed.

Back to normal

Resume

When you're done, double-click

Resume OBS.cmd

OBS starts within about 20 seconds and is looked after again.

Don't forget to resume. A paused PC keeps OBS closed even after a restart — that's on purpose, so maintenance isn't interrupted, but it also means OBS won't come back until someone runs Resume OBS.cmd.

05Adjusting it (optional)

The defaults suit almost every PC. If you do need to change something, open obs-watchdog.ps1 from your extracted folder in Notepad, change the value near the top, save, and run Install.cmd again. The change applies from the next restart.

SettingDefaultWhen to change it
$StartupDelaySeconds20Raise it (e.g. to 45) on PCs whose capture cards, displays or network drives need longer to be ready after start-up.
$RestartDelaySeconds5Rarely needed. The pause before OBS is started again after closing.
$ObsArguments--minimize-to-tray
--disable-updater
--disable-missing-files-check		Add OBS start-up options, e.g. --scene "Main" to always open on a given scene, or --startvirtualcam, --startrecording, --startstreaming. Put any name with spaces in double quotes.

06If something isn't right

OBS doesn't start after a restart

Check that Windows really reaches the desktop by itself (step 2). If it stops at the sign-in screen, the watchdog never starts.

Also check that OBS wasn't left paused — double-click Resume OBS.cmd.

OBS still asks about Safe Mode

OBS was started some other way than by the watchdog, for example via a shortcut in the Windows Startup folder. Remove any other way OBS is started automatically, so only the watchdog starts it.

Install says “OBS Studio was not found”

OBS is installed in a different folder or is the portable version. Reinstall it with the standard installer and the default folder (C:\Program Files\obs-studio), then run Install.cmd again.

OBS reports that “icuuc.dll” is missing

Windows is too old for current OBS versions — typically Windows 10 LTSB 2016. Update Windows to a current release of Windows 10 or 11.

Where can I see what happened?

Every start, stop and restart is written with date and time to %LOCALAPPDATA%\OBS-Appliance\watchdog.log. Paste that path into the Explorer address bar to open it. Please include this file when contacting Expromo support.

Proven in daily use. This is the same watchdog that keeps OBS running in the Expromo showroom in Aarhus — through restarts, crashes and power cuts.