I'm not new to pc's. I've set in gog galaxy not to run at startup (deselected the tick) and it's not in windows startup list ...but it keeps running the same.

anyone else? how to solve?

Windows 10 Fall Creators Update restarts any programs that were open when you restart (or shut down) your computer. Make sure to exit Galaxy before shutting down, or shut down using alt-f4 instead of pressing the start menu.
If not on Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, no idea.

ahem. you're totally right, just installed this update. ty!

What? Seriously?

Damn it Windows, what stupid feature will you come up with next...

Yes. A feature OSX has had for quite a while, and not a bad feature by itself. The issue is the lack of a switch as to whether or not to use it (either global one, or at shutdown/restart prompt).

The only way to bypass it is via command line. (What is this, Linux?)

shutdown /r /t 0 /f

will reboot, now, forcing close. /s instead of /r will shut down.

I made a pair of .bat files and stuck 'em in my Start Menu to deal with it.

You mean shutting down through Alt-F4 will still restart the applications?

Yup. Microsoft's response is 'the feature is working as intended'.

I discovered this when I had a bunch of stuff crash and rebooted .. and Windows tried to restart Final Fantasy XIV directly, rather than through the launcher, which doesn't work.

I had noticed Steam was popping up after reboots, but I thought that was just Steam being Steam. Nope. It's this mess.

I am aware that this is considered a feature. It's just that most of the comments I've found said that if you use Alt-F4->Shutdown, the programs wouldn't restart, same as if you used the shutdown command with the relevant arguments.