I have a windows 8.1 machine and I want to open a program with minimized window. For a program like notepad, I just use the following command:
start /min \"\
Try this
Go to the properties of the shortcut that points to the program (ALT ENTER or right click->properties); if there is no shortcut to it, you can make it by dragging and dropping the program while holding CTRL SHIFT;
Click in the Normal window dropdown, and choose minimized;
Save and run the shortcut.