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How can I launch multiple programs easily?

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November 17, 2009 - 3:12pm
#1
danielwmoore
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How can I launch multiple programs easily?

How can I start multiple programs with one click, or one double-click?

Every time I plug in my portable drive, I need to not just launch the portable apps menu, but I also need to launch Fonts Portable, PortableFileAssociator, XAMPPLauncher, Apache server, MySQL server, and a few other items. I need a program that is easily configurable that will read a list of programs from in INI file and launch them all.

If there is one already out there, it would be easier to use it than to re-invent the wheel. If it doesn't exist, and there is any interest, then I'll make one.

A DOS Batch file to launch the programs will not work, because I don't have access rights to run a DOS window or batch files from every computer I visit. It will need to be a stand-alone executable that can read a list of programs from an INI file, preferably.

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November 17, 2009 - 5:23pm
digitxp
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Beta

Grab the beta menu off of the beta-testing forums, and when you right click on an app it'll give you a choice to autostart it.
Oh, trust me, if you make this you won't be reinventing the wheel. Everybody puts this feature in their apps, nobody thought of doing it standalone yet (mainly because then it screws up StartPortableApps.exe).

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November 18, 2009 - 8:33am
(Reply to #2)
danielwmoore
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RE: Beta

Actually, a standalone wouldn't screw up StartPortableApps.exe, since it can LAUNCH StartPortableApps.exe along with everything else.

The beta off the beta-testing forums isn't for me. I don't even use the StartPortableApps.exe, because I have 151 programs that are portable that I need to be able to start (on a 320GB portable USB HD, with 190GB used for programs). Since you can't organize things into categories or sub-folders within the menu system, the PortableApps menu just doesn't do it for me. I have my own.

I've now completed my program to automatically run a list of programs. Turns out it was fairly simple, and only took me 20 minutes to complete it. Works flawlessly with a small footprint and is very fast. Much easier to configure than configuring it within a menu system.

This option also gives me the opportunity to "Start Web Developer Environment" loading the Web Server and other programs I need to do my web development work, or I can "Start Wife's Environment" which will load the programs she needs to use (her own copy of Thunderbird, for example, along with her own version of Firefox so her bookmarks are separate from mine, etc.)

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November 19, 2009 - 7:20pm
(Reply to #3)
digitxp
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ASuite

You might be interested in ASuite. It's relatively fast, has a search, and even comes with keyboard shortcuts :).

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November 17, 2009 - 11:48pm
OliverK
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use the beta in the forums.

use the beta in the forums. Or, I assume you'd have no problems using the source for autoclose to make a new version that can launch what you need. Just get rid of the loop looking to see if the menu closed, and compile it with NSIS portable.

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Too many bridges you can burn
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December 16, 2009 - 11:45am
Darkbee
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PStart does it too

PStart also allows you to select certain apps to be run upon its execution, as well as assign global hot keys, so you can launch an application from any other application you're in by pressing the relevant key combination.

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