adding non-portable apps to PA menu system?

Again, don't bash me for asking a dumb question and yes I have read some of the threads on similar subjects.

I have a scientific plotting application that my employer developed/provides (i.e. it is not a commercial licensed application) that is already kind of portable, in that is does not require admin privileges to install. I can and have successfully copied the directory structure from the "c:/Programs Folder" and placed in on a remove shared drive and USB thumb drives. I am not the only one that has done this for various reasons.

Now I would like to add this application to the PA menu. I have successfully created the necessary folders and created the necessary files according to the PA specification and moved the application and help files into the appropriate directories, maintain the libraries and sub-directories that application originally had. The application launches correctly and have not any problems using the application. The only two files I have not created is the {appname.exe and help.html file that PA requires in the top level application folder. From what I can tell the PA menu system needs a small executable file that presumable only opens a splash screen which then launches the application itself which resides in a sub folder. I tried to use sysinternals JUNCTION to create a symbolic link, but that does not work on a FAT32 formatted USB drive. I also tried creating shortcuts and placed them in the top level application folder, which unfortunately does not work either.

I am not a programmer by trade, but do have some computer background. For the help.html, I think I can manage generating an html page that points to the sub directory contain all the individual html files and images. For the executable that PA requires to be in the top level application directory, thats a completely different matter.

1. Why does PA even require this executable and why does PA menu system not parse though the applinfo.ini file I generated to look for the “[START]" and "control=” occurrences to add items to the PA menu?
2. Can PA menu system also work with shortcut links that I place in the top level folder that PA expects the splash screen and help.html file to reside?
3. Is there a different way to manually add individual program that may not have a splash screen executable or help file that resides in the top level folder?

Thanks,

Elvis