JackKnife - convert your U3 Drive into a PA drive with autolaunch

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. The code comes under the BSD license.

I developed this using Delphi. Sorry, but that's all I had available at the time. The basic idea is that you have your U3Drive (the CD-ROM portion) and the U3Main (the main portion). The rest goes like this:

0. Compile attached code into JackKnife.exe
1. Wipe U3Main clean (BACKUP ALL IMPORTANT DATA!).
2. Download UniversalCustomizer.
3. Prepare the following files (see code below): JackKnife.exe, drive.txt, autorun.inf and jackknife.ico (optional).
4. Name your U3Main to be something meaningful to you. Don't give it a generic name likely to be already used, like 'Removable media'. Instead use a name like 'IPARTOLA_U3'.
5. Modify drive.txt to look like this:

IPARTOLA_U3
StartPortableApps.exe


6. Create an ISO of the files you prepared.
7. Burn the ISO onto the drive using UniversalCustomizer.
8. Install PortableApps onto U3Main (now named IPARTOLA_U3).
9. Now every time you insert the drive, it will find the letter assigned to U3Main and execute the command (StartPortableApps.exe in this case). One annoyance that I found is that Windows still tries to autoplay the main portion of the drive which pops up with a new window. Otherwise it works like a charm.

Please let me know how this works out for you.

Igor

autorun.inf

[autorun]
open=JackKnife.exe
icon=hackblade.ico
label=U3


JackKnife.dpf

{
* Copyright (c) 2007-2008, Igor Partola 
* All rights reserved.
*
* Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
* modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
*     * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
*       notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
*     * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
*       notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
*       documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
*     * Neither the name of the  nor the
*       names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products
*       derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
*
* THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY Igor Partola ``AS IS'' AND ANY
* EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
* WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
* DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL Igor Partola BE LIABLE FOR ANY
* DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
* (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
* LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
* ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
* (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
* SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
}
program JackKnife;

uses
  Windows,
  Dialogs,
  ShellAPI,
  SysUtils;

{$R *.res}

function fstrVolumeName(strDrive : string) : string;
var
  blnResult           : boolean;
  strVolumeNameBuffer : string;
  chrArrayFileSystem  : array [0..MAX_PATH - 1] of char;
  dwdVolumeSerialNum  : DWord;
  dwdMaxCompLength    : DWord;
  dwdFileSystemFlags  : DWord;
  dwdSize             : DWord;
  intZeroPos          : integer;
begin
  {set up buffers}
  dwdSize := 260;
  SetLength(strVolumeNameBuffer,dwdSize);
  FillChar(chrArrayFileSystem,dwdSize,#0);
  {call function}
  blnResult := GetVolumeInformation(PChar(strDrive),PChar(strVolumeNameBuffer),
               dwdSize,@dwdVolumeSerialNum,dwdMaxCompLength,dwdFileSystemFlags,
               chrArrayFileSystem, dwdSize);
  {exit if function caused error}
  if blnResult = False then
    begin
      result := '';
      exit;
    end;
  {trim string to label only for result value}
  intZeroPos := Pos(#0,strVolumeNameBuffer);
  if intZeroPos > 0 then
    Result := copy(strVolumeNameBuffer,1,intZeroPos - 1)
  else
    Result := strVolumeNameBuffer;
end; {get the drive label}

Function findU3Main : String;
Var
  I    : Integer;
  Drives: Integer;
  Tmp   : String;
  FileHandle : TextFile;
  DriveLabel : String;
  LaunchCommand : String;
begin
  if not FileExists('drive.txt') then exit;

  AssignFile(FileHandle, 'drive.txt');
  Reset(FileHandle);
  ReadLn(FileHandle, DriveLabel);
  ReadLn(FileHandle, LaunchCommand);
  CloseFile(FileHandle);

  Drives := GetLogicalDrives;
  Result := '';
// units A=0 to el Z=25
  For I := 2 To 25 Do
    If (((1 Shl I) And Drives)0) Then
    Begin
      Tmp := Char(65+I)+':\';
      If (GetDriveType(PChar(Tmp))=DRIVE_REMOVABLE) Then
        begin
          if (fstrVolumeName(Tmp) = DriveLabel) then
            begin
              Result := Tmp + LaunchCommand;
              exit;
            end;
        end;
     End;
End;

// Main portion of the program. Find the main portion of the U3 
// drive and run the command.
var command : PAnsiChar;
begin
  command := pchar(findU3Main());

// If you so desire you can add a splash window here

  if StrLen(command) > 3 then
    ShellExecute(0, 'open', command, nil, nil, SW_SHOWNORMAL);
end.