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Run multiple programs at startup

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April 23, 2007 - 11:13am
#1
Rieuwert
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Run multiple programs at startup

Hi,

I'd like to run multiple programs at once, simultaneously with the startup of the portable apps menu ( I always forget SunBird portable and consequently my appointments Blum ) so I tried a couple of things.

1) creating a .nsi file and
2) creating a .bat file.

With both these solutions I can run more than 1 program at once, but as soon as I include the PortableApps Menu.exe file (either the one from the root directory or the one in the autorun.inf), there is an error after starting up: "access is denied". So far, the only way I can get the Portable Apps Menu to run is from the autorun.inf, all other ways result in the mentioned error.. Does anyone here know why that is? An additional solution would be even better Smile Thanks.

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April 23, 2007 - 11:18am
Ph4n70m
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My sugestion: Create a .exe

My sugestion:

Create a .exe with NSIS, that start PortableApps menu, and the others programs that you want...
Put this exe to autorun.inf

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April 23, 2007 - 11:27am
(Reply to #2)
Rieuwert
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Tried..

Tnx but strangely enough PortableApps menu is not able to run from an NSIS .exe file, at least in my hands.. starting any other program this way does work.

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April 23, 2007 - 11:36am
(Reply to #3)
SmithTech
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Try my App Launcher it will

Try my App Launcher it will launcher PAM and up to 3 additional apps of your choosing.
Just set the autorun.inf to start the app launcher instead of PAM.

P.S. You can also use ASuite, it has an option in the advanced properties for the links you add to start applications when ASuite is launched. I use it to launch PAM, Convey Portable, Trillian, WinRAR Unplugged, and a couple of batch files. It also closes most of these when ASuite closes as well as running a couple other batch files.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For those who have fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.

"Because they stand on a wall and say, 'Nothing is going to hurt you tonight. Not on my watch.'" (A Few Good Men)
Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.(Albert Einstein)

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April 23, 2007 - 11:54am
Rieuwert
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That does work indeed, but

That does work indeed, but the program stays open, is there any way to let it automatically close? Besides, it is now not 1-click anymore Blum

Do you also know why my problem is occurring? You apparently wrote an entire program to work around it so I figure the problem must be well described.

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April 23, 2007 - 12:01pm
(Reply to #5)
SmithTech
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If you set the autorun.inf

If you set the autorun.inf to launch either my app launcher or ASuite, it is indeed still one click. I don't know of a way to have ASuite automatically close, I leave it open to handle other programs when it closes. My applauncher doesn't stay open though if thats what your after.
Actually I didn't write the app for this purpose, it was originally written to replace the U3 launcher on U3 drives, but works equally well for folks who want to launch more than on app on regular usb drives.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For those who have fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.

"Because they stand on a wall and say, 'Nothing is going to hurt you tonight. Not on my watch.'" (A Few Good Men)
Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.(Albert Einstein)

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April 23, 2007 - 12:15pm
(Reply to #6)
Rieuwert
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That's odd, when I click

That's odd, when I click "Apply All", my two selected programs start (and portable apps menu which is checked in the checkbox below as well) but App Launcher stays open.. should I start it differently?

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April 23, 2007 - 1:06pm
(Reply to #7)
SmithTech
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the command in the

the command in the autorun.inf should be applauncher.exe -a
The -a tells applauncher to apply the settings and not open the settings window.
The settings window does not close by itself once it is open, this is done on purpose to allow you to "test" your settings to make sure paths etc. are correct.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For those who have fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.

"Because they stand on a wall and say, 'Nothing is going to hurt you tonight. Not on my watch.'" (A Few Good Men)
Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.(Albert Einstein)

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April 23, 2007 - 4:08pm
(Reply to #8)
Rieuwert
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Superb

I see.. well thanks a lot, this -a addition really was what I was looking for! Yes, you get a few more files in the root directory, but your program allows for a really easy customization of the programs you want to start, instead of tampering with NSIS and .bat stuff. Which by itself can be fun to do, but not too regularly. Great program.

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April 23, 2007 - 4:43pm
(Reply to #9)
SmithTech
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You can move the

You can move the applauncher.exe to a folder on the flash drive if you want.
just make sure you change the path in the autorun.inf to match.
the applauncher.ini has to stay in the root though.

Also I figured out you can create a software group in ASuite and added the apps you want to auto start. Then set the execution to "execute and close asuite" the only foreseeable problem with this is once set, in theory you wouldn't be able to edit the settings any more as ASuite would never stay open long enough. It would open run your apps and then close.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For those who have fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.

"Because they stand on a wall and say, 'Nothing is going to hurt you tonight. Not on my watch.'" (A Few Good Men)
Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.(Albert Einstein)

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April 23, 2007 - 5:39pm
(Reply to #10)
Rieuwert
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On my turn I 'figured out'

On my turn I 'figured out' that I could have known of the -a thing all along if I had taken the effort to read more, guess the anxiety to install quickly took over, my apologies Wink Also just tried this ASuite but I find applauncher much more usable and userfriendly to use in combination with PortableApps.

But although the problem is solved now, my original question still stands, why is it not possible (or at least so it seems to me) to launch Portable Apps Menu from a batch file, anybody?

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April 24, 2007 - 4:47am
Rieuwert
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Importantly

Importantly, the batch (or NSIS .exe) file do launch the portable apps menu when clicked 'manually' from an explorer window, it only doesn't work when I start them from the windows autostart menu that appears after inserting the USB device.

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