REQ: Making a Autorun CD?

[young]

If I place all files I intend to write onto a CD, including an
autorun.inf file to autorun the CD, how can I test what I have created
from the HD? Double-clicking autorun,inf won't do it.

Right now, I have to create a CD with the files and test it that way.
This can waste a CD of course.

Thanks

 

[Sparker9]

Use a CD-RW disc for testing purposes. This allows one to erase and reuse.

Or simply create a shortcut containing the start-up syntax to test on the HDD.

Or there are Registry changes that will allow one to test autorun using the floppy drive or a Zip drive. Post back if you're interested in this approach.

 

[young]

Use a CD-RW disc for testing purposes. This allows one to erase and reuse.

Or simply create a shortcut containing the start-up syntax to test on the HDD.

Or there are Registry changes that will allow one to test autorun using the floppy drive or a Zip drive. Post back if you're interested in this approach.

Thanks for response.

The CDRW suggestion is a good one - I was looking for a quicker way to
test correctness of what I created for the CD disk.

I created a shortcut to 'autorun.inf', and when I double-click on the
shortcut icon it merely brings the file up in Notepad, as I expected.
That's what happens when I just double-click 'autorun.inf' in Windows
Explorer.

I don't have a Zip drive. Your suggestion on registry changes to
allow tests on the floppy seems interesting, but only if the registry
change does not alter other, normal use of the floppy. Can you
advise?

Thanks again

 

[Mark Weinreb]

If I place all files I intend to write onto a CD, including an
autorun.inf file to autorun the CD, how can I test what I have created
from the HD? Double-clicking autorun,inf won't do it.

Right now, I have to create a CD with the files and test it that way.
This can waste a CD of course.

Thanks

What you want to do can be done, but it depends on what burning software
you're using. You can't use the built-in burning software to do it, but you
can with Nero, Easy CD Creator or probably almost any other package.

Using Nero as an example, because that's what I use, this is what I'd do:
First create an ISO image of the CD. Then using Nero ImageDrive, mount that
..ISO image as a virtual CD and test it.
Finally, when I'm satisfied that everything is OK, burn as many copies of
the ISO image to CDs as required.

And there you go. No coasters were created or harmed in the process.

If your burning software doesn't have a utility to mount an ISO image as a
virtual CD drive, I'm sure that there are freeware or shareware utilities
around if you look for them.

 

[Sparker9]

The shortcut must reflect the proper syntax to launch the application and data. It should not be a shortcut to the autorun.inf file. Here's an example:

If the autorun.inf file reads:
[autorun]
open=jpegger.exe -ft -fs -setlng:ENU -mw _Instructions\Instructions.gif

The shortcut (in same location) would read as:
jpegger.exe -ft -fs -setlng:ENU -mw _Instructions\Instructions.gif

I'm sorry about the bad advice regarding the registry changes for the autorun of floppy and Zip drives. This technique works well in Win9x systems, but does not work in NT based systems.

I still recommend using a CD-RW disc for testing. It only takes one minute to erase the disc then burn the files or just a subset of the files for testing.

Good luck.

 

[I'm Dan]

If I place all files I intend to write onto a CD, including
an autorun.inf file to autorun the CD, how can I test
what I have created from the HD? Double-clicking
autorun,inf won't do it.

Right now, I have to create a CD with the files and test
it that way. This can waste a CD of course.

I don't know if there's a recommended procedure, but I've always just
used the subst command. It's always worked fine in Win98, and I just
retested in XP Pro to make sure I wasn't misremembering, and it still
works for me there, too:

- created c:\test folder

- created c:\test\autorun.inf with following lines:
[autorun]
open=test.bat

- created c:\test\test.bat with following lines:
@echo off
echo This is the batch file
pause
exit

- from command prompt, enter "subst h: c:\test"

- from "My Computer", double-clicked on H: drive icon and the batch file
autoran.

 

[Brian W]

See if this article helps... (watch for wrapping)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;136214

Also, instead of double-clicking, you could try right clicking and select
Run.


Good luck
Brian W

 

[young]

I don't know if there's a recommended procedure, but I've always just
used the subst command. It's always worked fine in Win98, and I just
retested in XP Pro to make sure I wasn't misremembering, and it still
works for me there, too:

- created c:\test folder

- created c:\test\autorun.inf with following lines:
[autorun]
open=test.bat

- created c:\test\test.bat with following lines:
@echo off
echo This is the batch file
pause
exit

- from command prompt, enter "subst h: c:\test"

- from "My Computer", double-clicked on H: drive icon and the batch file
autoran.

Thanks!

This procedure seems to work for me. And in XP.

All I really had to do was:

1) execute the command subst h: c:\subdirectoryname
where subdirectoryname was where I created the files I want to
place on the CD disk I want to autoplay. Including the
autorun.inf and index.html and other html files (As I said,
writing the subdirectoryname files on a cd disk worked just
fine, and the cd disk would autoplay just fine, but only if
everything was coded just right. - I wanted to simulate
this without having to write and possibly wasting a CD disk.)

2) Double click on h drive in My Computer. This allowed me to test
execute the html.

I thank you very much.