Shortcut to launch TWO programs at once?

[Mr B]

Is it possible to make a shortcut to launch two programs at the same tiem in XP home? If need to
use FrontPage and Excel at the same time very often and would love to be able to have one shortcut
launch them both.

Thanks.

 

[Logan]

Sure, create a batch file...

Use notepad and just put a couple lines in it, for example:

"c:\program files\microsoft office\excel.exe"
"c:\program files\microsoft office\frontpage.exe"


(just rename them as needed, I don't know if thats the location/name of your
frontpage executable).

Then save it as "c:\blabla.bat" or to whatever directory you want. Then
create a shortcut to that batch file. Change the icon as you wish.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

Is it possible to make a shortcut to launch two programs at the same
tiem in XP home? If need to use FrontPage and Excel at the same time
very often and would love to be able to have one shortcut launch them
both.

Write a batch file and invoke them both in the batch file. Then
create and use a shortcut to that batch file.

 

[Mr B]

Ya know, I love DOS. But it never dawns on me to actually use it until someoen points it out to me.

Heh.

Thanks. I'll give that a shot.

 

[Michel Wilson]

Cool, except when I try it, only the first program executes, and only 1st
program opens. If I close that program, then the 2nd opens etc ??? Any ideas

 

[Spinner]

Cool, except when I try it, only the first program executes, and only 1st
program opens. If I close that program, then the 2nd opens etc ??? Any ideas

Change the coding just a bit.
Instead of this:

"c:\program files\microsoft office\excel.exe"
"c:\program files\microsoft office\frontpage.exe"


Try this:


start "c:\program files\microsoft office\excel.exe"
start "c:\program files\microsoft office\frontpage.exe"

 

[Mr B]

Same here. I thought there was a command to make it do the command and continue and not wait for
each line to finish. I thought it was CALL but that didn't work...

 

[Mr B]

Change the coding just a bit.
Instead of this:

"c:\program files\microsoft office\excel.exe"
"c:\program files\microsoft office\frontpage.exe"


Try this:


start "c:\program files\microsoft office\excel.exe"
start "c:\program files\microsoft office\frontpage.exe"

Yep, was just going to post that. Except I can't get FP to work with the start command. If I do:

start "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\frontpg.exe"

It just opens a DOS window for some reason. Not sure why. It works fine with Excel.

Although you have to remove the .exe part...
start "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\excel"

 

[Kenny]

I found this utility that should do what you want
ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/win95/util/ml_v2.zip

Multi-launch is designed for anybody that is looking for a way to start
two or more programs from one shortcut. This app allows you to add the
programs to the end of the shortcut in the command line and when you
double click the shortcut, all of the programs will execute. After you
run the setup, just double click the Multi-Launch Console icon that is
placed on your Desktop an add the programs to the shortcut you want to
start. If you need more than one set of apps to be grouped, just
select a new name for the shortcut and do it again.

Same here. I thought there was a command to make it do the command and continue and not wait for
each line to finish. I thought it was CALL but that didn't work...

 

[Spinner]

Yep, was just going to post that. Except I can't get FP to work with the start command. If I do:

start "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\frontpg.exe"

It just opens a DOS window for some reason. Not sure why. It works fine with Excel.

Although you have to remove the .exe part...
start "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\excel"

Try this, it takes a little setup but it keeps everything nice and neat, and
it does work.
Make a folder to store the files in, like c:\folder" for example.
create a shortcut to Excel and FrontPage in the folder.
Now make a batch file in the same folder with this in it.......


start c:\folder\excel.exe.lnk
start c:\folder\frontpg.exe.lnk
exit


Change the name of the folder to match what you have, and change
the name of link names to match your shortcuts, for instance,
if the shortcut to excel is called simply "excel" instead of excel.exe,
then change the command to "start c:\folder\excel.lnk"
..lnk is the hidden extension of a shortcut, so what you are actually doing
is running the programs by running their shortcuts instead of the .exe
directly.
This has the added benefit of being able to set properties on the separate
shortcuts, so you could start with FrontPage maximized and Excel minimized
for example.