Information
All of the work done in this tutorial will be done through MS DOS Batch Files. They are simply a method by which to enter multiple commands into a command prompt without manually typing them. Batch files are run through Command Prompt but can be accessed by shortcuts as well.



Open a New Document in Notepad

Open a New Document in Notepad and save it as filename.bat, choose a filename that is easy to remember.

Command Echoing

The first thing we're going to do is turn off command echoing. It isn't an integral part of this tutorial, but becomes annoying when running the batch file through command prompt.

Enter this line in Notepad:
@echo off

Starting up the Programs

This next set of lines will start the programs. I will use real directories for programs that everyone has in order to show the process properly. The rem command is simply a comment, the cd command changes the directory and start is self-explanatory.

Enter these lines:
rem Notepad
cd %windir%\system32
start notepad.exe
rem Calculator
cd %windir%\system32
start calc.exe

Closing Command Prompt

No one wants to run a batch file and leave a command prompt open, so now we'll add a line to close it.

Enter this line:
Exit

  • Confirmation

The final text document will look like this:
Code:
@echo off
rem Guild Wars
cd C:\Program Files\Guild Wars
start gw.exe
rem Firefox
cd C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox
start firfox.exe
exit
Save & Create a Shortcut

Now you'll need to save the file as filename.bat. In reality the name can be *ANYTHING*.bat but name it something you can type easily since it'll be placed in the target command of the shortcut.

Now create a shortcut. It doesn't matter where you saved the .bat file, unless you plan on writing in the shortcut parameters instead of right clicking and sending the shortcut to the desktop.