Batch file: how to start a program [sidebar.exe]

Hi! I need some help with a batch file I'm writing.

Here's what I've got so far:

Code:

taskkill /F /IM sidebar.exe
START "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe"

The first line works great; it terminates sidebar.exe fine. But, the next line is the problem. It doesn't open up the sidebar.exe, but instead opens up a useless command prompt window:



What am I doing wrong? I tried "....sidebar.exe \showgadgets" (some random argument I found online), but that does not work either. I also tried running the command via CMD, no luck. Tried CMD "Run As Administrator", no luck either.

EDIT: If I navigate to the Windows Sidebar folder with cd, then from there I can just type "sidebar.exe" and it will run. But how do I do that in a batch file?

Any ideas?

~Ibrahim~

P.S. Also...if anyone knows how to run a batch command automatically when on battery, that'd be lovely. Any powercfg gurus here?

zzz2496 said:

change this line here:
START "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe"

to this line:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe"

zzz2496

Oh, crap, that does work! :)

One little issue: it leaves a CMD prompt open. Any way to get it to auto-close?

Sweet. Well, I'm almost there:

No "@echo off" gives this command prompt

Code:

C:\Users\Ibrahim\Desktop>taskkill /F /IM sidebar.exe
SUCCESS: The process "sidebar.exe" with PID 3724 has been terminated.

C:\Users\Ibrahim\Desktop>"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe"

@echo off in the first line unfortunately still gives a command prompt, but the output is a bit different:

Code:

SUCCESS: The process "sidebar.exe" with PID 6040 has been terminated.

With @echo off, it looks like this:

Code:

@echo off
taskkill /F /IM sidebar.exe
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe"

But, right...I still get that "echo" from taskkill.

EDIT: Adding ">nul" after the taskkill command stops any output. I can hide the whole window later. :) Thanks for the help!

add an 'exit' command at the very last line. Without the comma's of course.

zzz2496 said:

Here:

Code:

@echo off
taskkill /F /IM sidebar.exe > NUL
start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe"

Woohoo!! That works perfectly.

Thanks, man. +rep! Should've repped you from the first post, but I forgot and now I can only do it once.

~Ibrahim~

ikjadoon said:

Hi! I need some help with a batch file I'm writing.

Here's what I've got so far:

Code:

taskkill /F /IM sidebar.exe
START "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe"

The first line works great; it terminates sidebar.exe fine. But, the next line is the problem. It doesn't open up the sidebar.exe, but instead opens up a useless command prompt window:



What am I doing wrong? I tried "....sidebar.exe \showgadgets" (some random argument I found online), but that does not work either. I also tried running the command via CMD, no luck. Tried CMD "Run As Administrator", no luck either.

EDIT: If I navigate to the Windows Sidebar folder with cd, then from there I can just type "sidebar.exe" and it will run. But how do I do that in a batch file?

Any ideas?

~Ibrahim~

P.S. Also...if anyone knows how to run a batch command automatically when on battery, that'd be lovely. Any powercfg gurus here?

Sidebar folder may not be included in your path statement