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

[ikjadoon]

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

Here's what I've got so far:

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]

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

 

[ikjadoon]

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?

 

[zzz2496]

Add --> @echo off
at the start of the file.

zzz2496

 

[ikjadoon]

Sweet. Well, I'm almost there:

No "@echo off" gives this command prompt

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:

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

With @echo off, it looks like this:

@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!

 

[xarden]

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

 

[zzz2496]

Here:

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

 

[ikjadoon]

Here:

@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~

 

[zzz2496]

You're welcome and thanks for the rep

zzz2496

 

[zigzag3143]

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

Here's what I've got so far:

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

 

[FyrmnJ]

Will somebody PLEASE me tell what's the difference between these two lines?

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

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

FyrmnJ

 

[zzz2496]

The first line uses "start", the second line doesn't....

zzz2496

 

[xarden]

Awaiting a smart-ass comment about stating the obvious...

But to answer FyrmnJ's question,
Echoes Hello world in the current cmd window:

echo Hello World

Echoes Hello World in a new cmd window:

start echo Hello World

I dont think it matters if your going to call an external program.

 

[growing]

Batch script execution error

Please I need help!
I have been on this stuff for over hours now..and no headway out.

I want to write a batch script that can run tshark as shown below
................................................................................................................................................................
@echo off

Start "" "C:\Mytraces\Program Files\Wireshark\tshark -i 1 -a duration:60 -t r -t ad -b filesize:100000 -b files:10 -w usingbatchsetup.pcap
.................................................................................................................................................................

But I got errors and the final one being...

....................................................................................................................................................................
windows cannot find "C:\Mytraces\Program Files\Wireshark\tshark -i 1 -a duration:60 -t r -t ad -b filesize:100000 -b files:10 -w usingbatchsetup.pcap" make sure you type the name correctly, then try again.
....................................................................................................................................................................
Please what can I do....?

 

[UsernameIssues]

Awaiting a smart-ass comment about stating the obvious...

But to answer FyrmnJ's question,
Echoes Hello world in the current cmd window:

echo Hello World

Echoes Hello World in a new cmd window:

start echo Hello World

I dont think it matters if your going to call an external program.

For the sake of others that might find this tread:
It matters if you want one batch file to start more than one program at a time.
e.g.
start notepad
winword

If I did not use start in front of notepad, MS Word would not start until I closed notepad.

Please I need help!
I have been on this stuff for over hours now..and no headway out.

I want to write a batch script that can run tshark as shown below
................................................................................................................................................................
@echo off

Start "" "C:\Mytraces\Program Files\Wireshark\tshark -i 1 -a duration:60 -t r -t ad -b filesize:100000 -b files:10 -w usingbatchsetup.pcap
.................................................................................................................................................................

But I got errors and the final one being...

....................................................................................................................................................................
windows cannot find "C:\Mytraces\Program Files\Wireshark\tshark -i 1 -a duration:60 -t r -t ad -b filesize:100000 -b files:10 -w usingbatchsetup.pcap" make sure you type the name correctly, then try again.
....................................................................................................................................................................
Please what can I do....?

Welcome to the Seven Forums.

I'll comment on your issue in your thread:
http://www.sevenforums.com/performance-maintenance/294224-batch-file-execution-error.html

 

[warlocklw]

If anyone still interest I found a away to turn off DOS window after batch file run.

@echo off
start /d "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Sidebar\" sidebar.exe