Batch file to automatically launch and close apps.

[Synomenon]

Not sure if this should go in the programming forums, but can anyone please show me how to write a batch file that will launch a program and then close / exit another one at the same time, and then when the program that was launched is closed, re-launch / re-open the one that was closed in the beginning? This is for World of Warcraft and Logitech Setpoint. When World of Warcraft is launched, I want Logitech Setpoint to close and when I close World of Warcraft, I want Logitech Setpoint to re-launch.

Thanks for any help.

[atomizer]

i'm not good at this and someone more knowledgeable may have a better solution, but this should work fine...

TASKKILL /F /IM NameOfSetpointExecutable.exe
CD "C:\Program Files\your game\NameOfGameExecutable.exe"
START NameOfGameExecutable.exe
ECHO waiting for game to end...
PAUSE
CD "C:\path to setpoint\NameOfSetpointExecutable.exe"
START NameOfSetpointExecutable.exe
EXIT

this will leave the CMD shell running in the background. as soon as you're done with the game, hit any key and you're Logitech exe will start again.

more info on "TASKKILL":

TASKKILL [/s system [/u username [/P [password]]]]

        { [/FI filter] [/PID processid | /IM imagename] } [/F] [/T]

Description:

    This command line tool can be used to end one or more processes.

    Processes can be killed by the process id or image name.

Parameter List:

    /S    system          Specifies the remote system to connect to.

    /U    [domain\]user    Specifies the user context under which

                          the command should execute.

    /P    [password]      Specifies the password for the given

                          user context. Prompts for input if omitted.

    /F                    Specifies to forcefully terminate

                          process(es).

    /FI  filter          Displays a set of tasks that match a

                          given criteria specified by the filter.

    /PID  process id      Specifies the PID of the process that

                          has to be terminated.

    /IM  image name      Specifies the image name of the process

                          that has to be terminated. Wildcard '*'

                          can be used to specify all image names.

    /T                    Tree kill: terminates the specified process

                          and any child processes which were started by it.

    /?                    Displays this help/usage.

Filters:

    Filter Name  Valid Operators          Valid Value(s)

    -----------  ---------------          --------------

    STATUS        eq, ne                    RUNNING | NOT RESPONDING

    IMAGENAME    eq, ne                    Image name

    PID          eq, ne, gt, lt, ge, le    PID value

    SESSION      eq, ne, gt, lt, ge, le    Session number.

    CPUTIME      eq, ne, gt, lt, ge, le    CPU time in the format

                                            of hh:mm:ss.

                                            hh - hours,

                                            mm - minutes, ss - seconds

    MEMUSAGE      eq, ne, gt, lt, ge, le    Memory usage in KB

    USERNAME      eq, ne                    User name in [domain\]user

                                            format

    MODULES      eq, ne                    DLL name

    SERVICES      eq, ne                    Service name

    WINDOWTITLE  eq, ne                    Window title

NOTE: Wildcard '*' for the /IM switch is accepted only with filters.

NOTE: Termination of remote processes will always be done forcefully

      irrespective of whether /F option is specified or not.

Examples:

    TASKKILL /S system /F /IM notepad.exe /T

    TASKKILL /PID 1230 /PID 1241 /PID 1253 /T

    TASKKILL /F /IM notepad.exe /IM mspaint.exe

    TASKKILL /F /FI "PID ge 1000" /FI "WINDOWTITLE ne untitle*"

    TASKKILL /F /FI "USERNAME eq NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM" /IM notepad.exe

    TASKKILL /S system /U domain\username /FI "USERNAME ne NT*" /IM *

    TASKKILL /S system /U username /P password /FI "IMAGENAME eq note*"

Edited September 21, 2005 by atomizer

[Synomenon]

Thanks atomizer. I made this one (just a test version) and it works perfectly for me:

@echo off

taskkill /f /im firefox.exe

call "C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe"

start /d"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox" firefox.exe

goto :eof

Now I just need to find out how to hide the DOS Window and taskbar button.