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Thread ID: 104156 2009-10-18 19:52:00 Run and exe from a webpage? Adrain (12668) Press F1
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821817 2009-10-18 19:52:00 Hi all!
I've been setting up a USB stick with a dozen portable programs (next step is to 'play' with an OS on a USB... hmm!) and I got to thinking about some sort of 'autorun' when the USB stick is plugged in. A bit like all the PC magazines free CDs/DVDs (and other mags I don't know about) that have thier own 'interface' displayed with 'links' to install and sometimes even to run programs from the CD/DVD. But that seemed a little too complicated for my brain cell at this very moment!

So I was thinking that if I make a simple webpage, with a simple table, with simple links to the programs all would be, well, simple! I could just click on that and voila! Links are us (well, me! :D

FYI - The webpage is on the route (lowest level??) of the USB stick. If my understanding is right, the route would be C: for the main hard drive, but as pluging in a USB device gives a different drive letter on different computers I've just placed the All_Programs.html in the first 'level' (route, would that be right??) and the program is installed in the 'ThunderbirdPortable' folder (er, which is also on the route... 1st level)! I hope that makes sense?!

Within my 'All_Programs.html' is a table and within each cell I've tried (for instance):

<a href="ThunderbirdPortable\ThunderbirdPortable.exe">Thunderbird</a>

I also tried a button in a 'form' like this:

<FORM METHOD="LINK" ACTION="ThunderbirdPortable\ThunderbirdPortable.exe">
<INPUT TYPE="submit" VALUE="Thunderbird">
</FORM>

I have even dabbled with JavaScript using this bit of code:

<SCRIPT>
function RnThndBrd() {
document.location.href = "ThunderbirdPortable/ThunderbirdPortable.exe";
}
</SCRIPT>
in the <head> section and:
<input type="button" name="but1" value="Thunderbird" onclick="RnThndBrd();">
in the <body> section.

All of these ask if I want to save the ThunderbirdPortable.exe file! So not quite there yet! Hmm!

So, all you brainiacs out there, is there a way to run a program from a webpage via my All_Programs.html (er, using any browser) so that when I use my 'All My Progams' USB stick on someone elses computer (Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Nephews or friends) rather than having to open (explore) the USB stick and click on individual exe files?


I have noticed that a lot of the magazine CDs/DVDs have some sort of 'Autorun.inf' file plus an exe and ico file in the route. Not sure if I want to ask about that yet, or even here, as there may be an answer to this! If not, guess I'll open a new thread on autoruns, but that's for later maybe!

Many regards... 		Adrain (12668)
821818 2009-10-18 20:10:00 <a href="/ThunderbirdPortable/ThunderbirdPortable.exe" >Thunderbird</a> should work (I think you need the leading slash, and need to change them from backslash '\' to forward slash '/')

HTH

Mike. 		Mike (15)
821819 2009-10-18 20:11:00 all the PC magazinesI thought PC World was the only PC magazine around... :D

Mike. 		Mike (15)
821820 2009-10-18 20:12:00 <a href="/ThunderbirdPortable/ThunderbirdPortable.exe" >Thunderbird</a> should work (I think you need the leading slash, and need to change them from backslash '\' to forward slash '/')
But they'll all ask you to save the file... should give you the option of save or run, but might depend on the browser they're opening in.

Mike. 		Mike (15)
821821 2009-10-18 20:40:00 You're not going to be able to do this transparently on any modern PC/browser.

The inablility to directly run (without a prompt) a program from the browser is a security feature, otherwise you're just begging to open yourself up to malware.

Pretty sure the same applies to USB drives - the default will be for autorun to be disabled, otherwise you [again] leave yourself open to the modern equivalents of the original floppy disk viruses.

The autorun.inf option may be better in this case - there's a bit of info around on the web on this & you can definitely have a list of options included in the explorer pop-up menu when you right-click on the drive. 		MushHead (10626)
821822 2009-10-18 21:08:00 Many thanks Mike for the quick response (and I too was surprised there were other mags!! LOL). I think the forward or backward slash isn't too much of an issue. Could be the leading one is though. Dosen't seem to work if I add that leading one!? I have seen some one suggest multiple (2 or 3) leading fw or bw slashes but that also didn't seem to work!!

MashHead! Hmm, I think you maybe right. I was just wishing it would be something I knew the basics of. Would I be right in thinking I should perhaps be looking towards Visual Basic, and I mean VERY Basic at this moment!
Regards 		Adrain (12668)
821823 2009-10-18 21:39:00 There's a lot of AutoPlay menu builder programs foating around that should be able to do this, otherwise you could just create something in whatever language you like, and set autorun.inf to point to your launcher. inphinity (7274)
821824 2009-10-18 22:15:00 Just use a portable application launcher (PAL) like PStart (www.pegtop.net) (what I use), there's a list of PALs (en.wikipedia.org) over at Wikipedia. PStart also has an option in its menu to add an Autorun file, which nowadays on most OSs only asks if you want to run the EXE (and rightly so).

These are a lot more reliable than HTML files and also a lot easier to maintain. 		sal (67)
821825 2009-10-18 22:33:00 please remember that Autorun has changed in Windows 7

blogs.technet.com

and won't run from writeable removeable media like a UFD

This security fix is being backported to Windows Vista and Windows XP too 		nmercer (3899)
821826 2009-10-20 22:13:00 inphinity. Ta for that!
Started Googling (is there such a word??) and yup, heaps of them!
Sal!
Had a look at the Wiki (I love Wiki!) and also downloaded PStart. Exactly what I wanted. Fantastic! :D Also dabbled with Karens AutoStart, just so as I don't use the first to 'come along'. But PStart is fine by me.
nmercer
And typical as I start running for the 'computer bus' Windows moves the goal posts!! LOL

Thanks one and all for your help and pointers.
:thanks 		Adrain (12668)
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