Creating
an AutoPlay-enabled CD-ROM Application
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It is recommended that CD-ROMs have autorun capability. However it is often desirable to directly launch the setup program. Instaead you can use a small "teaser" application, often also called "CD Browsers".
To enable autoplay for a CD-ROM you must place an autorun.inf file in the root directory. Format and command for autorun.inf files are documented in the following article in the Microsoft Platform SDK:
Creating
an AutoPlay-enabled CD-ROM Application
Microsoft knowledge base article 818804 also discusses this topic:
Note: Some setup authoring tools have an option to automatically create a basic autorun.inf file.
This article by Anthony Glenwright (published at DevX) explains how to create a HTML Application (HTA) to be used as autorun screen for your cd.
CD DocRun Pro Edition is a commercial tool sold by Timeless Software for 20 USD.
CD DocRun will directly launch a document or URL when the CD is inserted. The documents will be launched in the user's default associated program for that document type, so you'll have to make sure the user has the required software in place before you can launch your document. With this software you can make your own splash screens using HTML. Be careful if you want to embed multimedia objects into your HTML, because it won't work on computers where the required software or plug-ins are not installed. In this case, a multimedia autorun application may be a better choice.
Visit the
Timeless Software home page
to buy CD DocRun and read the tutorial and the FAQ
StarterFile is a commercial tool sold by Trah
StarterFile supports most file types including HTML, PDF, PowerPoint and Flash. A free evaluation version can be downloaded.
Visit the
StarterFile home page for more
information
Creating an appealing graphical interface for your CD like shown above can be done in a few easy steps: Draw three bitmaps - one with buttons in normal state, one with all buttons highlighted (mouse-over) and one with all buttons pressed. Then edit the autorun.prg text file to specify the coordinates of the hot areas in the bitmap and the associated action. Optionally, you can also assign sounds (wav files) to the areas.
CDAutorunFree.zip A freeware
tool written by Peter Harrison
File size: 1.525.111 bytes Last update: 2000-11-16
The Timeless Software homepage
also has a tutorial, a FAQ, and additional samples
This is a commercial tool sold by
Timeless Software
The Professional Edition is basically the same as the Freeware edition except this edition has the added ability to launch URLs in the user's default web browser. It can also launch a document file with its associated program (great for ReadMe files).
Visit the
Timeless Software homepage
to buy the Professional Edition and look at the tutorial, the FAQ, and additional samples
This is a shareware tool from mirabyte
Discstarter is a highly customizable offline browser that allows the creation of modern, professional-looking menus and front-ends for CD-ROMs by using simple HTML. These front-ends meet the highest demands of quality and stability. Special programming knowledge is not required and you will not have to deal with complex authoring tools. Enhanced features for comfortable offline browsing are available, such as instant execution of EXE, ZIP, PDF and other file types directly from HTML pages. Any special system requirements for your menu, like activated JavaScript or the availability of the Flash™ plug in, can be easily tested by Discstarter. Also typical security features of normal web browsers such as popup blockers or warnings when clicking on a link that points to an executable file are disabled by Discstarter because it has been designed especially for offline content. So browser security features cannot mess up your front-ends and their functionality any more.
Discstarter supports a variety of window styles
Discstarter is available in three editions:
Discstarter
product description and demo download
Also available in German / Auch auf deutsch verfügbar:Discstarter ist ein hochgradig anpassbarer Offline-Browser, mit dem aus einfachen und günstig herzustellenden HTML-Seiten professionelle, moderne Startmenüs und Benutzeroberflächen für CD-ROMs erstellt werden können, die höchsten Ansprüchen an Qualität und Zuverlässigkeit gerecht werden! Programmierkenntnisse sind nicht erforderlich und die Einarbeitung in komplizierte Authoring-Tools entfällt ebenfalls. Dabei lassen sich Form und Aussehen des Anzeigefensters völlig frei konfigurieren: entweder mit oder ohne Fenster-Rahmen oder sogar mit einem eigenen Skin, mit oder ohne benutzeranpassbarer Symbolleiste, Vollbild- oder Fensterdarstellung, Icon, Titel, Cursor u.v.m. - Aber auch weitere Merkmale für komfortables Offline-Browsing, wie z.B. das problemlose Starten oder Kopieren von EXE, ZIP, PDF oder anderen Dateien per Hyperlink lassen sich ebenso leicht realisieren, wie die verlässliche Überprüfung von Systemvoraussetzungen für die HTML-Oberfläche (z.B. das Vorhandensein von Java, JavaScript oder Flash™). Auch typische Sicherheitsfeatures von normalen Browsern, wie Popup-Blocker oder Warnungen beim Anklicken ausführbarer Dateien, stellen mit Discstarter kein Problem mehr dar, da Discstarter speziell für Offline-Inhalte konzipiert wurde. Discstarter gibt es in drei Lizenz-Varianten:
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This is a shareware tool from Killer Software, Inc.
MakeCDROM displays a graphic with hot spots that launch programs and files. It supports hover graphics and sounds, and automatically generates the autorun.inf file. A dialog based tool to specify hot areas and actions is included. The free edition can be used without time limit, but only allows up to three hot spots (e.g. Install, View ReadMe, Exit). In the registered version you can create up to 20 hot spots.
Visit
the MakeCDROM homepage for
more documentation, samples and downloads
This CD autorun application uses Internet Explorer embedded in a dialog to display HTML pages. It uses a simple ini file to direct the embedded browser to the autorun homepage and uses a custom HREF protocol to handle ShellExecuteEx commands to perform things like printing, launching readmes, and executing applications. These custom HREF commands are configured and defined in the self-documented autoplay.ini file. It was developed on Win2000, VC6, SP3 and requires IE4+ on the user's machine in order to function.
Notes:
HTMLautoplay.zip Written by Matt Weagle
File size: 213.621 bytes Last update: 2003-03-14
The source code for this tool is also available. Any bugs/mods/improvements that you have found/implemented should be reported to Matt Weagle.
HTMLautoplaySrc.zip Written by Matt Weagle
File size: 30.179 bytes Last update: 2002-04-29
There are several other tools to create CD autorun applications. Here are a few web sites that you may want to visit:
IndigoRose Software Design Corp.
Note: DemoShield from Macrovision (formerly InstallShield) is no longer available as of January 1, 2007.
This is a modified setup.rul that lets the user select which product to install, and launches the appropriate setup.
cdbrowser.zip (3.869 Bytes) Provided
by Hans Krauer
E_Cat (Easily Configured Autorun Tool, formerly known as "Autorunwiz") is a CD Browser that displays a wizard page with a series of buttons that will call various installs. It looks roughly like an InstallShield setup but it is a single executable instead of an IS project. Also all the information for the buttons is read from an ini file. The idea is that someone who doesn't know InstallShield can modify the selections. The ini file can also be used to change other user interface items like the bitmap, title, text message above the buttons, etc. If there are more than nine buttons, additional screens will be displayed. The user can go back and fourth between all screens. On the first screen the "< Back" button is disabled. On the last screen, the other button says "Finish". On all other screens it says "More >". That text can be changed in the ini file as well.
Updated: Practically everything can be resized and/or moved. All of the buttons can be changed, or just individual ones. You can put an icon or bitmap on a button instead of text. You can have one color in your custom bitmap be made transparent. You can change the font that is used for the text. You can specify an icon for the program to use. Now E_Cat copies the ini file and any images to a temp directory on the user's machine when it first opens them. This way the CD can be removed from the drive while E_Cat is running and it will still function. This behavior can be overridden. The ZIP file now includes a basic and an advanced sample.
Visit Web Site Written by Elihu Rozen
You know the problem: In PCs with removable drives the letter of the CD drive tends to change frequently. Thus the shortcut you create to your CD-based application now may be invalid in the future. GetCD addresses this issue by searching all current drive letters, finding the first (if there are multiple) CD ROM drive. It appends to that drive letter the filename, or path and filename, you pass it in the command-line and launches the combination.
If you need to open a CD-based web document, GetCD will pull the default web browser command from the registry, append to it the CD ROM drive letter, then append to that the path/filename you pass to it from the command line.
If the filename/path in the command line does not exist on the CD, a browse dialog will appear, asking the user to manually search for the document or executable.
getcd.zip (116.904 Bytes) Provided by
Scott Yeager
Programs to install the Windows Installer runtime files and launch the MSI file can be found on the Windows Installer Tools page.
Often it would be nice to check whether the currently logged on user has Administrator privileges before starting the installation. Here is a function written in C that you can use in a launcher application to check the user privileges.
Note: this package only includes C source code for this function, not a completed setup.exe
IsAdmin.zip Written by Torsten Brannolte
File size: 1.422 bytes Last update: 2001-12-04
If you run a setup created with InstallShield 6 or InstallShield Developer 7 a second time it automatically enters maintenance mode. This program makes sure that setup is always started in "first time" mode. To achieve this it searches the computer's registry for all the Uninstall keys. It then searches the keys for a DisplayName value that matches InstallShield's String Table entry for PRODUCT_NAME. If found it then reads the value of LogFile which gives the Drive and Path to where the Setup.ilg is found. It will then delete this file and launch InstallShield's setup program. You can rename SetupLauncher.exe to Setup.exe to always launch in "First Time" mode. (Of course this requires that you also rename InstallShield's setup.exe. Detailed instructions can be found in the Readme file.)
See also:
is67launcher.zip Written by Dave Pehrson
File size: 121.840 bytes Last update: 2001-11-13
If you don't want to clutter the root of your CD with all the files that InstallShield needs in the same directory as setup.exe, this program is made for you. You place your "real" setup program in a sub-directory and specify its location in an INI file. When the user double-clicks this stub program (or starts it using the Add/Remove Programs control panel applet) it will launch your setup. Important: You have to rename your "real" setup.exe to something like install.exe.
This tool can use the same INI file as the Smart CD Autorun Launcher.
Use of this tool requires a license, which can be obtained free of charge. See the readme file for details.
cdroot.zip Written by Stefan Krueger
File size: 4.854 bytes Last update: 2002-04-29
Launching your setup automatically when the CD is inserted into the drive is easy. But if the CD is required after your application has been installed (to access some data files that were not copied to the hard disk), launching setup each time is not desirable. Microsoft recommends a CD Browser, but starting this Multimedia application each time you insert the CD can be annoying. (Remember installing a device driver from your Windows CD, and suddenly "Tadaa" the CD browser pops up?).
Here is a smarter Autorun program. It checks registry to see if your application is already installed, and launches setup only if it was not found. In case your application is already installed, Autorun can be configured to launch the application. Also, this tool does not start a second instance of setup in case your CD has to be removed and later re-inserted while your setup is running (e.g. to install a device driver from the Windows CD).
This tool can use the same INI file as the Setup Launcher for CD Root.
Use of this tool requires a license, which can be obtained free of charge. See the readme file for details.
autorun.zip Written by Stefan Krueger
File size: 11.672 bytes Last update: 2003-07-04
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