[thelist] More flexible auto-run option?

Sergej Zoubok sqz1909 at nyu.edu
Mon Jun 11 07:32:38 CDT 2001


Hi all,

I'm updating a promotional CD-ROM (PC/Mac hybrid). The first version 
used a utility called ShellRun (http://www.phdcc.com/shellrun/) to 
auto-run on Win9x/NT boxes. The CD has a simple HTML interface and 
the utility simply launched the start.html page in the user's default 
browser.

There was an annoying limitation, however. In addition to a variety 
of text-based information and PDF files, the CD contains a selection 
of freeware and shareware (all distributed with permission) Much of 
this cannot be launched directly from the interface given the 
limitations of html. The user is, instead, encouraged to explore a 
number of organized software directories on the CD. Unfortunately, 
when one clicks on the the CD icon in "My Computer" (as many users 
naturally do), the Shellrun launches the  browser again rather than 
displaying the directory tree. The user is forced to use Windows 
Explorer to explore the software directories.

What I'm looking for is a way to avoid this limitation. Can anyone 
suggest an alternative way to give the user a choice between 
launching the interface and simply exploring the files on the CD? As 
this is a small-scale promotional item (1000-2000 copies) for a 
non-profit organization, cost is an issue (i.e. I can't purchase 
Macromedia Director and create a whole Shockwave interface).

Thanks for your time.

Sergej


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