Multiple Programs with Windows Batch Files

When it comes to starting up my computer for work, theres quite a few applications I need to run.
Rather than having to set up shortcuts for each one, I would rather just click on one shortcut and load them all at once.

Creating a batch file will do the job fine, however there is a small problem.
To demonstrate the problem, see the first attempt most people would make.

%WINDIR%\System32\calc.exe
%WINDIR%\System32\notepad.exe
%WINDIR%\System32\write.exe

This will load up Calculator, Notepad and Wordpad.
However, the interesting quirk is that the batch file will not continue to execute Notepad until Calculator is closed.
Likewise with Wordpad, it will not execute it until Notepad is closed.

To overcome this, we need to change the way that applications are started.
Rather than calling the executables directly, we use "start".

start /d "%WINDIR%" calc.exe
start /d "%WINDIR%" notepad.exe
start /d "%WINDIR%" write.exe
start /d "%PROGRAMFILES%\Adobe\Acrobat" acrobat.exe

This way, you can also add optional arguments to the application.

start /d "C:\Path\To\Your Application" app.exe "D:\input\movie name.avi"

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