Wise Women List Archive File
Creating an Autorun CD
Has anyone created any Autorun CDs? I've been asked to update a CD
business card by adding the autorun feature, a menu and updating a few
other fields. I don't have the CD, yet, but I think it's in html. I did a
Google search and found some tools for adding the autorun feature. Some
are free, some cost. It looks like if I want to the CD to automatically
open an html file, I need an autorun.inf file and an executable file
that opens the html doc in a browser. This doesn't seem too daunting. I
was just wondering if any of you have created these kinds of CDs before
and have any advice on tools, pitfalls, etc.
I don't know if this will help, but I have created an autorun cd for
teachers that opens Reader on the CD and launches the file. I found helpful
information at the Acrobat site about how to do it. It was important that
the file I was launching was located in the right place in the directory
structure and had no spaces in the file name.
The autorun.inf file only had to have the following text and was created in
notepad.
[autorun]
open=Reader\AcroRd32.exe intro.pdf
Reader was a folder with AcroRd32.exe in it. My intro.pdf file was at the
root directory.
It is true. Users may have autorun disabled on their computers.
Thought an example might help.
Thanks. That is a good example. I actually didn't know that you
could run acrobat reader off of a CD. Cool.
>The autorun.inf file only had to have the following text and was created in
>notepad.
>
>[autorun]
>open=Reader\AcroRd32.exe intro.pdf
>
>Reader was a folder with AcroRd32.exe in it. My intro.pdf file was at the
>root directory.
You're kidding? It's that simple? <...filing that bit of info away in the
"good info" folder...>
>It is true. Users may have autorun disabled on their computers.
How does one do that?
Not sure all you need to know. But, here is what I did.
I put the Acrobat Reader files on the CD. This includes the Reader folder
that has the AcroRd32.exe in it. You need to contact Adobe about
distribution of Reader, but it is free to distribute. There is just a little
paperwork to be done. The form is online as a pdf.
I created a pdf file saved as intro.pdf. This is the first file I want to
open when Reader is launched.
I then opened Notepad and wrote the following text exactly.
[autorun]
open=Reader\AcroRd32.exe intro.pdf
I then saved the Notepad file as autorun.inf
The files were all burned on a CD
Reader [a folder]
other Reader files in folders right from an installation disk I kept the
directory structure just like on the Reader CD.
autorun.inf
intro.pdf
any other pdf files (I linked to lots of files from a main menu document
launched from the intro.pdf file. My intro file was mainly eyecandy--a flash
movie in a pdf to get them enterested and a Start Program button taking the
user to the Main Menu, which had links to all the rest of my files.
I hope this is what you needed. There are instructions on the Acrobat site.
I have done this with Reader 4 and now with Reader 5.
When the teacher inserts the CD and if they do not have autorun disabled,
Reader is launched and runs from the CD and the into.pdf file opens.
Everything runs off the CD.
>Um, actually, I meant how does one disable autorun on a windows machine.
In windows 98:
(should be similar in your version or search HELP for "auto insert
notification")
In your CONTROL PANEL, click SYSTEM then DEVICE MANAGER. Click CD-ROM and
then highlight your CD drive(s). Click PROPERTIES and then SETTINGS
To prevent CDs from playing automatically, click to clear the AUTO INSERT
NOTIFICATION check box. You can also press the SHIFT key while inserting a
CD to stop it from playing automatically.
I finally figured out that you wanted to disabilt auto run
here are instructions also at this site
http://www.techtv.com/callforhelp/answerstips/story/0,24330,419,00.html
It is helpful to disable the Auto CD Run feature, called AutoPlay, if you
swap CDs frequently. Disabling AutoPlay is especially convenient if you
change from audio CDs to game CDs to programs.
To disable AutoPlay, follow these instructions.
Click Start.
Click Settings.
Click Control Panel.
Double-click System.
On Device Manager tab, double-click the CD-ROM branch.
Double-click the CD-ROM driver entry.
On the Settings tab, uncheck the Auto Insert Notification box.
To enable AutoPlay, follow the instructions to step six and check the Auto
Insert Notification box.
As an added bonus, here is a shortcut to suspend AutoPlay: Hold down the
Shift key while inserting a CD.
What type of files were the other files on the CD? Were they all PDF's
or were they other types, as well?
Most of the files were pdfs, but we did launch an Authorware application to
send results from an activity to headquarters. Some of the pdf files linked
to and played sound files using pdf actions.
But primarily for this project the files were pdf, but I would think there
would be no problems launching other applications--perhaps a ppt show that
had the viewer on the CD. Have not tired that, but it seems it should work
especially since we were able to launch an Authorware exe.
>From what I have been reading, you do need an executable file that is
>referred to in the autorun.inf file. If you have that, the first launch
>should work. For the second launch - like for the authorware.exe - did
>you just provide the link to launch it?
For html files, you have to include an executable file that finds the
browser on the user's computer and launches the browser. You can
download such an executable file that does this from the Web - for free
or you can pay for one as part of a package. Many of those executable
files can be used with more file types than html files. They just find
the application that is associated with the file extension of the file
that you supply, and then launch that application with your file as the
active file. (That way, you don't have to have an application on the
CD.) It would be the same effect as double clicking a file name on your
hard drive to open it in its associated application. There is a risk
here, though. The user might not have an application associated with the
file extension that you use. Or, in the case of html files, someone like
a Web developer might have an html file open in their editor, instead of
their browser. I guess you just have to make judgements based on your
audience as best you can.
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