CD/DVD Autorun?

[iceangel89]

actually i dunno if i am posting this in the right place, but i was wondering how do i create a auto run flash cd/dvd like those companies use on their products, to run .exe or .htm or whatever. there are alot of tutorials on making flash content but not on cd/dvd publishing. for my web design project i was thinking of auto running the html file, but it would be nice if i can run programs etc too :o

[Nojoy]

You could use a external software to do so such as Right Autorun Pro 2.1. Just google it up and you find alot of software on the subject. Test a few to your preference. The program above for instance lets you autorun html files such as the index file. Hope that helps.

[danlefeb]

Apart from using a third-party program, you can put a file called "autorun.inf" in the root of your CD. In the autorun.inf (which is just a text file with a different extension), you can put something like:

[autorun]
OPEN = your_program_name.exe
ICON = icon.ico

With, of course, "OPEN" being the actual executable, and "ICON" being whatever icon you want displayed. The "ICON" part isn't necessary, but it adds a nice little touch.

To autorun an HTML file, you can do:

[autorun]
ShellExecute = index.html


....where "index.html" is the path to your start page of the site on the CD.

A couple things to keep in mind though.....one, autorun's don't work for OS X and two, running an HTML as an autorun will most of the time pop up as a security warning and will be looked at as a virus by many virus scanners. This can be overridden, of course, but it'd mean the end user will have a pop up from their virus software when they put in your CD. They'd have to hit "OK" or something to continue. A lot of people may simply hit "No" without reading the pop up. Just be aware of that.

[iceangel89]

thanks ppl. i will try out your methods, but actually i am aware of 3rd party progs. but surely i can do it myself, it will look more unique. maybe thru action script? is there any resources online teaching this? :confused: thanks anyway. i appreciate your answers :D

[danlefeb]

There is no action script to launch a CD automatically....using the code I mentioned above will get the desired results without using a third party application.

[iceangel89]

Mmm... maybe what i meant is using flash to open/execute a exe setup. say i have a few exe-s i have and what to be able to run them from a Gui(flash). so i create the buttons in flash when clicked run a program.

Also can i use the same method to open cmd? run a batch file? or a PDF. like a documentation for my program?

[danlefeb]

Hmm....Unless they've changed things since the last time I used Flash, I don't think it's possible to open an .exe from Flash. Main reason for that would be security purposes - it'd open up a "can of virus-worms" if any Flash website could open an .exe setup on your system. Using the FScommand, I think you can open a projector file, but that's as far as it goes for security purposes. You may be able to do something like that in Director or iShell, though.

In regards to your second question....Sure, I don't see why not. Just link the PDF or whatever where index.html is in the autorun and it'll open with the end user's default PDF program.

[McGergs]

Just create a menue in flash and export it as a self contained playable exe. Assign actionscript to the buttons to play or import any other swf files you want to use. Hope this makes sense.

[iceangel89]

Hmm....Unless they've changed things since the last time I used Flash, I don't think it's possible to open an .exe from Flash. Main reason for that would be security purposes - it'd open up a "can of virus-worms" if any Flash website could open an .exe setup on your system. Using the FScommand, I think you can open a projector file, but that's as far as it goes for security purposes. You may be able to do something like that in Director or iShell, though.

In regards to your second question....Sure, I don't see why not. Just link the PDF or whatever where index.html is in the autorun and it'll open with the end user's default PDF program.

But then how do CDs from Maximum PC & even Macromedia do it?? The setups are opened via flash projectors right?

[danlefeb]

You can open a Flash projector .exe from another Flash projector .exe, but that's it. You may be able to find a third-party plug-in to do the trick, but by default Flash won't. I'm not familiar with Maximum PC, but Macromedia doesn't use Flash to create their software -- it's much more complicated than that :)

[iceangel89]

...Macromedia doesn't use Flash to create their software -- it's much more complicated than that :)

No, i mean their setup launchers.... but thanks anyway

[danlefeb]

Nah, I highly doubt their setup is done in Flash. There's much more powerful software out there for making programs than Flash. Making full blown applications is not the intended purpose of Flash.

[iceangel89]

nono.... u might have misunderstood me.. sorry if i am wrong, no offence, i mean the launchers not the setup/program all that. the one(GUI) that will say u want to install Flash or Dreamweaver ... standalone this kind of stuff.

But i think u are right FScommand cant run programs other than flash projectors(saw on the web). But i found that i can use JStart (http://flashjester.com/?section=tricks_jtools_jstart) from Macromedia Forum, haven't tried it though. If anyone wants. But it if paid software :frown: Anyone knows of any similar things i can use? Class library etc?

[danlefeb]

Hmm....not the setup for Flash. But the launcher. Are you talking about Flash Player? When [insert your browser of choice] detects you don't have Flash Player and pops up asking if you want to install it?

Or are you talking about the splash screen when you launch the full version of Flash?

Regarding JStart, even that says:
JStart will only work with PC projector files and SWF files that use the LOADMOVIE command from a projector file.

I think Macromedia/Adobe are going to do their best to keep Flash from being able to open regular program installers. If you could install something directly from Flash, then any site you go to that had even a small Flash element could secretly install a backdoor virus on your computer when you visit the site. Unless I'm completely not understanding what you mean. :) Do you have a screenshot of an example of what "setup/launcher" you mean?

[iceangel89]

Ya ...i didn't see that part. u are getting it, what i wanted to do is a Launcher for my setup files. So, i have a few VB programs i made for my school projects and is thinking of launching them from 1 GUI instead of the user starting one by one.

[danlefeb]

You can do that, but I wouldn't use Flash something like that :)