Autostart is a very useful tool for anyone who wants to create easy-to-use navigation menus for their CD-ROMs. Using the very simple standard Windows INI Format, you can easily create autostart menus for your CDs that pop into action as soon as you've inserted the disc in your drive. The tool is practical for both personal and commercial use: as a home user you don't have to browse through your whole CD-ROM in order to find that software program you put on there last summer; you just click on it in the menu! As a commercial user you can quickly create professionally-looking menus for cover-CDs, etc.
There are no specific system requirements for this program, except that it only looks good with 256 color or more and that you need Windows in order to run it. However, if you find that the program is not running on your system, please contact us so we can find out why and, if applicable, inform about the problem in the documentation.
Please note that this program is in a beta-stage and therefore still under development. We have thoroughly tested the program for errors and made it as bug-free as possible, but please understand that there always might still be small problems. Additionally, more features will be added in the final release, such as a Wizard for the creation of the INI file.
The settings for Autostart are specified in a standard Windows INI-file called "autostart.ini" that has the following format:
[Interface]
Caption = Title bar caption of the window
Pages = Number of pages with clickable menu items
[Pagex] x = page number (starting with 1)
Comments = text to be displayed on the page
Items = number of items in the page (max: 5)
ItemCapx = caption of xth item (starting with 0; max: 4)
ItemExex = file to execute for the xth item, which can also be a document (starting with 0; max: 4)
ItemDirx = working directory of the file to be executed (optional)
ItemParamsx = any parameters for the file to be executed (optional)
A sample INI file has been included with Autostart. Click here to view it (if it is located in the current working directory).
For testing purposes, another functionality has been added to Autostart: you can specify a directory to be handled as the root directory of the CD-ROM you are creating until it is finished and about to be burned. Warning: you must remove this section before burning the CD! The format is as follows:
[Testing]
Testing = 1
TestPath = the path to be handled as the root directory of the CD-ROM until testing is finished
A wizard for the creation of this INI file will be included in the final version of the program!
When the INI file is ready, the following files must be burned in the root directory of the CD-ROM:
The are no known problems. Please contact us if think that there might be a bug or if you would like a problem to be documented in the documentation of Autostart.
Autostart is freeware for non-commercial use, which means that you can freely use the program in any way you want as long as you do not break the law and not using the program commercially (e.g. putting it on a cover CD). If you are a commercial user, we kindly ask you to contact us about the low fee of 25 US$ that you should pay in order to legally use the program.
Erimarsoft is not responsible for anything that (legally or illegally) the user does with Autostart.
The Autostart 0.8b1 package consists of the following files.
You are hereby licensed to (a) make as many copies of this software and documentation as you wish; (b) give exact copies of the original version to anyone; and (c) distribute the software and documentation in its unmodified form via electronic means.
There is no charge for any of the above. However, commercial users should pay for using the program on their CD-ROMs.
You can contact Erimarsoft using one of the following ways:
e-mail: info@erimarsoft.com
WWW: http://www.erimarsoft.com/