Game Launcher as XP Shell

[jets]

I have been trying to get Game Launcher to run at startup and I have not been able to get it to work. I read a number of messages all over but it seems GL is a little strange beacause it will not work like regular programs...it needs to find _gl32.exe and the glaunch.dat file so it needs a little extra something to work. I use XP Pro and I've tried to add it to the startup folder, HKCU run, HKLM run, and none get the job done.
 
I tried what this person did but it does not seem to like the script that the batch file uses to run GL at startup. If I just run the batch file now it will work but not at startup? Has anyone pulled this off?

Thanks.

[mikej]

Here's what worked for me...

1) Unzip and place the following app in the same directory as glaunch.exe.
http://www.lunchpicker.net/LaunchAfterDelay.zip

2) Place a shortcut to this app in the startup folder with the following command line arguments.
  "-d 10 -f c:\gamelauncher\glaunch.exe" (substitute your path to glaunch.exe)

This works for me on XP Pro.  The app is basically a VB app that runs in the background and waits 10 seconds (or whatever you pass after "-d" and then launches the file passed after "-f".  Let me know if you have any questions.

Mike

[Dariusz]

Hi Mike,

Have you also been able to when exiting GL, to shutdown XP automaticaly?

Lookforward to your response.

Kind Regards,

Dariusz

Here's what worked for me...

1) Unzip and place the following app in the same directory as glaunch.exe.
http://www.lunchpicker.net/LaunchAfterDelay.zip

2) Place a shortcut to this app in the startup folder with the following command line arguments.
  "-d 10 -f c:\gamelauncher\glaunch.exe" (substitute your path to glaunch.exe)

This works for me on XP Pro.  The app is basically a VB app that runs in the background and waits 10 seconds (or whatever you pass after "-d" and then launches the file passed after "-f".  Let me know if you have any questions.

Mike

[romid]

suprisingly, I was able to put glaunch in my startup folder in XP and it automatically starts up.  What did not work was setting my shell to be glaunch.exe  that produced an error which told me to check the logs, unfortuntely it didnt log anything.  

Has anyone else had problems w/ using glaunch as their shell instead of explorer?  Or on the flip side, has anyone successfully done it?   As I mentioned earlier, Im running winXP.

[Jakobud]

Why is it that XP has this problem of not starting GL when its in the Startup folder?

[romid]

Look here for Dave's (the author of gamelauncher) reply regarding using it as the shell:

http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_id=1693842&forum_id=3285

"Unfortunately, GL cannot be used directly as a shell replacement, it's probably not too difficult to hack up a simple shell that does nothing but launch GL, wait for it to exit, and shut down the PC."

[Dariusz]

Hi,

Does anyone know how to create the shell that launched and exits GL or even better has on available that they can share and provide instructions on installing/using the shell.

Kind Regards,

Dariusz

Look here for Dave's (the author of gamelauncher) reply regarding using it as the shell:

http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_id=1693842&forum_id=3285

"Unfortunately, GL cannot be used directly as a shell replacement, it's probably not too difficult to hack up a simple shell that does nothing but launch GL, wait for it to exit, and shut down the PC."

[Howard_Casto]

make a bat file that navigates to the game launcher directory, launches gamelauncher, waits for it to exit and then launches one of those nifty "shutdown on execution" apps......  i used to do it back in the day so i know it works.... btw gl can't be launched from a 98 startup menu either....  it uses multiple files and thus it won't work with a bat that simply sets the path prior to execution.....

hope that helps...

[Dave Dribin]

Check out this page:

http://izaram.net/~jaquer/glaunch.html

-Dave

[jets]

I  thank everyone on the board for all the help. I finally got my cab to boot and shutdown with minimal user intervention and there is really only one problem.

My goal is to have a single button to startup and shutdown the cabinet by someone who understands nothing about computers. Bootup is taken care of but here is the problem with shutdown. In the XP control panel power options you can specify 'shutdown' when the power button is pressed. If I am in Game Launcher and press power, the program will hang and just look like windows which is a no-no plus the enter button needs to be pressed for "OK" to complete the shutdown. On the other hand, if P1 and P2 start (ESC) are pressed GL exits and automatically shuts down windows (using the Auto it run script) without a hitch. That may be too complicated for some people so what is the best solution for this?

Here's what I think I'm going to try. I am going to change the button that GL uses to exit itself to the most obscure key I can think of and at the same time wire the PC "on/off" switch to that same keypress. After thats done, I just go into power options and tell the PC to do nothing when power is pressed. GL exits and the script shuts down the PC.

Here's the final 2 questions:

1) Are the PC power switches momentary "on only when presseed" OR regular "click on/click off" switches? I Haven't tested since I'm at work...I just thought of this.

2) What is the most obscure keypress you can think of?

[Carsten Carlos]

Can't you just set your PC in the "Ruhezustand", guess it's called doze-mode in english?

I mean the mode where it writes all the RAM to your harddisk and then turns the PC off. So the next time you reboot/press button it continues at the same stage! You can map this function directly to your power-button.

to 1) - it's a momentary switch.

[rampy]

1) Are the PC power switches momentary "on only when presseed" OR regular "click on/click off" switches? I Haven't tested since I'm at work...I just thought of this.

2) What is the most obscure keypress you can think of?

#1 most MODERN atx style cases/powersupplies/mobo are momentary (doorbell-esque) type switches...

#2 *shrug*

rampy

[jets]

Can't you just set your PC in the "Ruhezustand", guess it's called doze-mode in english?

I mean the mode where it writes all the RAM to your harddisk and then turns the PC off. So the next time you reboot/press button it continues at the same stage! You can map this function directly to your power-button.

Ah, that's "hibernate" mode. I thought about that but then I'd have to see that message that says "windows is now resuming...." which I don't wanna see. I made my own XP boot/login screens so the only thing seen that I don't really want to see is the mouse pointer as it's booting. No big deal. Hibernation is a good suggestion though. Thanks for the replys