START Command
 
The START command can launch a Windows program either by specifying the program name (and its command-line parameters), or by specifying a data file name that is associated with a particular program (one that would automatically launch if you clicked on it in Windows).
 
For example, if you have NOTEPAD.EXE associated with all TXT files, then you could open the file SOME.TXT in any of the following four ways:
 
NOTEPAD SOME.TXT
SOME.TXT
START NOTEPAD.EXE SOME.TXT
START SOME.TXT
 
Why use one or the other? Well, sometimes you may have to use one particular form to get a result — depending, for example, on how the particular program is coded. Though the first form usually will work, you may want, for example, to write a more general batch file to open any particular program and associated file — without knowing what the requirements of all such files might be. You could, then, write a general batch file line such as START %1% %2%.
 
One particular use of the START command is to launch the default browser and go directly to a URL, for example: START http://google.com
 
You may use any of four command line parameters with the START command. These go after the word START, but before the program name:
 
/minimized or /m
/maximized or /max
/restored or /r
/wait or /w
 
The first three determine the screen status in which the program opens. The last one forces the batch file to halt processing until the called program has finished executing. (This can be useful, for example, if you are loading multiple items in your windows Startup folder, and the nature of the programs require that one be finished before the next starts loading. Put them all in a single batch file, using the /wait parameter, and only put a shortcut to the batch file in the Startup folder.) Command line parameters of the START command can be combined in a single line. Example:
 
START /max /wait NOTEPAD.EXE SOME.TXT

Make Your Batch Files Wait a Bit by Using CHOICE.   CHOICE has an option to wait `n' seconds and then execute one of the choices as pre-selected by the batch file author. The limit is only 99 seconds, but may be useful if a short delay will suffice. See the `/T' switch option in your DOS documentation.