Every computer user has a set of programs that they invariably use pretty much everyday. For a software developer such programs are many and often need to be present at their beck and call. Adding to this use case, usually the programs are heavy, often needing few minutes to get going once they are invoked. Typically I never would want to restart my system, however ever so often you need to reboot,shutdown your Windows OS. It could be because

• you just installed a software which requires a reboot
• the system had to run some updates and need to reboot
• You simply shutdown the system for reasons best known to you

Here is a simple solution to get all your programs up and running whenever you come back after such shutdowns/reboots.

Open your favorite text editor or notepad, create a new document and save it as MyFavPrograms.bat.
The idea is to change directory into the location where your executable file is and then start the program.
Example:

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@echo off
 
cd "C:\eclipse"
start eclipse.exe
 
cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\VideoLAN\VLC\"
start vlc.exe
 
cd "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\"
start iexplore.exe

Now double click on this batch file to open up all your favorite programs.

If you want them to be started every time your systems starts up, do the following:

• click start menu -> All Programs
• Look for Startup folder.
• Right Click and open the folder.
• Copy the batch file (or shortcut) into this folder