Launching a graphical executable from the command line

vi.bat


@echo off
start "title" /b "C:\Program Files\Vim\vim70\gvim.exe" %*


Locating the executable in the classpath

which.bat


@ECHO OFF
setlocal
set DELAY=YES
set DELAY=!DELAY!

if "%DELAY%" == "YES" (
set files=
for %%i in (%PATHEXT%) DO set files=!files!;%1%%i
for %%i in (!files!) DO if EXIST %%~$PATH:i (@echo.%%~$PATH:i)
) else (
if "%2" == "with_delay" (
echo Invalid state. Prevent infinite recursion
) else (
cmd /v:on /c which.bat %1 with_delay
)
)
endlocal


Links
Batch Reference
Command Line Reference

I had McAfee installed and running on the family PC. It still got infected by some nasty ad-ware that would pop up random web pages warning that the computer was infected and that I should buy WinAntiVirusPro2006 to remove it. This is pure extortion and I refuse to support it.

Searching the web tended to give me more bad information than good, so I decided to try to leave it to the experts and bought Norton Security 2007. It detected a couple of more viruses that McAfee, but I still was getting popups and explorer.exe errors.

Eventually, I learned enough browsing the web to locate CastleCops. It provided me with instructions and links to shareware utilities that allowed me to quickly remove Vundo and other “potentially unwanted applications” (apparently the legally safe way to refer to malware).

I would have saved a lot of time and money if I had started with http://castlecops.com.

Safely Remove Hardware
Clicking on the tray icon to safely remove the USB drive tells you that the drive is still in use. After closing all the visible applications, the issue continues. After using the task manager to stop all user specific processes, the issue continues. Scanning the web only gave me multiple causes and possible workarounds. My current approach:

1. Close applications that I know are using the USB drive
2. Attempt to use the “Safely Remove Hardware” icon in the system tray
3. If step 2 fails, then close applications that might be using USB drive and repeat step 2
4. As my final option, I use the “Eject” command within explorer.exe

Encryption
I’m currently using TrueCrypt to encode sensitive data I don’t want falling into the wrong hands. It does require admin privileges on the machine. However, since that data is fairly sensitive, then it is unlikely I will try to use it on a machine I don’t control.

I also use KeePass to store passwords.

Version Control
Here I use Subversion. I keep a repository on my flash drive and access it with the URL “file:///G:/svn”. I keep the subversion executables on my USB drive so that I have access via the command line, but I normally use the Subclipse plug-in within Eclipse.

Revert to Console
I setup special .BAT files to create console windows that have the correct PATH and environment settings for the console applications stored on my USB drive. I use the TITLE command to give the window a descriptive name.