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1995-07-05
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Welcome to CSTARTUP v8.0!
If you have a program(s) that you run on a regular basis (perhaps
from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file) and you only need to run it once a day,
or on a specific day of the week, or even on a specific day of a
year, You will find CSTARTUP to be very useful. For example you
might want to run a virus check program that scans your hard drive
only once a day, or perhaps only on Sundays, or even just once a
month. You might have a hard drive unfragmenter that you only want
to run on a periodic basis. CSTARTUP can save you time by running
the programs you want only when you want them run.
It helps you in other ways as well. It will monitor your PC and
create a log file that lets you know if someone booted up your PC
without your knowledge. It will even run a series of commands for
you if it detects someone logging on that should not be. You can
also tell it to "hide" a directory of your choice when this occurs.
These security features are not completely foolproof but are secure
enough for most people's needs and are very easy to implement.
CSTARTUP also offers a simple, but useful debug mode that will help
you pinpoint problems.
But aside from all of this, probably the best part of CSTARTUP is
that it is free. I make no requests for money for using this
program--all I ask is that you give it to those friends who you feel
will find it useful. Why? Because I wrote this, originally, for my
own use and wish to share it with the public. Besides, I've enjoyed
adding features to it and working on it. So, having said this,
please continue reading to find out how to use CSTARTUP.
INSTALLATION
──────────────
The files contained in CSTART80.ZIP should be moved into a directory
of your choice. I use C:\CSTARTUP; however, you may want to either
place it in C:\ or C:\DOS. You will see the following files:
CSTARTUP.EXE The CSTARTUP program file
CSTARTUP.TXT Example CSTARTUP command file
CSTARTUP.DOC CSTARTUP documentation
After you run CSTARTUP for the first time, the following hidden
file will be created:
CSTARTUP.TYP Binary copy of CSTARTUP.TXT
Later, depending on which parameters you use to run CSTARTUP, the
following hidden file may be created:
CSTARTUP.LOG CSTARTUP log file (optional, see below)
CSTARTUP: SETTING IT UP/HOW IT WORKS
──────────────────────────────────────
CSTARTUP works by scanning a file that you create (CSTARTUP.TXT) and
running the programs in it at specific days that you have defined.
You can tell it to run a program by identifying when you want it to
run and by typing the name of the program you want to run.
Probably the best place to call CSTARTUP is from your AUTOEXEC.BAT
file. You will probably also want to move any programs you run from
AUTOEXEC.BAT into the CSTARTUP.TXT file so that CSTARTUP will run
them instead of AUTOEXEC.BAT. I'll describe how to set up your own
CSTARTUP.TXT file next....
The following shows the commands you use to tell CSTARTUP when to
run a program. These commands are set up in the CSTARTUP.TXT file
in the positions indicated.
Positions 1-5: MON = always run on Monday
TUE = always run on Tuesdays
WED = always run on Wednesdays
THU = always run on Thursdys
FRI = always run on Fridays
SAT = always run on Saturdays
SUN = always run on Sundays
ONC = run once each day
ALL = always run whenever CSTARTUP executes
MON1 = run once only on Monday
TUE1 = run once only on Tuesdays
WED1 = run once only on Wednesdays
THU1 = run once only on Thursdys
FRI1 = run once only on Fridays
SAT1 = run once only on Saturdays
SUN1 = run once only on Sundays
mmdd = run everytime CSTARTUP runs on this date
mmdd1 = run once on this date only
WAT = run command if watchdog key not hit
REM = Comment line
Positions 6-100: Program path/name with parameters you wish to run.
For example:
Date to run program starts here in position 1
│
│
│ Program to run starts here in position 6
│ │
1....6..................................................100
MON dir c: (runs "DIR C:" each monday whenever CSTARTUP is run)
ONC chkdsk (runs "CHKDSK" once a day only, regardless of day)
ALL chkdsk (runs "CHKDSK" always regardless of day)
FRI1 dir b: (runs "DIR B:" once only, each Friday)
0128 dir a: (runs "DIR A:" on 01/28 whenever CSTARTUP is run)
10021dir d: (runs "DIR D:" on 10/02, first run of CSTARTUP only)
REM Any message (is a comment line that will be "ignored")
WAT beep.bat (runs "beep.bat" if watchdog key was not hit)
At this point, if this isn't making sense to you, take a close look
at the sample CSTARTUP.TXT file included in this package. This file
shows other examples and can be run from your PC without
modification. If you want, go ahead and run CSTARTUP by typing the
following command at the DOS prompt: "CSTARTUP" and see what
happens.
When you create your own CSTARTUP.TXT file, it is very important to
position the day and command line that you want to run in the proper
positions! The day you want to run a command must start in the
first position of the line and the command you wish to run must
start in the 6th position. The examples above should give you an
example of what I mean.
Whenever you make changes to the CSTARTUP.TXT file, the next time
CSTARTUP runs it will notice the changes and create an updated
CSTARTUP.TYP file.
To help prevent prying eyes from finding out what CSTARTUP is doing,
copy CSTARTUP.TXT to a safe place and then delete it from the
location you copied it from. CSTARTUP will run without the
CSTARTUP.TXT file as long as you have a valid CSTARTUP.TYP file in
the same directory that CSTARTUP.EXE is in. (You will probably also
want to hide CSTARTUP.EXE by using DOS's ATTRIB command.) If you
ever need to recreate a lost .TXT file you can specify the /R
parameter (described below) that will build a new .TXT file from the
existing .TYP file.
If you do not boot your PC over a period of a few days and thus do
not execute the scheduled commands in CSTARTUP.TXT, CSTARTUP will,
the next time it runs, execute the commands that were missed. Since
it does not detect duplicate commands, some commands might be run
more than once if your CSTARTUP.TXT contains duplicate commands that
run on different days. It will not run the 'ONC' and 'ALL' commands
multiple times, however. At this time, the only way around this is
to run CSTARTUP with the /D option (described below). This solution
may not be very convenient however.
This program will not allow you to interrupt it (short of turning of
your PC). Although this may seem restrictive, it was done to
prevent you from accidently damaging your system somehow by stopping
a process prior to its completion.
ERROR CHECKING
────────────────
Errors detectable by CSTARTUP will be displayed in green and will be
accompanied by a short beep. The error message will be displayed
for 5 seconds or until a key is hit, whichever comes first.
PARAMETERS
────────────
CSTARTUP will accept a set of parameters as described below. Each
parameter should be seperated by a space. Now for a brief
description of what they are and what they do.
/A WATCHDOG ALERT TONE. This parameter will cause a tone to
sound when CSTARTUP is ready for the watchdog key to be
hit. It works independantly of the /S parm.
As an option to this parm, you may specify a frequency to
use when the tone sounds. All you have to do is add a
number from 20-10000 after the /A. For example /A1000 will
set the tone to 1000 hz. If you do not specify a tone,
the default will be set to 2000 hz. CSTARTUP will
remember the last value you set for this parameter,
therefore you only have to specify it once. Note that
some machines may not have the ability to produce an
audible tone at the extreme values of the parm.
If you want to test the tone you have set with the /A parm
you should run CSTARTUP as follows: "CSTARTUP /b /w
/annn" where "nnn" is the tone you want to use. This will
run CSTARTUP which will sound the tone you indicated and
then prompt you for the watchdog key--the CSTARTUP.TXT
file will not be processed in this case.
/B BYPASS MODE. At times you might wish to execute CSTARTUP
without being forced to actually run the commands in the
CSTARTUP.TXT file. This parameter will accomplish that.
The only parameters that will do anything in conjunction
with /B will be /W, /A, /T, and /K. This will allow you to
set the delay time, the watchdog alert tone in hz, the
translate directory, and the hotkey without actually
running the command file (ie CSTARTUP.TXT). However, all
actions normally undertaken by /W, and /T will still
occur; in other words the files in the translate directory
will be "hidden" and Watch Dog mode will work as it would
normally by waiting for the hot key.
/D DEBUG MODE. If you are having problems with CSTARTUP, you
probably have a problem with the CSTARTUP.TXT file. If
you use this parm, CSTARTUP will pause before running a
program and it will show you the Julian date that shows
the last time the command was run, and the line/program it
is about to run that was specified by the line in
CSTARTUP.TXT that it is using. If you hit the spacebar at
this point the indicated line will be executed, hitting
'b' will bypass the indicated line should you wish to not
execute it. This parm is especially handy for testing the
commands on the WAT record types.
/F FAST MODE. CSTARTUP will pause slightly between programs it
runs and also when it displays errors. Specifying this
parameter will speed this up noticeably--in fact no delays
will occur at all.
/K HOT KEY. This parm will change the default hotkey used for
Watch Dog mode (see /W parm)-the default key is '='. To
use it just add /K to the command line followed by the
character you want to use as the new hotkey. For example:
"/k;" will set the Watch Dog hotkey to ";". You only have
to specify this parm once--CSTARTUP remembers it for you.
You can even specify it without specifing the /W and /T
parameters (eg "CSTARTUP /k; /b").
/N NUMBER OF LINES. Sets the maximum number of lines per
screen to 25. The default is to 43 lines if you have an
EGA and 50 if you have a VGA card. If you don't have an
EGA or VGA you must specify this parm!
/Q QUIET MODE. This parm will redirect all screen display
information to a NUL device. Use this to execute CSTARTUP
without displaying what you are running. Note: this may
not work for all programs as a few access screen memory in
such a way as to make NUL redirection inoperable.
/R REBUILD CSTARTUP.TXT FILE. This parameter will allow you to
rebuild the CSTARTUP.TXT file if, for some reason, it has
been deleted or corrupted in some manner. You must have a
valid CSTARTUP.TYP file for this to work since the .TXT
file will be built off of it. When you use this command
CSTARTUP will default to Bypass mode (/B). The new .TXT
will be created in the directory where CSTARTUP.EXE runs.
You will lose any REM statements you had in your original
.TXT file because the .TYP file does not contain these
statements in it.
/S SOUND ON. Normally CSTARTUP will run quietly and will not
generate any annoying sounds. If you wish to allow it to
generate a tone on errors use this parm. If you specify
this parm and use the /W mode, a tone will sound that will
prompt you when to hit the hotkey.
/T TRANSLATE DIRECTORY MODE. This mode will allow you to "hide"
files in a specified directory. If you specify this mode
CSTARTUP will assign new names to the files in the
directory specified by the /T mode parm (details below).
Any subdirectories beneath the directory specified on the
/T parm will also have their file names renamed. The
directory names themselves, however, will not be changed.
To restore the file names you MUST run CSTARTUP again
using the /T parm. This mode acts as a toggle. If the
files were previously renamed, /T will restore them back
to the originals. If the files are the originals, /T will
rename them.
(This option is best used with the /W parm as described
below, but you may use it without /W to manually
"hide/unhide" the files.)
Here's how it works in detail:
<1> run "CSTARTUP /W /Tc:\games"
<2> CSTARTUP will begin and wait 5 seconds for the
hotkey '=' to be pressed.
<3> If '=' is not hit in 5 seconds the files in c:\games
are renamed and a log file entry is placed in
CSTARTUP.LOG.
<4> If '=' is hit within 5 seconds CSTARTUP will leave
the files in c:\games alone.
<5> CSTARTUP continues to run normally.
To restore the original file names do the following:
<1> run "CSTARTUP /Tc:\games /B"
<2> CSTARTUP will restore the file names.
If CSTARTUP is run from AUTOEXEC.BAT and this mode is used
along with the /W parm, someone who starts your PC and
does not hit the hotkey will cause CSTARTUP to quickly
rename the files in the /T directory (and in it's
subdirectories) to innocent names, thus "hiding" the
files. If the files have already been renamed and an
incorrect hotkey is hit, the files will remain "hidden".
When you boot the PC, strike the hotkey after CSTARTUP
begins to make sure the files in the /T directory will be
"unhidden".
CSTARTUP will not rename files that have already been
renamed. However; if you have a problem, the file
TCD95006.BIN will have a list of the translations. This
is the file CSTARTUP uses itself to keep track of the file
names. DO NOT DELETE THIS FILE! If this file is deleted,
and the files have been renamed, you will not be able to
set the filenames back to their real names!
CSTARTUP will not allow you to specify a directory that
has a length less than 4 characters, thus "/Tc:\" will be
invalid and CSTARTUP will ignore it. This was done as a
safety measure--I didn't want to translate my root
directory. Whatever you do, don't try to use /T on your
DOS or CSTARTUP directory! If you do, to undo your error,
get a bootable floppy boot disk, boot your computer, and
run a copy of CSTARTUP from a disk using /T with the name
of the directory you destroyed, and the /B parm (eg
"CSTARTUP /tc:\dos /b").
CSTARTUP will remember the last directory you specified on
the /T parm. Once you specify a directory, simply using
/T without a directory name after it will work as if you
specified the name of the directory a second time.
/W WATCH DOG MODE. If this mode is used, someone who starts
your PC and does not hit the hotkey (see /K parm) will
cause CSTARTUP to create a hidden file called
CSTARTUP.LOG. This log file will contain the dates and
times that CSTARTUP was run and the hotkey was not
pressed. This way you can tell when someone booted your
PC if you display the file by entering the following
command at the DOS prompt: "type cstartup.log". Since
CSTARTUP.LOG will be a hidden file you will have to use
the DOS "ATTRIB" command if you want to delete it.
If the hot key is not hit within the delay time, the ONLY
commands that will be processed will be the commands on
the 'WAT' records. This allows you to run specific
commands whenever the watchdog key is not hit and this
parameter is specified. This event also forces CSTARTUP
to override some parameters. CSTARTUP will run as if you
specified the /Q and /F parameters. If you specifed the
/S parameter, it will be ignored (ie sounds will be off).
Since you will never actually see the WAT commands
executing as CSTARTUP will write all info to the NUL
device (ie /Q parm) it may be hard to test this. To test
the 'WAT' commands simply run CSTARTUP with the /D command
(see /D parm).
You must be very careful concerning which commands you
place on the 'WAT' records! Do not place any commands
that require a user response from the keyboard--if you do,
and the 'WAT' records are run, when CSTARTUP runs a
command that requires a user response, the PC will appear
to lock up when, in reality, it is waiting for the user to
do something.
If the watchdog key is hit, the 'WAT' file record commands
will not be run.
This mode allows one more option. If you wish to change
the delay time just add a number from 1-60 after the /W to
specify the delay time, in seconds, that CSTARTUP will
wait for the hotkey to be pressed. For example, /W20 sets
the delay to 20 seconds. If an invalid value is entered,
the program will default to a delay of 5 seconds.
CSTARTUP remembers how the delay was last set, therefore
once you set it, the next time you use /W, the delay you
set earlier will be in effect.
/? HELP! As a reminder, if you use this parm as the -only-
parameter on the command line, a brief description of the
possible parameters that may be specified will be shown.
HAVING PROBLEMS?
──────────────────
If you are having problems getting CSTARTUP to run a specific
program or you want to check if your CSTARTUP.TXT file is set up
properly, run CSTARTUP in debug mode (eg CSTARTUP /d). See the
description for the /D parm (above). The vast majority of problems
are due to command lines in CSTARTUP.TXT that are incorrectly set
up. Be sure to look closely at the sample CSTARTUP.TXT that I've
included. It includes examples of each of the possible commands
that are possible in CSTARTUP.TXT.
I've had reports from a couple of people who have had problems
running some programs with CSTARTUP. This is a rare circumstance
that I have been unable to reproduce. If you do have problems, you
can try creating a .BAT file that calls the program you wish to run
and then specifying the .BAT file in the CSTARTUP.TXT file. This
may solve the problem.
WARRANTY
──────────
THIS SOFTWARE IS SUPPLIED "AS-IS" WITH NO WARRANTY WHATSOEVER.
IT IS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PURCHASER TO DETERMINE THE
SUITABILITY AND FITNESS OF THIS PRODUCT FOR ANY PURPOSE. NEITHER
THE AUTHOR, NOR ANY DEALER OR DISTRIBUTOR MAKES ANY WARRANTY,
EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, CONCERNING THIS SOFTWARE'S QUALITY,
PERFORMANCE, OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
THE AUTHOR IS NOT LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES
INCLUDING DAMAGE TO EQUIPMENT, INTERRUPTION OF SERVICE, LOSS OF
BUSINESS RESULTING FROM ANY DEFECT OR OMISSION IN THIS SOFTWARE,
MANUAL OR MEDIA.
DISTRIBUTION
──────────────
CSTARTUP is Freeware! You are granted permission to distribute this
program to your friends provided you make absolutely no alterations
to CSTARTUP.EXE, CSTARTUP.DOC, or CSTARTUP.TXT. If you do decide to
distribute it you must include the files CSTARTUP.EXE, CSTARTUP.DOC
and CSTARTUP.TXT. It is my hope that you find it as useful as I
have.
HISTORY
─────────
CSTARTUP was originally written in Borland's TURBO PASCAL v6.0. It
was later re-written in Borland C++ v3.1 which resulted in a larger
EXE but a faster program.
This documentation and the program source itself was written using
BOXER 7.0. I highly recommend the BOXER editor to anyone wanting a
very powerful yet inexpensive text editor. BOXER can be found on
CompuServe and on many BBS's.
07-05-95 05:24:41 pm Tom Duensing. [70400,233] Bartlett, Illinois.
Revision History:
-----------------
Version 1.0 03/11/91 -Initial release.
Version 2.0 08/19/91 -Added "REM" comment option.
Version 3.0 04/01/92 -Neatened Abend processing,
-Reset color modes on exit,
-Allow program to run with missing CSTARTUP.TXT
file.
Version 4.0 02/15/94 -Rewrote in Turbo C++,
-Added command line parameters.
Version 4.1 02/17/94 -Added "bypass" option when using /d parameter.
Version 5.0 03/05/94 -Added "/W" and "/T" options.
Version 6.0 09/29/94 -CSTARTUP will now run commands that were skipped
due to a user not using the PC over a period of days.
("ONC" and "ALL" commands will be not run).
-CSTARTUP will now allow a specific date to be set
on which to run programs.
-Removed CSTARTUP.MON file.
-Added /K and /B parms.
-Fixed mode reset problem when returning to DOS on
exit.
Version 6.1 10/03/94 -Under one rare condition, the SUN through SAT records
in CSTARTUP.TYP were not built properly. Fixed.
-Now always handles leap years properly.
-If no CSTARTUP.TYP file is found, any parms that are
not specified on the command line will be reset to
their default values. Applies to "/K", "/T" and
"/W" only.
Version 6.2 12/05/94 -Added "/R" parameter.
-Changed format of "/D" output by moving julian date
to the front of the debug line.
Version 7.0 04/24/95 -Added "/A" parameter.
-Changed /T file renaming to always start at last
year.
-Dates will increment from 1-7 days for each
filename.
-Changed name translation file name to TCD95006.BIN.
-Changed /W so that if hotkey is not hit, CSTARTUP.TYP
file will not be processed.
-Added 'WAT' record type. If watchdog key is
not hit 'WAT' records, if any, will be
processed instead of the other commands in
CSTARTUP.TXT/CSTARTUP.TYP.
Version 7.1 06/26/95 -Fixed bug that was causing WAT records to run at
wrong time.
-Changed error delay from 3 to 5 secs.
Version 8.0 07/05/95 -All files, in all of the subdirectories beneath
the directory specified on the '/t' parm, will now
be renamed.
-Contents of CSTARTUP.TYP file and TCD95006.BIN files
are now encripted and are unreadable.