Resume batch script after computer restart

Question

I have a bunch of old machines running Windows 2000 Pro and IE 5.0 which I want to upgrade to IE 6 with Silverlight. I downloaded the IE6 and Silverlight installers from Microsoft's web sites and fortunately they both have command line options to allow them to run in "silent mode".

I put the two commands in a DOS batch script and ran it, but the IE6 installer requires makes an automatic computer restart so the question is how to resume the script and run the 2nd command (install Silverlight).

My batch file is very simple right now:

ie6setup.exe /Q
silverlight.exe /q

From what I know, batch files can't resume execution after restarting the computer. Is there a way to make them do that? of is there another way to accomplish what I need.

Thank you

Answer 1

Based on Tim's post which, when tested, appended "two" to the batch file resulting in a failure to find the batch label "onetwo", so amended to read & write the "current" variable from a seperate text file, leaving the batch file untouched;

@echo off
call :Resume
goto %current%
goto :eof

:one
::Add script to Run key
reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run /v %~n0 /d %~dpnx0 /f
echo two >%~dp0current.txt
echo -- Section one --
pause
shutdown -r -t 0
goto :eof

:two
echo three >%~dp0current.txt
echo -- Section two --
pause
shutdown -r -t 0
goto :eof

:three
::Remove script from Run key
reg delete HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run /v %~n0 /f
del %~dp0current.txt
echo -- Section three --
pause
goto :eof

:resume
if exist %~dp0current.txt (
    set /p current=<%~dp0current.txt
) else (
    set current=one
)

Answer 2

You could put the second command in a exclusive batch file, and add an entry to regedit to execute this batch file automatically upon Windows' start, making silverlight be executed after the computer restarts.

Have you heard of msconfig? On some systems the regedit PATH you are looking for is:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

But you may want to check that. If you want to make a batch file to write that key on the registry, you probably should take a look at this tutorial.

Answer 3

If you do the IE6 installation with the command ie6setup.exe /q /r:n then it won't reboot automatically (see this page for details). Then theoretically you could install SilverLight immediately, and then reboot afterwards; but there is a chance that the SL install will refuse due to the need of a reboot, but it won't hurt to try it...

Answer 4

I know its a bit old but this works amazingly:

@echo off
call :Resume
goto %current%
goto :eof

:one
echo two >>myfile.cmd
::REBOOT HERE
goto :eof

:two
echo resumed here
goto :eof

:resume
rem THIS PART SHOULD BE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE FILE
set current=one

Answer 5

@echo off

set "_RunOnce=HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce"

rem./ :: if no argument was passed, this line will be ignored, but if so, it will be executed here == ^> & %~1

:1st_command
ie6Setup.exe /Q
shutdown -r -t 0 | reg add "%_RunOnce%" /v "%~n0" /d "\"%~f0\" \"goto :2nd_command\"" /f & goto :eof 

:2nd_command
SilverLight.exe /Q
timeout -1 | shutdown -r -t 0 | reg add "%_RunOnce%" /v "%~n0" /d "\"%~f0\" \"goto :3rd_command\"" /f & goto :eof 

:3rd_command
Skype-8.92.0.401.exe /VerySilent /NoRestart /SuppressMsgBoxes /DL=1 & goto :eof

---

It is possible to do it without creating or manipulating readings in additional files, just writing and reading in the key and using arguments passed in the execution to control the command necessary for the relevant execution, using goto command as an argument %1

---

@echo off

set "_RunOnce=HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce"

rem./ if no argument was passed, below will be ignored, but if so, it will be executed here == ^> & %~1

:1st_command
mode con cols=50 lines=1 | title starting %~1
start "google" /wait "c:\program files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" "stackoverflow.com" /new-tab
timeout -1 | shutdown -r -t 0 | reg add "%_RunOnce%" /v "%~n0" /d "\"%~f0\" \"goto :2nd_command\"" /f & goto :eof 

:2nd_command
mode con cols=50 lines=1 | title starting %~1
start "google" /wait "c:\program files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" "meta.stackexchange.com" /new-tab
timeout -1 | shutdown -r -t 0 | reg add "%_RunOnce%" /v "%~n0" /d "\"%~f0\" \"goto :3rd_command\"" /f & goto :eof 

:3rd_command
mode con cols=50 lines=1 | title %~1
start "google" /wait "c:\program files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" "www.amazon.com" /new-tab
goto :eof