How to execute a ready-made Windows Run command

Question

I need to start the default mail client using the command line received from windows registry. How to do it in C# ? Process.Start cannot execute the whole line, it needs to be split, but i dont known what it will be

I get a line to run for example here in registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Microsoft Outlook\shell\open\command

How to run this command line with c# ?

"C:\PROGRA~2\MICROS~1\Office16\OUTLOOK.EXE" /recycle

More complex example

%systemRoot%\system32\rundll32.exe "%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\hmmapi.dll",OpenInboxHandler

Take what is between `""` as the process and the rest as command-line arguments. — Reza Aghaei, Aug 21 '19 at 18:54

AlexanderT · Answer 1 · 2019-08-22T11:17:33.133

0

Did so

string[] lines = cmd.Split('"');
if (lines.Length > 1)
{
    ProcessStartInfo process = new ProcessStartInfo(lines[1].Trim());
    process.UseShellExecute = true;
    if (lines.Length > 2)
        process.Arguments = lines[2].Trim();
    Process.Start(process);
}

but don't eat it

%systemRoot%\system32\rundll32.exe "%ProgramFiles%\Internet Explorer\hmmapi.dll",OpenInboxHandler

edited Aug 22 '19 at 11:17

answered Aug 21 '19 at 19:16

AlexanderT

79
1
8

1

If the command line has quotes in the arguments, this will not work. It works for the Outlook command line you found, but you can't be certain that some other client that's been set as the default won't have a quote in the arguments. What Reza Aghaei suggested is a more robust way to do it. – madreflection Aug 21 '19 at 19:27
^Not to mention this will also grab what is in between the double quotes (`"`) , so `lines[2].Trim()` will most likely be `string.Empty` – Jaskier Aug 21 '19 at 19:29

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 22 '19 at 18:01

The issue is resolved! To execute an arbitrary shell command, you need to specify the /C parameter for cmd.exe

public static void ExecuteShellCommand(string command)
{
    var ProcessInfo = new ProcessStartInfo("cmd.exe", "/C " + command)
    {
        WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden,
        CreateNoWindow = true,
        UseShellExecute = true
    };
    Process.Start(ProcessInfo);
}

How to execute a ready-made Windows Run command

2 Answers2