HOW TO: Start DesktopMgr Automatically upon USB

I�ve always been annoyed that Desktop Manager doesn�t have a feature to automatically start when a Blackberry is plugged into the computer via USB. :mad: I don�t like having it start automatically every time windows starts, because it slows down my boot times and takes up resources, even when idling as a background process. Desktop Manager should have a feature that starts the program and syncs automatically, upon USB connection of a Blackberry Device. Alas, there is no such feature, so I decided to find a way to do this myself.

I did some research and there appears to be a solution to this which involves an edit to the registry. However, editing the registry can be tricky and not all of us have that option (for instance, I�m on a corporate laptop). I decided to utilize the AutoRun feature built into Windows, and all you need to other than a little computer know-how is a microSD card installed. Make sure that mass memory is enabled, so Windows will recognize the microSD card as a drive.

First, connect your Blackberry with installed microSD card and explore the directory of the flash drive using Windows Explorer. Make sure there is not a file called autorun.inf. If there is already such a file, you�re going to either have to edit it, or replace/delete it (up to your discretion, but deleting it should be OK). Create a new text file in the root directory of the microSD card, using notepad (.txt), and name it exactly �autorun.inf�. Inside this file (it can still be edited by notepad), type exactly:

[autorun]

MusicFiles=false
PictureFiles=false
VideoFiles=false
label=Blackberry

open=desktopmgr.bat
shell\open\command=desktopmgr.bat
useautoplay=1

Now create another text document (.txt) and save this as exactly �desktopmgr.bat�. Inside this file, type exactly:

DesktopMgr.lnk

Now find DesktopMgr.exe on your computer. It should be located somewhere like �C:\Program Files\Research In Motion\DesktopMgr.exe . Create a shortcut to this executable, rename it exactly �DesktopMgr�. It will automatically have the extension �.lnk�. Move this shortcut to the root directory of your microSD card.

So now, in the root directory of your microSD card, you should have three files: autorun.inf, desktopmgr.bat, and DesktopMgr(.lnk). Now, whenever you connect your Blackberry, Windows will read the autorun.inf file, which will prompt it to autoexecute the file desktopmgr.bat. This .bat file will use the command prompt feature (a black box which you may see flash on the screen), which will execute the shortcut, which will open Desktop Manager.

Some of you might think that I did this in a round-about way, but I honestly cannot figure out any other way to use the AutoRun feature to execute a file outside the root directory, without using a .bat command linked to a shortcut. I do not claim to be an expert at this stuff, so if you see anything of concern with the above, please speak up! I'm sure that there may be an easier way, but as of now, no one has really spoken up on how to do this!

Any suggestions, short-cuts, or questions?


[Disclaimer: This post contains programming examples. All sample code and procedures listed above are for illustrative purposes only. This has not been thoroughly tested under all conditions, and I cannot guarantee function nor am I liable for what you may do with the provided sample code and procedures.] :cool: