Why Autorun ?
The Webmaster
Why Autorun? Glad you asked!
It've very clear now, that as time progresses there is going to be an integration between the online and offline world.
Ok, you say, Scott that's already happening. Yes, but I mean at a much deeper and effective level. The Dot Com craze of the 90's and its inevitable crash has caused many to write off the effectiveness of the internet as a vehicle to expand and increase the profitability of a brick and mortar business.
Let's backup a second and take a look at the past 10 years or so. The internet was discovered or created by Al Gore :) People, businesses went crazy and invested millions so as not to be left out. They all went bust.
Next, the only online presence was typically by large corporations. Their sites were static, meaning no information was transferred between visitor and website. The purpose of the website was mainly just to provide a presence, and to create name branding.
At the same time the above was happening. A strange bunch of pioneers started to develop the concept of internet marketing. They sold products in awkard ways and eventually evolved into the electronic dissemination of info type products. Parallelling this development some businesses that dealt with hard products begin to figure out how to present, sell, collect $, and distribute their product thru the internet. These typically have been large corporations.
One large segment of the business community has been largely left unaffected by any type of internet marketing. If they have any type of internet presence it would consist mostly of a static type of web page. These businesses are typically small to medium size Mom and Pop businesses. The purpose of their website is merely to say "they have a website". The site might share information about the company but generally no information is transferred between visitor and website. There is no monetization of the website---no one makes any money!
This market is huge and untapped. He who converts these businesses could literally hold an entire community in his hand. The question is, "How does one go about creating a desire for local business owners to get involved in a communal type interactive, lead generating website?"
| What if there were a way to show Mom & Dad how their business can actually make more money by having a website? |
Autorun CD - How To Autorun HTML and Most Other Files
Create an Autorun CD in 5 Simple Steps
If you distribute products on CD, it always looks impressive if the CD will autorun when inserted into the drive. In this article we will cover one of the many ways to autorun html, exe and most other file types. (.pdf .mov .qtif .mpeg and others)
To create an autorun CD we will use a program which enables the CD to autostart from the CD ROM drive.
There are many of these types of free programs available for download on the Internet. The one we will be working with here is called AutorunPro. AutorunPro is a Freeware program which you can use with your CD projects.
If you do not yet have a copy, you can go to the developers download page here: http://www.avdf.com/oct98/art_ot005.html. The AutorunPro download link is right at the bottom of the article under the sub-heading Updated Utility.
AutorunPro has the capacity to autorun multiple files at once and can also autorun applications already installed on the users computer like the system clock or Internet Explorer with your website displayed. This magic freeware application was created by Mark Trescowthick with Ross Mack at GUI Computing: http://www.avdf.com
Step One
Unzip AutorunPro.zip to a folder. Keep this folder which contains the files autorun.inf and AutorunPro.exe as your original.. You might like to name this folder something like autorun tools. (optional)
Step Two
Copy autorun.inf and AutorunPro.exe into the folder which contains the file you want to autostart. This will be the root directory of the CD.
Step Three
Open autorun.inf with Notepad. Just double-click it and Notepad should open it. Edit the file so that it looks like the example below:
[Autorun]
open=AutoRunPro.exe /s
[AutorunPro]
Run1=yourfile.exe
Replace yourfile.exe with the actual name of your file and save it.
Step Four
Test to see if the project works correctly by double clicking on AutorunPro.exe. This will start yourfile.
Step Five
Now open your burning software and drag autorun.inf, AutorunPro.exe and yourfile into the root directory of the CD (your CD\your 3 files) and burn it onto a blank CD.
Congratulations! You have just created an autorun CD.
How To Autorun HTML
It is a good idea to name the HTML file you want autostarted to index.html or index.htm. The procedure to autorun html files is the same procedure used to autorun exe files except step three is different. All you have to do is modify the .inf file as follows.
Edit or create an inf file with notepad and insert the following code:
[Autorun]
open=AutoRunPro.exe /s
[AutorunPro]
Run1=index.html
How to Add an Icon
If you want your CD to have it's own icon displayed in the My Computer window as the CD drive, add an extra line of code so that the autorun inf file looks like the example below:
[Autorun]
open=AutoRunPro.exe /s
icon=youricon.ico
[AutorunPro]
Run1=index.html
Replace youricon.ico with the actual name of your icon. You can specify any path to the icon which is in your directory structure. For example, if your icon is in a folder called images and this folder is in the root directory, the code to use would be like the example below:
[Autorun]
open=AutoRunPro.exe /s
icon=images\youricon.ico
[AutorunPro]
Run1=index.html
Note: You do not need to add the icon= parameter when autorunning exe files because the application will already have an icon and it will be displayed.
Free Icon Editor
If you would like to create your own icons, you can get a freeware icon editor called IconEdit32 here: http://www.onlythebestfreeware.com/program.asp?program_id=135.
IconEdit32 is pretty straight forward to use, but if you need some help, there is an online tutorial here: http://www.northcode.com/swfstudio/tutorials/iconedit/
Free Autorun CD Menu
If you distribute software and ebooks offline on a CD, you might like to add a HTML menu to your project. The menu is a HTML page that can be edited with Notepad or any old HTML editor: http://www.ezau.com/latest/articles/0119.shtml.
By Ed Zivkovic
The author, Ed Zivkovic is the webmaster at Home Business Webmaster Tips. The site contains many useful tips for work at home webmasters.
Next we will look at a Marketing Strategy, using autorun cd's, that almost no one is doing!
I apologize, I've been working on putting these resouce pages together and transfering my site from one host to another. I gotta tell ya Kavi, from the Ultimate Marketing Center is the best. This package combines so many tools, scripts, books that is truely is a marketers dream. Full featured unlimited autoresponder, an affiliate center and on & on.....Check it out!
I've been developing the format for this page and my goal is to provide quality tools that I can give away along with the best of those that can be purchased. Not every internet marketer will have the desire to become a webmaster, however, at some point, depending on your seriousness, you'll see the need to make changes to you website, tweak things add autoreponders.......Hopefully, you'll be able to come here to learn about these tools and how to apply them.
This won't be limited to just beginners. Even if you're a seasoned webmaster---learning never stops.
I love this quote: The best way to avoid obstacles in life is Never try to do anything!
| One of the most important processes any computer owner needs to attend to is the "Backup Process". I put together a page with some options that I use, please check it out before it's too late!!! Click Here |
I have a collection of free tools for you, not a collection of rehashed junk. I use all these products almost on a daily basis. The best part is that all this stuff is FREE. Stop by Now and check it out. before I change my mine:) Don't ya just hate threats!
Please come back often, to see how things have progressed.
Many Thanks!!!
Scott Parat
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