Create autorun CD (in a temporary folder)
Creating an autorun CD with CD Front End is very simple.
In this tutorial we will create a CD step by step.
a) install the program (!)
b) create a temporary folder, say c:\MyTemp
c) run the program and create a presentation document. If you just have to launch a single file, this might be a simple cover page with two images or two links such as:
- click here to start the Wonderful file created with ACME
- click here to install the ACME Viewer (if you don't have it yet)
Within the editor it is very simple to place links to an exe file (or to any other file): select a text block or a picture, and use "Insert >Link to external file", "Add" button, "run:afoldername\afilename.exe".
In the picture below we added a link to "mydocument.pdf", a PDF file that we want to show, and to "ar405eng.exe" (assuming this is the name of the self installing Adobe Acrobat Reader, the Viewer for the PDF files)
this means that you will make sure the CD will contain, in the folder "data" the files "ar405eng.exe" and "mydocument.pdf".
d) should you want the full screen without any top menu, check the relevant check box in "Hypertext >Current Hypertext Properties" ("Reader screen" tab);
e) Use "File >Create autorun CD in temporary folder...". You will be prompted for a temporary folder that will contain the copy of the CD. Choose the c:\MyTemp you created in step b).
This folder will look like this:
f) Open EasyCD (or Nero, or WinOnCD) and burn the temporary folder into the root of a CD. In the simplest case, the root of the CD will contain the files:
autorun.ico
autorun.inf
brochure.aeh
CDFE_e.exe
readme.txt
In our sample, the CD will contain also the directory "data", with the files:
ar405eng.exe
mydocument.pdf
g) Close all programs, insert the CD in the drive, and enjoy!!
That’s all. It’s really a snap!!!
Additionally, if you want you may distribute the AEH file. It can be read with the free
EBooksReader (TM). It is analogous to PDF and Acrobat Reader (TM).
IMPORTANT: Please notice that the
run: links won’t work within the editor and/or in test mode - you should actually burn a CD (maybe a CDRW) and you should place the external files correctly, e.g. if you use
run:nicfolder\file.abc, then the file
file.abc should actually be present within the folder
nicfolder of the CD (this means that with Nero, EasyCD, WinOnCD or whatever, you should burn on the CD both the CDFrontEnd files and the external files to which you are linking).
Other easy tools from Visual Vision:
CD FrontEnd software makes it easy to write, protect and distribute any kind of info on a protected autorun CDROM! Professional brochures, cd business cards, catalogs, manuals, depliant, ebrochure, emanual, ecatalog, products items parts catalogues. You can run any kind of external file, too... PDF, PowerPoint, Word, Autocad... It is ok for content rich business brochures, art show catalogs, collections, guides, tourism and travel books, also with audio, video, animations, flash, mpeg wmv avi mp3 and much more... The perfect visual auto run / autoplay / autostart / autoinstall CD ROM presentation software! Free lite edition available.
