CODEWITHSUNDEEP
windowsbatch-file
Luke Turner
Luke Turner

Reputation: 334

Batch File to execute all .exe in a folder

I need to create a batch script that will run all .exe files in a folder. This must include subfolders.

I am running windows 7, and the batch file is stored in the root folder

I have tried several variations with no success. The two main variations are as follows

REM dir *.exe /S /B > tmpFile
REM set /p listVar= < tmpFile
REM del tmpFile

FOR %%F IN (%listVar%) DO %%F

=======================================

FOR /F "usebackq" %%F IN ('dir *.exe /S /B') DO %%F

I have looked through several variations on the above methods but none work. The top version (which I would like to avoid) only reads in one line from the file. The Bottom version outputs an unmodified "dir" command in the prompt window.

Ultimately I would like help identifying how to solve this issue without the need for a temp file.

Upvotes: 5

Views: 23921

Answers (3)

Nick
Nick

Reputation: 15

There is an important caveat to MC NDs solution. First if you run that script as an administrator, the home directory defaults to C:\Windows\System32 even if the script is located elsewhere. Attempting to run every script from that location will have a detrimental effect on your system and potentially cause you to need to reinstall windows (ask me how I know... and thank god for test VMs and checkpoints) You should prefix that code with

cd /D "%~dp0"

This changes the working directory to wherever the file is located.

So the script would be:

cd /D "%~dp0"
for /r "." %%a in (*.exe) do start "" "%%~fa"

I'd even go so far as to recommend taking the directory as an argument.

Upvotes: 0

just-a-hriday
just-a-hriday

Reputation: 149

for %1 in (%USERPROFILE%\*.exe) do "%1"

This will start all executables in your user folder. Of course, that includes installers and stuff like that, and you probably don't want to reinstall all your apps, so replace %USERPROFILE% with the directory you want.

Upvotes: 0

MC ND
MC ND

Reputation: 70923

for /r "." %%a in (*.exe) do start "" "%%~fa"

This will start all the executable files under the current folder and subfolders. Change the reference to the current folder (".") to your needs.

Upvotes: 8

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