To run Microsoft Windows programs or file, use the START command. The example below would run Windows Notepad.

START /MAX NOTEPAD

You can also specify the direct location of the file by typing the following command.

START /MAX C:\Windows\NOTEPAD.EXE

The /max starts the window maximized.

Windows users with a different directory (e.g., Windows 2000 users) would need to substitute WINNT or the name of their directory in place of Windows in the above example.

To start a Windows file, use the start command followed by the name of the file. In the example below, we have a start command that’s starting the chdown.txt file in the default text editor and then sounding an alarm MP4 audio file.

start chdown.txt && alarm.mp4

Also, in this example, we are also using “&&” to tell Windows to start more than one file.

As long as Windows knows how to open a file, you can use the start command with any file. For example, you could use the start command to open a movie file, video file, Word document, Excel file, and any other file.

  • How to make a batch file.
  • See the start command for further information.
  • Batch file help.