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-
- The following review appeared in the January 9, 1995 issue of Infoworld
- Magazine on page 34.
-
-
- INFOWORLD's WINDOW MANAGER - by BRIAN LIVINGSTON
-
- Now, run any command when Windows exits...
-
- As always, my best ideas come from you, the readers. The latest evidence of
- this is a suggestion from reader Brian Wells, which I reported in my Oct. 10,
- 1994, column, that Windows should have a ShutDown group in Program Manager, as
- well as a StartUp group. Now, an enterprising developer has fulfilled Wells'
- idea and my request for just such a utility.
-
- The StartUp group, as you know, automatically loads or runs any icons found in
- that group window every time Windows is launched. Each icon may contain any
- command line, including DOS programs, Windows programs, Windows batch language
- commands (such as WinBatch, a shareware program found in Windows 3.1 Secrets),
- and so on.
-
- Now, a new utility called WrapUp gives you the same ability when Windows heads
- for the door.
-
- The program's author, Gary Tessler of Tessler's Nifty Tools (TNT), suggests
- many handy ways you can put this tool to work for you:
-
- * You can start a program to back up your hard disk
- automatically,at a time when it can't interfere with any other
- running applications.
- * You can log out of your network.
- * You can synchronize your desktop PC's hard disk with your
- laptop or vice versa.
- * You can run a stock-quote system and check on your favorite
- stock prices.
- * You can send E-mail messages to one person or several
- people.
- * You can use a communications program to auto-dial your
- significant other, saying that you're leaving the office and
- will be home soon.
-
- Naturally, you could run any of these programs manually whenever
- you feel like it. But many people who use Windows like to automate
- little things like these whenever they can. And that's where
- WrapUp comes in. Whether it's one big task or a lot of little
- tasks you wish to run at the end of every day, WrapUp makes it as
- easy to automate as dragging an icon into a Program Manager group.
-
- Using WrapUp involves only a few simple steps:
- 1. After installing WrapUp, drag the file wrapup.exe into the
- StartUp group of Program Manager to create an icon. (WrapUp
- also works with other popular Windows shells, such as Norton
- Desktop.)
-
- 2. Create a group window called ShutDown. If you want a name
- other than ShutDown, you may do so by adding that group name
- as a parameter to wrapup.exe. For example, you might use the
- command line: wrapup.exe /G"My WrapUp Group."
-
- 3. Create an icon or icons in the ShutDown group for each task
- you wish to run automatically, just as you would with the
- StartUp group.
-
- Once you restart Windows, do whatever you do, and then exit
- Windows, you'll see WrapUp leap into action. After the normal "Are
- you sure you want to exit Windows?" messages, WrapUp asks if you
- want to execute the programs in your ShutDown group. You can
- answer Yes to do this, No to exit Windows without executing any
- more programs, or Cancel to abort the exiting process. You have an
- option to prevent this dialog box from appearing by using an /N
- switch for No Dialog Box, as in wrapup.exe /N.
-
- If you answer Yes (or run WrapUp in /N mode), all programs in your
- ShutDown group are launched. When they are finished and you wish to
- exit Windows normally, WrapUp allows the exit to proceed as usual.
-
- WrapUp is $29 plus $5 shipping from TNT.
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