Way to make a folder behave as a device?

Carsinian Thau · 01-07-2008 11:59pm #1

Running under Windows XP.

Is there any way to make a folder behave as though it is a device that has just been plugged into the computer?
Some of the more useful functions with respect to devices are found as soon as you plug them in and I'd like to get the same service for a couple of folders have.

Capt'n Midnight · 02-07-2008 12:08am

I think you are getting mixed up with linux where every device is a folder

no idea if this will work but ..
try some sort of autorun.inf in the folders
and then use the subst at the command prompt to convert it to a DRIVE letter

subst X: C:\Stuff

Carsinian Thau · 02-07-2008 12:15am

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

I think you are getting mixed up with linux where every device is a folder

no idea if this will work but ..
try some sort of autorun.inf in the folders
and then use the subst at the command prompt to convert it to a DRIVE letter

subst X: C:\Stuff

Right, I'm a little bit stupider than you assume. Would you mind phrasing that it a way that an idiot might understand? Sorry about this...

Carsinian Thau · 02-07-2008 12:28am

Right, after a little experimenting I've managed to make the folder in question be regarded as a drive. But now I'm not sure how to autorun it. That part is missing from the right-click menu and the properties still think of it as a folder.

Capt'n Midnight · 02-07-2008 1:08am

Like I said no idea if it would work
copy files from a cd into it , most have an ICO file and an autorun file and you may seee the icon to change

there are also other utils out there that fake a cd again not sure if they are of use

Carsinian Thau · 02-07-2008 1:22am

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Like I said no idea if it would work
copy files from a cd into it , most have an ICO file and an autorun file and you may seee the icon to change

there are also other utils out there that fake a cd again not sure if they are of use

I've managed to find an autorun.inf file and I've copied that into the folder in question. I've used to subst command to this effect: subst X: E:\Folder
but it doesn't seem to want to use the autorun.inf file. Unless I've managed to code the inf file incorrectly. I've been using a lot of sites for it and the consistency hasn't been great.

I assume that it doesn't matter that the folder is located on an external hard drive. Because that can get autoplay but not the way I want (the variety of stuff on there is just too big).

Overheal · 02-07-2008 2:58am

I havent a clue on this one, but here, what are the devices going to be used for?

blackgold>> · 02-07-2008 8:30am

Luckily for you I worked on a few applications a few years back that something along the lines of what your asking.

Do you want a program to open files on your folder or just explorer?
Do you want a certain folder name to open?
Do you want a certain file type ?
What type of user accounts will use this administrator?
Will other users be using this or just yourself?

Overheal · 02-07-2008 8:43am

blackgold>> wrote: »

Luckily for you I worked on a few applications a few years back that something along the lines of what your asking.

Do you want a program to open files on your folder or just explorer?
Do you want a certain folder name to open?
Do you want a certain file type ?
What type of user accounts will use this administrator?
Will other users be using this or just yourself?

actually while i have your ear, so: is it possible to set up a folder as a device windows media player can recognize? For example, so I can Sync a list of music files into it? Not to hijack the thread but i figured id ask.

blackgold>> · 02-07-2008 9:09am

Aren't you the smart ass asking who I was yesterday?
When i get back the info from Carsinian Thau and answer his question then you should be able to what you asked.

Carsinian Thau · 02-07-2008 2:34pm

blackgold>> wrote: »

Luckily for you I worked on a few applications a few years back that something along the lines of what your asking.

1. Do you want a program to open files on your folder or just explorer?
2. Do you want a certain folder name to open?
3. Do you want a certain file type ?
4. What type of user accounts will use this administrator?
5. Will other users be using this or just yourself?

Answers:
1. I want a specific program to be opened. Preferably avoiding explorer.
2. Yes, there is a specific folder that needes to be opened. It's the only one in the main folder that I want to treat like a device.
3. No, the file type varies depending on which fodler I'm using.
4. It'll be an administrator acount.
5. It'll just be me.

I think what I'm trying to do in its most basic form is to run autoplay on a specific folder. As the folder is on my external hard drive I'm trying to get it to treat the folder as a device upon a device. Thus far I've been using the subst cmd to get this to happen but it's still being treated as a folder.

This is probably absolutely non-sensical but would it be possible to create a root directory for the folder in the folder so that it looks like a device?

Thanks for the help, it's greatly appreciated.

butts · 02-07-2008 10:09pm

Only had a quick look at the thread, but there are programs for XP which allow you to mount a folder so that it looks like a CD-ROM. This was useful for some applications which required that the CD be inserted whenever the app was run. You could certainly have the folder mounted at startup, but I don't know if an autorun file would then run (like when a CD is been inserted). Sorry if the above isn't relevant.

Carsinian Thau · 03-07-2008 12:31am

I managed to find a program on a website called programmershaven (or something to that effect) called FAKECD. I took it but it doesn't appear to work properly for me. The program screen just flashes up and then goes away immediately. It's designed for MS-DOS and I have no idea how old it is but I think it's a little dated as it said in the readme that it can't handle any sort of audio.

I think CD faking is possibly the best way to go (unless blackgold>> has any suggestions otherwise) but then there's the problem of making the computer think the CD has only just been inserted.
However, I don't quite feel ready to give up so I'm going to keep trying.

Way to make a folder behave as a device?

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