TouchPortal - Launching troublesome applications

Datatalk / Touch Portal.

Sometimes you want to launch another application from within TouchPortal, and it simply won't work, or behave oddly. I had a lot of troubles launching good old PhotoImpact X3 from TouchPortal, but thank heavens someone in the TouchPortal Discord suggested to use compatibility mode... Pfew!

Here are some things to try...

1. Direct launch

On Pressed:

1. Start Application C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe

2. Direct launch of more than one application

Example:

• TouchPortal

Open TouchPortal and bring it immediately to front using CMDOW can be done without an external batch file.

On Pressed:

1. Start Application C:\Program Files (x86)\Touch Portal\TouchPortal.exe
2. Start Application C:\software\utils\cmdow.exe with arguments "Touch Portal*" /ena /vis /act

More:

• another example here

3. Indirect launch via a batch file

Example:

• OBS

Using external tools you can make sure that OBS only launches once, etc.

The batch file would contain something like:

1. waitwindow obs* nowait start "C:\Program Files\obs-studio\bin\64bit\obs64.exe"
2. waitwindow obs* 5
3. cmdow "obs 27*" /vis /ena /res /act
4. exit 

On Pressed:

1. Run batch file (Run script & Open) C:\batch\obs.bat

More:

• another example here
• WaitWindow
• Avoid starting OBS Twice

4. Run a Shortcut (Open Link)

On Pressed:

1. Open Link C:\Users\<username>\Desktop\Graphics\PhotoImpact X3.lnk

5. Run a Shortcut (Open Link) to older software

Example:

• PhotoImpact X3

PhotoImpact X3 launches fine from the regular link and a batch file, but it would NOT start from within TouchPortal. It works fine when using a shortcut with compatibility mode set.

Set compatibility mode:

1. Hit Right Mouse Button on the shortcut you just created and set the proper compatibility mode (that's XP service pack 3 for PhotoImpact X3).

On Pressed:

1. Open Link C:\Users\<username>\Desktop\Graphics\PhotoImpact X3.lnk

6. Run a Metro app

Example:

• Netflix
• Ambie

First you need to find that app and create a shortcut:

1. Create a shortcut on the desktop to explorer shell:AppsFolder
2. Find the application you're looking for (and which doesn't have a regular path or .LNK file)
3. Create shortcut (it will be created on the desktop)
4. Drag it to whatever folder you like

On Pressed:

1. Open Link C:\Users\<username>\Desktop\Video\Netflix.lnk

More:

• Windows 10 Shortcuts