Start (command)

Last updated
start
Developer(s) IBM, Microsoft, ReactOS Contributors
Operating system OS/2, Microsoft Windows, ReactOS
Type Command

In computing, start is a command of the IBM OS/2, [1] Microsoft Windows [2] and ReactOS [3] command-line interpreter cmd.exe [4] (and some versions of COMMAND.COM) to start programs or batch files or to open files or directories using the default program. start is not available as a standalone program. The underlying Win32 API is ShellExecute.

Contents

The command is also one of the basic commands implemented in the Keyboard Monitor (KMON) of the DEC RT-11 operating system. [5] The TOPS-10 [6] and TOPS-20 [7] operating systems also provide a start command. It is used to start a program in memory at a specified address.

Other environments

Description of the START command of RT-11SJ displayed on a VT100. RT-11 help.jpg
Description of the START command of RT-11SJ displayed on a VT100.

Syntax

Windows, ReactOS

start ["title"] [/D path] [/I][/B][/MIN][/MAX][/WAIT] [command/program] [parameters]

"title" Title of the window.

Path Specifies the startup directory.

I Use the original environment given to cmd.exe, instead of the current environment.

B Starts the command or program without creating any window.

MIN Starts with a minimized window.

MAX Starts with a maximized window.

WAIT Starts the command or program and waits for its termination.

command Specifies the parameters to be given to the command or program.

Examples

Windows, ReactOS

C:\>start notepad file.txt 
C:\>start"C:\My Music\My Song.mp3"
C:\>start www.wikipedia.org 

See also

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References

  1. "JaTomes Help - OS/2 Commands". Archived from the original on 2019-04-14. Retrieved 2019-07-06.
  2. "MS-DOS and Windows command line start command".
  3. "Reactos/Reactos". GitHub . 3 January 2022.
  4. "Start". Microsoft Learn. 2021-11-12. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
  5. "Rt-11 Help File". Archived from the original on 2018-07-17. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
  6. TOPS-10 Operating System Commands Manual (PDF). Digital Equipment Corporation. August 1980. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-08-09. Retrieved 2019-02-17.
  7. "TOPS-20 Command manual" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-08-09. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  8. "XDG-utils".
  9. "cygstart man page on Cygwin". www.polarhome.com.
  10. "Start - Start a program - Windows CMD - SS64.com". ss64.com.
  11. "Shell Commands/Open - MorphOS Library". library.morph.zone. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  12. Stratus Technologies Bermuda, Ltd (2017). "OpenVOS Commands Reference Manual" (PDF).

Further reading