WindowsDevCenter.com: Automating Desktop Tasks in XP

WindowsDevCenter.com: Automating Desktop Tasks in XP: "

Automating Desktop Tasks in XP
by Mitch Tulloch, author of Windows Server Hacks
04/12/2005

Back in days of yore, when Windows 3.1 ruled the land, one utility I found incredibly useful was Macro Recorder (recorder.exe). This simple tool let you record a series of mouse clicks and keystrokes and play them back, and it provided a simple method for performing repetitive tasks. I found I could be a lot more productive in certain aspects of my work when I used Recorder, and when Windows 95 came out I was dismayed to find that Recorder was no more.

Fortunately, over the years a number of third-party replacements for Recorder have emerged; most of these are powerful tools that can do much more than the original Recorder utility. Using these tools, you can create whole collections of macros, nest macros from within other macros, assign hot key combinations for triggering them, limit their operation to specific programs, schedule times when these macros will automatically run, specify that they run when certain conditions are fulfilled, launch batch files and scripts from macros, allow user input during a macro's operation, and much more."