.bat file behaves wrong from command line

Question

I have a .bat file that simply opens up two different browsers and points them to unique links. After it opens up the first browser, it waits a few seconds, then opens up the second browser. What I expect to happen is that the second browser's window will automatically be focused and active. This behavior only happens when I click on the .bat icon in windows.

When I run the .bat file from the command line, the second browser window opens, but in the background. This only happens when the first browser is IE - for some reason it doesn't want to relinquish window focus.

I have tried using flags like /max to make sure the browser is focused but that doesn't help in bringing the window to focus.

Does anybody have any ideas?

Here is the .bat file:

@echo off
:: start IE
start iexplore  http://localhost:9080/tests/test_getLink.html
:: Wait ~3 seconds 
@ping 127.0.0.1 -n 4
:: start FF
start firefox -new-window http://localhost:9080/tests/containerTwoWayForm.html?robot=active

(the IE page polls the server for a link and is in a "waiting" state when firefox opens. I Thought this might contribute to the behavior but I don't understand why it runs differently from command line vs just clicking.)

I have made sure that only IE as the first browser causes this behavior. Also, it doesn't matter what browser the second on is (chrome, ie, ff.)

I have also tried creating a second batch file to start the second browser and calling it from the first .bat, but that didn't help.

Thanks for any tips

Answer 1

Maybe it's because of the explorer version? Have you tried reinstalling it? The script works for me also on Win XP SP3, IE7.