1) Create the directory on your PC from which Application Runner will run (e.g. C:\APPRUNNR)
2) Download the self-extracting archive file APRNRZIP.EXE (see below) into that directory
3) Exit to DOS and change to the directory where you just stored APRNRZIP.EXE
4) Uncompress APRNRZIP.EXE into its component files by entering
...........APRNRZIP.EXE
....from the DOS command line.
5) Run the extracted file SETUP.BAT by entering
...........SETUP.BAT
....from the DOS command line.
This causes the sub-directories BITMAPS and DATA to be created with required files placed into each. Performance of this step is CRITICAL to the proper installation of Application Runner.
6) Run Application Runner by double-clicking on
APPRUNNR.EXE
using File Manager (if using Windows 3.x) or Windows Explorer (if using
Windows 95/98). The first time Application Runner is
executed it will create a Program Manager Group Data File
(if using Windows 3.x) or a Start Group Data File (if using
Windows 95/98). If Application Runner should fail to execute or
the Start Group Data File (Windows 95/98) creation produces an
error message, see TROUBLESHOOTING below.
7) Delete APRNRZIP.EXE and SETUP.BAT after successfully installing and executing Application Runner.
8) You will most likely want to have Application Runner run automatically when you start Windows and may also wish to add it to a new or existing Program Manager/Start Group. See the Application Runner help file topic "Making Application Runner Start Automatically" under "Helpful Tips" for more information. Though this topic covers the automatic running of Application Runner by adding it to a Startup group, the same steps apply to adding it to another existing group such as "Main" or "Accessories". If you wish to create a new group for Application Runner or want to add a shortcut for it onto your desktop (for Windows 95/98), consult your Windows manual or help file.
9) Application Runner includes a comprehensive HELP system that clearly explains everything you need to know about using the software. Please read through it the first time you run Application Runner so that you can get the most benefit from the product and become productive with it very quickly.
10) See the file APPRUNNR.TXT for additional information.
Download self-extracting archive file
APRNRZIP.EXE 
(approx. 2.5 megabytes but well worth the download time!)
Should Application Runner fail to run at this point it is most likely because you are using an old version of Windows 3.x and are missing a required file from your Windows SYSTEM directory. Download the following self-extracting archive file ARSYSZIP.EXE to a temporary directory and execute it to uncompress it. See if any of the resulting files are missing from your Windows SYSTEM directory. Only copy the files that are missing into your Windows SYSTEM directory. If Application Runner should still fail to run, verify that you are not using the new 1.3 version of Win32s which caused Application Runner to fail during beta testing (use 1.2 or earlier). Delete ARSYSZIP.EXE and its uncompressed files from the temporary directory when finished.
If you are a Windows 95/98 user and received an error message when the Start Group Data File was being created during the first execution of Application Runner, you are probably a laptop user with infrared software installed or something else that Application Runner has a problem extracting information about. This problem only occurred once during beta testing, and the tester was using such a laptop. To fix the problem you must first understand that Application Runner extracts program information from your Start Groups by navigating the PC directory structure under "\Windows\Start Menu\Programs" in a hierarchical fashion and extracts application info from the ".LNK" shortcut files in each directory. So when I process "...\Accessories", I next process the "Games" and other sub-directories under it before I process the next directory at the same level as "...\Accessories". When you click on the Start button and look under "Programs" you see this same hierarchy of directories represented as folders. With this knowledge you can determine what Start Group app caused the Start Group Data File creation process to fail by seeing how far along the process actually did work. Do the following:
1) From Main Window click on button for "Run Start Group Apps".
2) Determine what Start Group was the last one processed (not necessarily last one on the list because only one level of groups are presented and in alphabetical order) by using the Start button to look under "Programs" and compare with the list of Start Groups in "Run Start Group Apps".
3) Select the last processed Start Group in "Run Start Group Apps" and note the last app name listed for that group.
4) Either the app that should have followed that app in the same Start Group caused the problem or (if last app name actually is the last app for the current Start Group) the first app in the next Start Group did.
5) Determine what that app is by using the Start button and looking under "Programs".
6) Remove the offending app from its Start Group (see Windows 95/98 HELP).
7) From Main Window click on button for "Refresh Start Group Data File" to recreate the Start Group Data File.
8) If problem persists, go to step 1 and repeat until successful.
Note that the infrared software that caused my beta tester's laptop to fail on the creation of the Start Group Data File was also represented in the Control Panel, so deleting it from the Start Group did not stop him from being able to access it. If you determine that the offending app on your PC is NOT also in the Control Panel, you may want to note its program name, working directory, etc. so that you can manually add it to Application Runner as a category application after deleting it from its Start Group.
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