exec() function doesn't work for me

[henryrhenryr]

I'm trying to get exec() to work. It's a completely backend system so no security concerns.

I want a button in my page to launch a programme on my windows system (for example notepad.exe) really just to save me some time. So I tried the following to test this :

$cmd='notepad.exe'
exec($cmd);
 

After I run this script, nothing happens! But when I look at the process list on the windows task manager, I can see a new process - notepad.exe running. This process incidentally cannot be forced to quit without a restart.

Can anyone shed any light?

My system is: win2k pro, apache 2, php 5.2

Thanks!

[henryrhenryr]

$cmd='notepad.exe'
exec($cmd);
 

Sorry - typo:

$cmd='notepad.exe';
exec($cmd);
 

[mwasif]

Why you want to run notepad via PHP?

[henryrhenryr]

It's an example. I am trying to get the function to work and notepad seemed a suitable guinea pig.

Once I have it working I'll write some .bat files which will launch other stuff and run some things (hopefully).

I think the issue could be related to the setup of PHP or the OS? But I'm really on unsure ground when it comes to this.