I have a laptop computer running windows xp pro.About every 6 months I
like to do a clean install of windows xp and all of my application
programs to get rid of all the accumulated junk.I am trying to write a
batch file(.BAT) to install all of my programs for me.I need to know
how I can set it up so that the various installation programs for my
software can get my selections from an input file instead of the
keyboard.I also need to know how to create the input file.
I tried to make a simple batch to install my "snagit" software.I
executed it like this from the command screen "install<answer.txt",
where "install" is the name of the BAT file and answer.txt is a text
file with a carriage return in it.The snagit install program came up
but the carriage return was not picked up to click the "next" button
in the snagit install program.

I need to know how to get my batch routine to take input from a data
file.I also need to know how to create the data file,and what kind of
data file it needs to be.I need to know how to make the data file so
that the right buttons will be clicked on the installation screens of
my programs.

I would like to be able to do these things with regular windows
utilities if this is possible.If this is not possible then I need to
know what kind of softwate I need to purchase to accomplish this.