How To run Multiple Versions of the Same Program on Windows 7

Question

Well the question is simple, but before that I made a little search on the net and I tried the one on the link

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-run-multiple-versions-of-the-same-program-on-your-pc/

It didn't help me since "run as" doesn't appear when I right click to the program.

Thanks for helps.

Edit: The program that I use is a not a popular program, I tried "run as" and it didn't work, I open session from another user account and tried, it didn't work too. I duplicated the files of the program and that didn't work either.

Answer 1

For some applications you can copy the entire application to a different location and rename the executable file (App_1stCopy.exe) and then you can run multiple instances of that app.

But notice that this approach may not work, due to devices or log files or settings being used simultaneously by multiple apps.

1st instance -> run original App.exe file.
2nd instance -> run coppied App_1stCopy.exe file.
3rd instance -> run 2nd coppied App_2ndCopy.exe file.
....

Answer 2

With Windows 7 Microsoft moved some options to a hidden context menu. When you right click on an object, hold down the shift key, this will provide access to some additional options, including 'Run as different user'

Unfortunately, this option doesn't seem to work with all programs, for example trying to use this option on a Skype desktop shortcut doesn't work, however, it will work if you use the option on the Skype executable. It does work with other shortcuts.

Another option you might consider is trying to find a specific application that allows for multiple instances of a specific program. using the example of skype once again, there's an application called SkypeLauncher which allows this possibility, similar applications can be found for programs like Live Messenger or Yahoo Messenger and others.

Answer 3

that begs the questions: which program, and what happens if you try to run 2 instances.

There are ways of preventing an app from running twice - simply creating a global kernel object each time you run, and closing the app if the object is already created would be one way, but this depends on the app managing the number of running instances.