How can I allow only one instance of any given application?

Question

I'm using Microsoft Windows MCE/Professional, and would like to know if there was a way to edit the registry or Local Security Console, MMC, etc. or a third-party FREEWARE application that can allow me to selectively force any given program to have only one instance of its process running at a time. Thanks!

Answer 1

I'm awaiting another responder to this question. I'd like to believe that the operating system might provide this kind of feature, but the only way I know of enabling just one instance is to write the application as a singleton.

A Windows service would also be a singleton. It would not surprise me if there were a registry setting for an individual application that would assure a single instance.

It is possible to write a simple launch program that will automatically assure that just one instance of the program will start. The link you use would need to point to the launcher program and not the application itself. (If you need it, I can send you the C# code.)

I don't know of an operating system feature that assures the single launch of another program, but I'll be watching this question.