Ant exec - cannot run program 'start' CreateProcess error=2

start is not an executable but is an internal command of the cmd.exe shell, so to start something you'd have to:

<exec executable="cmd.exe">        <arg line="/c start notepad" />      </exec>

EDIT:

For spawning multiple windows, this should work:

<target name="spawnwindows">    <exec executable="cmd.exe" spawn="yes">        <arg line="/c start cmd.exe /k echo test1" />      </exec>    <exec executable="cmd.exe" spawn="yes">        <arg line="/c start cmd.exe /k echo test2" />      </exec></target>

but you mentioned that spawn="true" is not applicable for your environment, why is that?

my solution

<project name="test"  basedir="." default="test-target"><target name="start-init">        <exec executable="where" outputproperty="START">            <arg line="start" />        </exec></target><target name="test-target">        <exec executable="${START}">            <arg line="cmd /c notepad" />          </exec>      </target></project>

How about <exec executable="start.exe"> ? Or start.bat ?

Also, where is basedir="." pointing to? If you place a <echo message="basedir = ${basedir}"/> just before your <exec> tag, does it print the correct folder (the one with the "start" program in it)?

Additionally, you could add <echoproperties /> before <exec> to see all visible properties.