Exec Command not Working in PHP

Question

I am simply trying to run an executable file from a PHP script. Seems simple enough but it just will not work for me. I have tried both of these methods:

$oExec = $WshShell->Run("Notepad.exe >> /err.txt"); 

and

exec("Notepad.exe >> /err.txt");

without success. Nothing seems to happen, I step through my code and the lines execute but notepad does not open. Err.txt is empty so there is no help there and I can't find an error anywhere. I would think if it was a permissions issue I would get an error message, and other than that I'm not sure what the problem can be. It seems to find Notepad.exe ok because when I write Ntpad.exe I get an error. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The script is running from a local IISExpress site.

Answer 1

After much frustration I figured out the answer, thanks to Cheery for letting my know that Notepad would never show up without desktop interaction I would have been there for a while trying to figure out why it wasn't working. There was a few problems with my original script...

$oExec = $WshShell->Run("cmd C:\Test\ffmpeg -i C:\Test\ferrisglennnews.mov video.webm"); 

1. double slashes are needed
2. cmd must be removed
3. not having a directory puts the output in the default cmd directory not where the source file is so I was looking in the wrong place for the output

Thus this is the script the produced the desired results was...

$oExec = $WshShell->Run("C:\\Test\\ffmpeg -i C:\\Test\\ferrisglennnews.mov C:\\Test\\video.webm"); 

Thanks for those who helped out and who help out in forum period, you saved so many people soooo much time!