Custom batch file issue: Steam won't exit

[Leonard Washington]

Tl;dr: Batch file I created to launch a program before I exit Steam prevents Steam from exiting. Batch file launches a program and immediately terminates. Steam does not recognize that the program is no longer running, so Steam won't close.

***Exhaustive details of situation***

Scenario: I control my PC remotely from another room using my Xbox controller via the program "Xpadder". I use the controller primarily to interact with media players in Windows. If I am in the mood for a video game, I launch Steam & use the controller as well.

If Xpadder is running concurrently with Steam, there are input conflicts because both programs are executing commands from the same controller input (e.g. I press the right d-pad button and Xpadder switches to a different workspace, while Steam behaves as if I simply pressed the right arrow on the keyboard.) My attempt at a solution was to construct two very simple .bat files to keep me from having to go to my computer and manually open/close either program.

My first file launches Steam and kills Xpadder. No problem there.

My issue is the .bat file whose intended function is to launch Xpadder, thus allowing me to close Steam and maintain remote control of the computer. The program doesn't need to kill Steam, I can exit manually since the controller conflicts don't prohibit this.

I added the batch file to my Steam library and it launches Xpadder as it is supposed to. The problem arises when I attempt to exit Steam. Steam refuses to exit because it is "waiting for 'name_of_batchfile' to close".

The batch file runs one command (to start Xpadder.exe) and closes, so there appears to be no continuous running processes associated. However, Steam doesn't respond as I expected. It appears to me that Steam is logging what programs it has launched/closed independently of any actual running processes in Windows. This is hypothetical, as I have no knowledge of how Steam functions in this regard. All I know is that Task Manager does not list my program as running.

Ultimately I only wish to know how/if I can alter my file such that Steam recognizes the program has terminated and therefore allows me to exit?

My goal is for Steam to exit without having to manually kill the Steam32.exe process. I don't want to inadvertently corrupt any files as a result of a task kill. My post on the Steam Community forum and all other researching hasn't been fruitful thus far, so I created an account here in the hopes that any of you may be willing or able to provide assistance.

FWIW, here is the code content of both files (laughable in their simplicity, I know):
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Start_Steam_Kill_Xpadder.bat:

@echo off
start "" "G:\Steam\Steam.exe"
taskkill /f /im "Xpadder.exe"
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Start_Xpadder.bat (Start_Xpadder.exe):

@echo off
start "" "C:\Program Files\Xpadder\Xpadder.exe"
exit
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Helpful hint for any Steam user who stumbles across this post: To add a custom .bat file to the Steam library, note that you have to convert the .bat file to a .exe for Steam to allow you to publish it in your library.

Thanks in advance for any input or suggestions!

[Leonard Washington]

*bump*

Anyone?