How to open multiple Internet Explorer instances w/ different URL tabs for each instance via batch file

Question

What I'm attempting to do is create a bat file that auto loads every program that I use at work via normal startup. As of now, upon logging into my system I am able to run a desktop cleanup program, open up three different instances of Internet Explorer, and the few other dedicated programs I use on a daily basis. What I would love to be able to do would be the open individual tabs within those IE instances.

For example (these are random sites, not the ones I would use):

• Instance 1
  • www.google.com
  • www.yahoo.com
  • www.ebay.com
• Instance 2
  • www.nytimes.com
  • www.foxnews.com
  • www.wallstreetjournal.com
• Instance 3
  • www.fidelity.com
  • www.marketwatch.com

I'm assuming if this code was successfully created, adding or removing instances/tabs would be easy. As I'm talking about a work computer, my access to administrator functions is limited. I figured the best way to get this solved was to reach out to the pros! So what do you think? How can this be done?

Solution

Assuming tab groups aren't a good enough solution, yeah, this is possible. What follows is a really crude batch script, but it should do the job (feel free to refine it):

start "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" http://www.google.com
start http://www.yahoo.com
start http://www.ebay.com
start "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" http://www.nytimes.com
start http://www.foxnews.com
...

Basically, create new instances of IE for each window, then use ShellExecute (what CMD's start command does) to open additional sites as tabs in that window (this assumes IE is the default browser and you have the option enabled to open URLs from external processes as new tabs in the current window). Create new iexplore sessions as needed. The final and top session would, in your example, be the one with Fidelity and MarketWatch tabs.