>>>Isn't there a way, perhaps using a Windows API, to exit a program and tell Windows to immediately restart it?
>>
>>Why do you want to do this?
>
>Someone asked me this same question awhile back about another issue. I must confess to not understanding why the question has to be asked (at least without the inclusion of a suggestion, which gives it a different feel). I end up feeling like I have to justify why I want to do it prior to getting an answer. I have no problem with the question itself, but when it's asked alone, I just end up wondering.
>
>Anyway, the answer is that the program has done an auto-update and must restart to run the latest version.

First, as opposed to what Dragan half-jokingly suggests, there was no real or implied "the he(ck|ll)" in my question.

The reason I ask is nicely described in Eric Raymond's article, "How to Ask Questions The Smart Way": http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html . Specifically, the section titled "Describe the goal - not the step".

If you had described your goal of achieving a seamless auto-update process, people could have immediately suggested various program loaders/launchers that already do this sort of thing e.g. Download#21770