I'm doing an installation that requires I use a Windows computer to run Max. What software can I use to check to make sure that Max is running and, if it's closed, re-open it?

I'm looking for something like AppleScript for Windows. Or maybe something like cron in DOS would be fine?

An older post mentioned something about "COM Interfaces", but I've been unable to find any information about whether Max has a COM interface.

(I'll probably be using Windows XP and potentially Windows 7.)