There was a thread on xsibase the other day about using a batch file to turn satellite rendering on or off by changing the .ray3hosts file.

Instead of overwriting the .ray3hosts file, another way to do would be to have two versions of the .ray3hosts file, and use MI_RAY_HOSTSFILE to switch between them.

For example, you would create a batch file on your desktop that does this:

@echo off
call "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Softimage 2012.SAP\Application\bin\setenv.bat"

rem Override the default MI_RAY_HOSTSFILE
set MI_RAY_HOSTSFILE=%XSI_USERHOME%\.ray3hosts-disabled

start "" "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Softimage 2012.SAP\Application\bin\XSI.exe" %*

.ray3hosts-disabled would either not exist, or have different satellites listed. Softimage will try to load the specified file, and would not fall back on the other .ray3hosts file.