How to start an Android virtual device without seeing emulator.exe window

I want to create a shortcut to start a particular AVD with specific parameters. If I create a batch file with start emulator.exe -avd myavd the emulator.exe command window shows and remains after the device is started. Closing the emulator.exe window closes the device.

How can I start a device without seeing this window like the AVD Manager or Eclipse does?

Create this java substituting the details for the avd you want:

import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
public class AVDs
{       
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException
    {
        List<String> avdCmd = new ArrayList<String>(args.length + 1);
        avdCmd.add("C:\\Users\\Steve\\AppData\\Local\\Android\\sdk\\tools\\emulator.exe");
        for (String cmdarg: args)
        {
            avdCmd.add(cmdarg);
        }
        ProcessBuilder launch = new ProcessBuilder();
        launch.inheritIO().command(avdCmd).start();
    }
}

Then use this as your shortcut:

"C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.8.0_40\bin\javaw.exe" -cp "S:\ADT workspace\AVDs\bin" AVDs -timezone Europe/London -avd Lollipop -scale 0.5

Substituting your classpath, or removing it if you don't need it. Make sure you use a path to javaw, don't just use java.