Have a form startup automatically with windows

[pcwhiz78]

I was wondering if there was a way to make a form automatically startup w/ windows, but before anything else does. (For example, I'm creating a full-screen Kid-Safe application that starts up with windows, but doesn't allow the user to interact with windows or click on any windows icons, [Just do stuff in my app])

 

-Jason

[Diesel]

What version of Windows?

[pcwhiz78]

What version of Windows?

It would be 2000/XP

[Nerseus]

It sounds like you want to more or less hide windows from the user? Pretty much impossible and could be VERY malicious. Suppose your app displayed a login to Windows screen and gathered a password.

 

Now, a better thing for kids would be to not allow certain keyboard combos like Ctrl-Esc to bring up the start menu. When the kids run the app, the parents hide the task bar to prevent accidental clicks. At least, that's what I do for my son. He still manages to right click in the browser but I'm too lazy to figure out how to turn off right clicks :)

 

You could also develop your app/game in DirectX as a fullscreen app. It would be a lot more work, potentially, but has a lot of advantages - you can more easily "lock down" the keyboard and go full screen, prevent right mouse clicks, etc.

 

To start something up automatically, you could simply put an icon in the start menu. I've found that my son can find "his" icon pretty fast on the desktop and knows how to press Enter AND maximize the browser when his webpage loads up. He can even drag and drop with the best of them. For most kids that I've watched, they pick all this up in a few short sessions on the computer, maybe 2 or 3 hours (30 minutes a day and they'll be dragging and dropping in a week).

 

-ner

[pcwhiz78]

It sounds like you want to more or less hide windows from the user? Pretty much impossible and could be VERY malicious. Suppose your app displayed a login to Windows screen and gathered a password.

 

Now, a better thing for kids would be to not allow certain keyboard combos like Ctrl-Esc to bring up the start menu. When the kids run the app, the parents hide the task bar to prevent accidental clicks. At least, that's what I do for my son. He still manages to right click in the browser but I'm too lazy to figure out how to turn off right clicks :)

 

You could also develop your app/game in DirectX as a fullscreen app. It would be a lot more work, potentially, but has a lot of advantages - you can more easily "lock down" the keyboard and go full screen, prevent right mouse clicks, etc.

 

To start something up automatically, you could simply put an icon in the start menu. I've found that my son can find "his" icon pretty fast on the desktop and knows how to press Enter AND maximize the browser when his webpage loads up. He can even drag and drop with the best of them. For most kids that I've watched, they pick all this up in a few short sessions on the computer, maybe 2 or 3 hours (30 minutes a day and they'll be dragging and dropping in a week).

 

-ner

 

Looks like you have a hell' of a son:)

[Denaes]

Can't you just set the form to fullscreen, FormBorderStyle to none, then capture the damaging keystrokes like Alt-Tab and whatnot?

 

Make it so that when the form looses focus, it requires a password to do so otherwise you can just set the focus back to the form again.

 

It might work.

[Nerseus]

He's a good kid. Every kid that I've seen use a computer (probably about 6 or 7 counting family and friends) picks it up SO fast. My son started at about 2 and a half. After about 15 minutes he was actually picking colors from mspaint's little color squares. I was dumbfounded. I'm not saying it to brag, but to point out that you probably DO need to protect Windows for kids software, but do it in a "normal" way like a fullscreen app rather than "taking over" windows.

 

This book has a great little sample app called "Dodger" where you steer a car between two lanes and dodge square, teapots, etc. This simple little test app is my son's current favorite game, a very simple DirectX game that could easily be made full screen and "lock down" the keyboard. I'm tempted to put my name and picture in it so he thinks I'm that cool to have written it :)

 

-ner

[Joe Mamma]

I was wondering if there was a way to make a form automatically startup w/ windows' date=' but before anything else does. (For example, I'm creating a full-screen Kid-Safe application that starts up with windows, but doesn't allow the user to interact with windows or click on any windows icons, [Just do stuff in my app'])

 

-Jason

while not exactly fool proof, you could always embed your app as an object in a local web page and then load it in IE kiosk mode on startup using

 

iexplore -k filename. . .

 

but I dont think there is a way to completely cut a user off from the operating system without loading windows XP embedded as the platform OS.

[pcwhiz78]

Well, I don't actually want to take over Windows, just make it so that my app starts up before anything else does.

[Joe Mamma]

Well' date=' I don't actually want to take over Windows, just make it so that my app starts up before anything else does.[/quote']

in your setup app write an entry to registry. .

for all users:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

for only the user running the setup:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

give the entry any name you want, for the value, the command line you want to execute.

 

this could be the iexplore -k filename I mentioned.

[pcwhiz78]

in your setup app write an entry to registry. .

for all users:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

for only the user running the setup:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

give the entry any name you want, for the value, the command line you want to execute.

 

this could be the iexplore -k filename I mentioned.

 

I could do that, but then it wouldn't be the first program that started up.

[Joe Mamma]

I could do that' date=' but then it wouldn't be the first program that started up.[/quote']Well it will run as everything else runs at startup. . .

 

But now. . . does that really make a difference.

If it does, I begin to wonder as to your true motives.

 

Please take no offence if it is not warranted, but your goal now sounds malicious to me.

[pcwhiz78]

Well it will run as everything else runs at startup. . .

 

But now. . . does that really make a difference.

If it does, I begin to wonder as to your true motives.

 

Please take no offence if it is not warranted, but your goal now sounds malicious to me.

 

No, seriously, it's not malicious. I'm developing an app called KidScreen (visit my website http://www.virtualwareproducts.com)

[Jay1b]

You can just create a new Windows shell by replacing the exe that is run intially.

 

Cant remember where it is in the registry though.....good luck :)

[Jay1b]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon] Shell = explorer.exe

 

See - http://www.xtremedotnettalk.com/showthread.php?t=82635&highlight=shell+registry

[Jay1b]

Just tried that and it works perfectly.

 

Expanding on that....does anyone know how to stop ctrl+alt+del? i changed the name of taskmgr.exe, but it didnt have any effect - which is really strange! Is there a registry entry for this, like the one i posted above does anyone know?

[pcwhiz78]

Also, is there any way to restore the standard Windows GUI and then have it immediately display without restarting windows again? (i Tried running explorer.exe through my startup app but that just displays a Windows Explorer Window)

[Arch4ngel]

Well... did you look at Services ? Some program is launched at different time... maybe you could launch your own before everything else... I don't know if it will stop windows from working or from loading some services.... might mess up a little bit thought.... :(

[Denaes]

Umm... if I bought software to keep a kid out of damaging parts of the computer, I'm not sure that I'd want a program that goes changing my explorer/windows startup settings.

 

In fact, with all of this trouble, why doesn't a parent just get one of those Windows Configuration Tools. Make the Kid an account and hide everything that might be damaging, disable rightclicks, etc. You can even select which applications a user has rights to, as well as which folders.

 

Not to tell you not to make your kiddy tool, but it sounds like you're recreating windows for little reason.

 

Why not just make a tool that does all of these confusing things for a parent? Makes a windows account called KidSafe (or whatever), then has a list of options like a checked listbox with folder structure to indicate which to hide/show and a checked listbox for which programs a child has access to.

[Joe Mamma]

that is what I was thinking. . .

 

Now perhaps an app that allows a parent to easily set up a kid safe login by setting some defauilt policies and then giving the ability to package a desktop configuration, would be a neat product.

 

I know my mom 70 gets all whackled out of shape when her grand children come over and mess up her system. While she's gotten pretty good at rebuilding her AOL adapter, shes not up to policy administration.

 

Now a simple script that she could run, similar to AOL's parental controls, that did all this, she would like. But she would not be interested, and I would advise her against, any utility that ran at such a low level.