Windows 10 has the option for multiple desktops. You can easily switch between them with ctrl + win + left or right arrow.
We can also start programs at boot by placing them into start up folder.
I want to start a program (that is placed in the startup folder so that it starts when Windows boots, in case this is relevant) on another desktop rather than the main one. How do I do that?
So Windows boots normally on the main desktop, and my program opens on the 2nd desktop, so that the user that logs in does not notice the program running until they switch to that desktop.
NOTE: I am not trying to hide the program from the user, there are different ways to do this so please do not suggest solutions to this problem. I specifically need it to work in this way (2nd desktop).
Raymond Chen suggested in a comment:
You can use IVirtualDesktopManager::MoveWindowToDesktop to move a window to a specific desktop.
To get the desktop ID, use IVirtualDesktopManager::GetWindowDesktopId of a window already on the desktop you want to move to.
Related
I am very new to applescript, but was wondering if it is possible to open applications to different desktops "spaces" using applescript. I have found how to launch applications, but don't know how to assign them to different desktops. Basically I am looking to open;
Outlook - Desktop 1
Skype - Desktop 1
Safari - Desktop 2
Onenote - Desktop 3
Thanks for any help, I really appreciate it.
Last system versions do not include any scripting of spaces. the only thing you can now do is to assign, in system preferences, shortcut keys to switch to a space, and once done, launch applications you want to.
To simulate action keys in Applescript, use system event "keystroke" instruction.
Easy: start these applications, one by one, in your "chosen" space, click on and hold Dock's icon, move cursor to "Options" (below), select this one (of three) options:
– Current desktop (or: this desktop, or similar)
… which from now on will always open THIS application in THIS space.
There is no programmatic way in AppleScript to instruct your Mac to switch spaces/workspaces or even to return the identity (number) of the current desktop.
Switching may happen, though, if the relevant option in System Preferences, Mission Control, is set.
(Indirectly, comparing a desktop "picture" to a user-defined list empowers a script to get its "number".)
On Windows 8 they've replaced the Start Menu with a Start Screen using Metro GUI.
Desktop applications can be run from this screen, but when they exit the user is left at the desktop.
Is there a Windows setting that will return to the Start Screen automatically when the application is closed, if it was launched from Metro?
Or is there an API available so that the application itself can detect whether it was launched from Metro and then switch back to it as it is shutting down?
(I want something automatic or programmatic. "Press the Windows key" is not an acceptable solution.)
Window 8 metro GUI is working like Start menu so I will change my application's setup program to put some command line options for desktop menu shortcut and pick it up from Param array.
When closing I would try sending Windows button combination (Ctrl+Esc) to windows. Actual code to do that depends on the language used to develop your app. If developed in .Net following class can be helpful
System.Windows.Forms.SendKey.Send
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.sendkeys.send.aspx
following library may also be useful
http://inputsimulator.codeplex.com/
The accepted answer to this question explains how to create a "window group" in Terminal.app so that you can open a set of windows with predefined tabs executing predefined commands in predefined positions.
That's great, but it doesn't appear to play nice with Mission Control. I save my window group with the windows spread out across different desktops in Mission Control, but when I restore the window group they all pile up on top of each other in the desktop I'm currently using!
How can I get a Window Group to restore the windows to the desktops from which I saved them?
Thanks!
Doesn't look like separating application windows by desktop is an option anymore; not according to this MacForums thread.
There's an app called TotalSpaces that claims to restore pre-Mission Control window grouping, but it's a paid app so I haven't tried it.
You might be better off asking this question on AskDifferent or SuperUser...
I have a VB6 executable we use as a Starter executable for our real program.
The problem is that windows 7 shows a new icon in the taskbar for the new process, instead of the one i clicked on to start my program (of course, because the starter exe has already ended, and the new exe seems to be a new program).
Currently I use the Shell object to start the other exe. Is there a better way to do it from vb6, maybe by using a native C function with declare that does start an exe in the current process, without spawning a new process?
EDIT:
Thanks to atzz for the great information about Application Model IDs. I now have a shortcut to my app starter with a well defined id, and my app also sets the ID when started, and is now accesssible beautifully from the right icon in the toolbar. However, two problems persist:
The app is a Java App started with Exe4J, and I don't have any chance to set the AppID before Exe4J shows the splash screen, so while showing the splash screen there is a second icon in the taskbar.
If I don't manually drag my starter app icon from the Desktop to the toolbar, but instead use my apps icon and set it to be "sticky", the real app is sticked, and not the launcher.
Both problems would be beautifully solved if my launcher would start the app from within its own process. I heard something of using exec() instead of fork() for linux programs to achive this... is there something similar for windows?
I believe there is a way to accomplish what you need via Windows 7 taskbar API, though I never did it myself and thus don't remember clearly enough what I've read on the subject. Look around the Application ID concept.
Some links:
Developing for the Windows 7 Taskbar – Application ID
Inside Windows 7 - Introducing The Taskbar APIs
If the problem is the icon, why not give both programs the same icon (and the same App.Title). Then the user won't be able to tell the difference between the two taskbar entries. Presumably they aren't both visible at the same time.
Alternatively set your starter app not to appear in the taskbar (Form property ShowInTaskbar = False in the design view)
When I install a virtual desktop manager on Windows 7, and I switch to a different virtual desktop, all the current windows disappear, also disappearing from the Start Menu.
I want to hide some of a particular application's windows, but not all of them, in a similar manner. How can I hide a window like this?
In particular, I need to hide a VirtualBox Seamless mode window, so I'm not sure minimizing the window will work. It does, however, disappear when using virtual desktop managers.
The same window cannot appear on multiple desktops. If you need your application window to appear on multiple desktops you need to create a separate window for each desktop. The desktop a window appears on depends on the thread that creates the window. You can change the desktop thread assignment using the SetThreadDesktop function.
The answer is simply ShowWindow(SW_HIDE) and ShowWindow(SW_SHOW). I think "Virtual Desktop Managers" just hide windows and show them as necessary when the desktops change.