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When I boot up my computer I open several file explorers and sort them around the screen to help speed up my workflow. It's not time consuming, only tedious, and I'd like a small program to do it for me. I know how to open an explorer, but I don't see any positional arguments.
Is there a way to spawn a file explorer at a set of screen coordinates, or move it programatically after it opens? Preferably with python 3+, but batch will work as well.
That was simultaneously easier and harder than I thought it was going to be. Everything is commented, let me know if you have any more questions. This is a PowerShell/batch hybrid script (so save it as a .bat file) because PowerShell is disabled on systems by default or something.
<# :
:: Based on https://gist.github.com/coldnebo/1148334
:: Converted to a batch/powershell hybrid via http://www.dostips.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=37780#p37780
:: Array comparison from http://stackoverflow.com/a/6368667/4158862
#echo off
setlocal
set "POWERSHELL_BAT_ARGS=%*"
if defined POWERSHELL_BAT_ARGS set "POWERSHELL_BAT_ARGS=%POWERSHELL_BAT_ARGS:"=\"%"
endlocal & powershell -NoLogo -NoProfile -Command "$_ = $input; Invoke-Expression $( '$input = $_; $_ = \"\"; $args = #( &{ $args } %POWERSHELL_BAT_ARGS% );' + [String]::Join( [char]10, $( Get-Content \"%~f0\" ) ) )"
goto :EOF
#>
# Create an instance of the Win32 API object to handle and manipulate windows
Add-Type #"
using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
public class Win32 {
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
public static extern bool MoveWindow(IntPtr hWnd, int X, int Y, int nWidth, int nHeight, bool bRepaint);
}
"#
# Get a list of existing Explorer Windows
$previous_array = #()
$shell_object = New-Object -COM 'Shell.Application'
foreach($old_window in $shell_object.Windows())
{
$previous_array += $old_window.HWND
}
# Open four more Explorer Windows in the current directory
explorer
explorer
explorer
explorer
# Pause for 1 second so that the windows have time to finish opening
sleep 1
# Get the list of new Explorer Windows
$new_array = #()
foreach($new_window in $shell_object.Windows())
{
$new_array += $new_window.HWND
}
# Compare the two arrays and only process the new windows
$only_new = Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $previous_array -DifferenceObject $new_array -PassThru
# MoveWindow takes HWND value, X-position on screen, Y-position on screen, window width, and window height
# I've just hard-coded the values, adjust them to suit your needs
[Win32]::MoveWindow($only_new[0],0,0,960,540,$true)
[Win32]::MoveWindow($only_new[1],960,0,960,540,$true)
[Win32]::MoveWindow($only_new[2],0,540,960,540,$true)
[Win32]::MoveWindow($only_new[3],960,540,960,540,$true)
I have ran into a slight problem while configuring some keybinds with my mouse.
The thing I want to achieve is to open the program from the backround(open or closed window) and close it again, but not kill the task(eqivalent to the x-button, so it keeps running in the backround)
I have set up my mouse to start up a application called everything (which is able of very fast file system searches)
I have figured out that with this code:
TASKKILL /F /IM Everything.exe
which I can run with a macro key I can kill the application. But I dont want to kill the application itself just the window, becase it takes a while to index all the important files once I have to restart it.
So heres the question is there any way to bring up a window/task to the front of the screen or trigger the x button event, without having to kill the entire process ?
Also the Mouse(g600) supports lua scripting, but that is proabbly the more harder way to go about it.
Minimizing a window can be usually done by activating the window (bringing it to the foreground) then using SendKeys() to send Alt+Space, then whatever letter your locale has underlined for "Minimize" (N in English Windows). Here's one of possibly dozens of examples of this using VBScript.
That sequence is overused, inelegant, and boring in my opinion -- and it doesn't work for some windows (the cmd console, for example). It is possible to minimize a window without bringing it to the foreground, and without simulating key presses. One simply needs to import a function from user32.dll. And as long as we're going through that trouble, we might as well import a second function to detect the current window state so we can toggle minimized / restored.
We can import the functions using PowerShell like this. Save this Batch / PowerShell hybrid script with a .bat extension and give it a run.
<# : minimize.bat
:: toggles minimized state of a window by its filename
:: minimize.bat /? for usage
:: https://stackoverflow.com/a/34834953/1683264
#echo off & setlocal
if "%~1"=="" goto usage
set "prog=%~n1"
tasklist | findstr /i "\<%prog%\>" >NUL || goto usage
set /P "=Toggling the minimized state of %prog%... " <NUL
powershell -noprofile -noninteractive "iex ((gc \"%~f0\") -join \"`n\")"
goto :EOF
:usage
echo syntax: %~nx0 progname[.exe]
echo;
echo If the program is visible, minimize it. If minimized, restore it.
goto :EOF
:: end Batch / begin PowerShell hybrid chimera #>
Add-Type user32_dll #'
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
public static extern bool ShowWindowAsync(IntPtr hWnd, int nCmdShow);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
public static extern int GetWindowLong(IntPtr hWnd, int nIndex);
'# -namespace System
$hwnd = #(Get-Process $env:prog)[0].MainWindowHandle
$state = [user32_dll]::GetWindowLong($hwnd, -16)
# mask of 0x20000000 = minimized; 2 = minimize; 4 = restore
if ($state -band 0x20000000) { $action = 4 } else { $action = 2 }
if ([user32_dll]::ShowWindowAsync($hwnd, $action)) {
write-host "Success" -f green
} else {
write-host "Fail" -f red
}
Now, if your program minimizes to the systray, the previous script will be fine for minimizing, but won't be able to find the window handle when minimized. It will fail when trying to restore. Finding the HWND in this situation is tricky. If one knows the window title, one can find the HWND using the user32.dll FindWindow() or FindWindowEx() functions.
I haven't had much luck using WMI or built-in PowerShell commands for finding the title of a window minimized to the tray. Neither get-process nor gwmi win32_process nor [diagnostics.process]::getProcessByName() yielded success. I did, however, discover that the final line of tasklist /v /fo list will show the window title. That's enough to invoke FindWindow() and get the HWND.
This might be more complicated than it needs to be, but then again it might not. I just know I found 1,000 ways to fail, but one way to succeed. Thanks to JPBlanc for helping me figure out how to pass null arguments into FindWindow() and FindWindowEx().
<# : minimize.bat
:: toggles minimized state of a window by its filename
:: minimize.bat /? for usage
#echo off & setlocal
if "%~1"=="" goto usage
set "prog=%~n1"
tasklist | findstr /i "\<%prog%\>" >NUL || goto usage
set /P "=Toggling the minimized state of %prog%... " <NUL
powershell -noprofile -noninteractive "iex ((gc \"%~f0\") -join \"`n\")"
goto :EOF
:usage
echo syntax: %~nx0 progname[.exe]
echo;
echo If the program is visible, minimize it. If minimized, restore it.
goto :EOF
End batch / begin PowerShell hybrid chimera #>
Add-Type user32_dll #'
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
public static extern bool ShowWindowAsync(IntPtr hWnd, int nCmdShow);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
public static extern int GetWindowLong(IntPtr hWnd, int nIndex);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
public static extern IntPtr FindWindow(IntPtr lpClassName, string lpWindowName);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
public static extern IntPtr FindWindowEx(IntPtr parentHandle, IntPtr childAfter,
IntPtr lclassName, string windowTitle);
'# -namespace System
$hwnd = (ps $env:prog)[0].MainWindowHandle
if ($hwnd -eq 0) {
tasklist /v /fi "imagename eq $env:prog*" /fo list | %{
$title = $_ -replace '^[^:]+:\s+'
}
$zero = [IntPtr]::Zero
$hwnd = [user32_dll]::FindWindow($zero, $title)
if ($hwnd -eq 0) {
$hwnd = [user32_dll]::FindWindowEx($zero, $zero, $zero, $title)
}
}
$state = [user32_dll]::GetWindowLong($hwnd, -16)
# mask of 0x20000000 = minimized; 2 = minimize; 4 = restore
if ($state -band 0x20000000) { $action = 4 } else { $action = 2 }
if ([user32_dll]::ShowWindowAsync($hwnd, $action)) {
write-host "Success" -f green
} else {
write-host "Fail" -f red
}
can't comment so I'll try to answer.
the 'x' button will likely kill your application unless the application is configured otherwise I guess.
I think I understand you'd rather minimize it into icon tray or something. This is not possible as far as I know if your application isn't doing it naturally.
You could try to hit alt + space + n which is a shortcut to minimize the application.
Can anyone please tell me how to click on "ok" or "cancel" on a popup window using powershell?
I am trying to automate a website using powershell, but I am new to powershell. I have to click on OK button in a popup box to proceed. I know VBscript, in that I can use
set obj0 = createobject("wscript.shell")
count = 0
do while count = 0
if obj0.appactivate "Popupboxname" then
----perform required action---
count = 1
else
wscript.sleep(2000)
end if
loop
Can anyone tell me how to do the same in powershell? If i can somehow access the popup window, atleast i can use sendkeys command to send the enter key. Please let me know how to handle the popup window. Thanks in advance.
With Powershell v2 you can use PInvoke to access the normal Win32 API, thus giving you access to FindWindow and SetForegroundWindow. Then use SendKeys to send a Enter key.
Something like this to register the methods:
$pinvokes = #'
[DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet=CharSet.Auto)]
public static extern IntPtr FindWindow(string className, string windowName);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
[return: MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
public static extern bool SetForegroundWindow(IntPtr hWnd);
'#
Add-Type -AssemblyName System.Windows.Forms
Add-Type -MemberDefinition $pinvokes -Name NativeMethods -Namespace MyUtils
Now you can find the window you need:
$hwnd = [MyUtils.NativeMethods]::FindWindow(null, "Popupboxname")
Give it focus:
[MyUtils.NativeMethods]::SetForegroundWindow($hwnd)
And send the Enter key:
[System.Windows.Forms.SendKeys]::SendWait("{ENTER}")
Sources/inspiration:
power shell : how to send middle mouse click?
http://poshcode.org/1837
http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1563429
Try something like this:
$wshell = New-Object -ComObject wscript.shell;
$wshell.AppActivate('Vector RP1210 API Setup')
Sleep 1
$wshell.SendKeys('%C')
$wshell.AppActivate('Vector RP1210 API')
Sleep 1
$wshell.SendKeys('{ENTER}')
You might want to investige the WASP snapin from CodePlex:
http://wasp.codeplex.com/wikipage?title=Some%20Usage%20Examples&referringTitle=Home
I want to allow my users to toggle the current user theme between Aero and Windows Classic(1). Is there a way that I can do this programatically?
I don't want to pop up the "Display properties", and I'm dubious about just changing the registry. (This requires a log out and a log back in for the changes to take effect).
Application skinning (using the Codejock libraries) doesn't work either.
Is there a way of doing this?
The application is hosted/run on a Windows Server 2008 over RDP.
(1) The application in question is a hosted "Remote App", and I want users to be able to change the look of the displayed application to match their desktop.
You can set it using the following command:
rundll32.exe %SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL %SystemRoot%\system32\desk.cpl desk,#Themes /Action:OpenTheme /file:"C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\aero.theme"
Caveat is that this will show the theme selector dialog. You could kill that dialog straight after.
There are certainly good reasons for wanting to change the current theme programmatically. E.g. an automated test tool may need to switch between various themes to make sure the application works correctly with all of them.
As a user, you can change the theme by double-clicking a .theme file in Windwos Explorer and then closing the Control Panel applet that pops up. You can easily do the same from code. The steps below work just fine for me. I've only tested on Windows 7.
Use SHGetKnownFolderPath() to get the "Local AppData" folder for the user. Theme files are stored in the Microsoft\Windows\Themes subfolder. Theme files stored there are applied directly, while theme files stored elsewhere are duplicated when you execute them. So it's best to use files from that folder only.
Use ShellExecute() to execute the .theme file you located in step 1.
Wait for the theme to be applied. I simply let my app sleep for 2 seconds.
Call FindWindow('CabinetWClass', 'Personalization') to get the handle of the Control Panel window that popped up when the theme was applied. The "Personalization" caption will likely be different on non-US-English versions of Windows.
Call PostMessage(HWND, WM_CLOSE, 0, 0) to close the Control Panel window.
This isn't a very elegant solution, but it does the job.
I know this is an old ticket, but somebody asked me how to do this today. So starting from Mike's post above I cleaned things up, added comments, and will post full C# console app code:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Globalization;
using System.IO;
using System.Linq;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using Microsoft.Win32;
namespace Windows7Basic
{
class Theming
{
/// Handles to Win 32 API
[DllImport("user32.dll", EntryPoint = "FindWindow")]
private static extern IntPtr FindWindow(string sClassName, string sAppName);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
private static extern IntPtr SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, uint Msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam);
/// Windows Constants
private const uint WM_CLOSE = 0x10;
private String StartProcessAndWait(string filename, string arguments, int seconds, ref Boolean bExited)
{
String msg = String.Empty;
Process p = new Process();
p.StartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Minimized;
p.StartInfo.FileName = filename;
p.StartInfo.Arguments = arguments;
p.Start();
bExited = false;
int counter = 0;
/// give it "seconds" seconds to run
while (!bExited && counter < seconds)
{
bExited = p.HasExited;
counter++;
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000);
}//while
if (counter == seconds)
{
msg = "Program did not close in expected time.";
}//if
return msg;
}
public Boolean SwitchTheme(string themePath)
{
try
{
//String themePath = System.Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Windows) + #"\Resources\Ease of Access Themes\basic.theme";
/// Set the theme
Boolean bExited = false;
/// essentially runs the command line: rundll32.exe %SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL %SystemRoot%\system32\desk.cpl desk,#Themes /Action:OpenTheme /file:"%WINDIR%\Resources\Ease of Access Themes\classic.theme"
String ThemeOutput = this.StartProcessAndWait("rundll32.exe", System.Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.System) + #"\shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL " + System.Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.System) + "\\desk.cpl desk,#Themes /Action:OpenTheme /file:\"" + themePath + "\"", 30, ref bExited);
Console.WriteLine(ThemeOutput);
/// Wait for the theme to be set
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000);
/// Close the Theme UI Window
IntPtr hWndTheming = FindWindow("CabinetWClass", null);
SendMessage(hWndTheming, WM_CLOSE, IntPtr.Zero, IntPtr.Zero);
}//try
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine("An exception occured while setting the theme: " + ex.Message);
return false;
}//catch
return true;
}
public Boolean SwitchToClassicTheme()
{
return SwitchTheme(System.Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Windows) + #"\Resources\Ease of Access Themes\basic.theme");
}
public Boolean SwitchToAeroTheme()
{
return SwitchTheme(System.Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Windows) + #"\Resources\Themes\aero.theme");
}
public string GetTheme()
{
string RegistryKey = #"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes";
string theme;
theme = (string)Registry.GetValue(RegistryKey, "CurrentTheme", string.Empty);
theme = theme.Split('\\').Last().Split('.').First().ToString();
return theme;
}
// end of object Theming
}
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
class Program
{
[DllImport("dwmapi.dll")]
public static extern IntPtr DwmIsCompositionEnabled(out bool pfEnabled);
/// ;RunProgram("%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\themeName.theme") ;For User Themes
/// RunProgram("%WINDIR%\Resources\Ease of Access Themes\classic.theme") ;For Basic Themes
/// ;RunProgram("%WINDIR%\Resources\Themes\aero.theme") ;For Aero Themes
static void Main(string[] args)
{
bool aeroEnabled = false;
Theming thm = new Theming();
Console.WriteLine("The current theme is " + thm.GetTheme());
/// The only real difference between Aero and Basic theme is Composition=0 in the [VisualStyles] in Basic (line omitted in Aero)
/// So test if Composition is enabled
DwmIsCompositionEnabled(out aeroEnabled);
if (args.Length == 0 || (args.Length > 0 && args[0].ToLower(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture).Equals("basic")))
{
if (aeroEnabled)
{
Console.WriteLine("Setting to basic...");
thm.SwitchToClassicTheme();
}//if
}//if
else if (args.Length > 0 || args[0].ToLower(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture).Equals("aero"))
{
if (!aeroEnabled)
{
Console.WriteLine("Setting to aero...");
thm.SwitchToAeroTheme();
}//if
}//else if
}
// end of object Program
}
}
I'm not sure if this is a new thing, but you can just double click the .theme file and Windows 10 will apply the theme. Hence, you can do this with PowerShell easily:
$Windows10Theme = "C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\aero.theme"
Invoke-Expression $Windows10Theme
The command for newer Windows versions (Windows 8 and 8.1, haven't tried it on W10 yet) is:
rundll32.exe themecpl.dll,OpenThemeAction %1
or with full paths:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\rundll32.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\themecpl.dll,OpenThemeAction %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\yourtheme.theme
Basically it's the Personalisation CPL "open" command for .theme & .themepack extensions taken from registry...
You'll still end up with the Personalisation window beeing open after using this command so to close it down programatically you'll have to use one of the suggested methods mentioned above... (I personally prefer the Powershell script)
I have been experimenting about changing the windows theme via command line and I learned that by executing the theme file it is being applied by the Windows 10 as well. So in your batch file, you could use one of the following lines:
C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\Dark_Mode.theme
or
C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\Light_Mode.theme
Please note the path to the theme files might be needed to adjust depending on your system user configuration. I strongly advise saving your themes with names excluding spaces as it makes much easier moving forward. Executing such line leaving you with the Settings window opened. To deal with I considered using VBS script instead. Thanks to Patrick Haugh user1390106 there is a much easier way to close the Settings window.
taskkill /F /IM systemsettings.exe
So the updated version of batch file could look like this:
#echo off
if %1 == dark (
REM ================== Go Dark ==================
color 09
echo.
echo Applying DARK MODE
echo Windows Theme ...
C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\Dark_Mode.theme
timeout /T 1 /nobreak > nul
taskkill /F /IM systemsettings.exe > nul
echo DONE
) else (
REM ============== Return to Light ==============
color 30
echo.
echo Applying LIGHT MODE
echo Windows Theme ...
C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\Light_Mode.theme
timeout /T 1 /nobreak > nul
taskkill /F /IM systemsettings.exe > nul
echo DONE
)
REM ================== Goodbye ==================
echo.
echo Goodbye
cls
exit
Please note the path to the theme files might be needed to adjust depending on your system user configuration. Save above script with the name theme.bat somewhere in your drive.
This batch file taking one parameter which needs to be either dark or any other string. Then you could prepare two shortcuts to this batch file each with one of the following in the box called “Target” on the “Shortcut” tab in its properties:
C:\full-path-to-your-batch-file\theme.bat dark
or
C:\full-path-to-your-batch-file\theme.bat light
Please replace “full-path-to-your-batch-file” with actual path to that file.
Here are links to the videos showing how this works:
a) Going Dark – https://youtu.be/cBcDNhAmfyM
b) Returning to the Light – https://youtu.be/2kYJaJHubi4
Please note that my script in those videos also activating/deactivating the Stylish plug-in for chrome. I have omitted to explain how I accomplished that part as it is not a subject of this article.
I believe the best you can do is open your target .msstyles file (in c:\windows\resources\themes), which will pop up the display properties box. At this point you could use window subclassing to programmatically click the right buttons.
In addition of the post of "Jan Goyvaerts":
I use SendMessage instead of PostMessage. The difference is that SendMessage waits for the command to be taken in by the window. Meaning that in the SendMessages returns, you know that the theme dialog is closed.
So if you start it with the monstrous (but genious) rundll32.exe method suggested by "Campbell". You should wait a sec before sending WM_CLOSE. Otherwise the theme will not be set and the application closes right away.
The code snippet below extracts a file from resource (a themepack). Then executes the desk.cpl with rundll32.exe, waits 3 sceonds, then sends WM_CLOSE (0x0010), waits for the command to be process (the time it takes for the theme to be set).
private Boolean SwitchToClassicTheme()
{
//First unpack the theme
try
{
//Extract the theme from the resource
String ThemePath = System.Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Windows) + #"\Resources\Themes\ClassicTheme.themepack";
//WriteFileToCurrentDirectory("ClassicTheme.theme", TabletConfigurator.Resources.ClassicTheme);
if(File.Exists(ThemePath))
{
File.Delete(ThemePath);
}
if(File.Exists(ThemePath))
{
throw new Exception("The file '" + ThemePath + "' exists and can not be deleted. You can try to delete it manually.");
}
using (BinaryWriter sw = new BinaryWriter(new FileStream(ThemePath, FileMode.OpenOrCreate)))
{
sw.Write(TabletConfigurator.Resources.ClassicTheme);
sw.Flush();
sw.Close();
}
if(!File.Exists(ThemePath))
{
throw new Exception("The resource theme file could not be extracted");
}
//Set the theme file as like a user would have clicked it
Boolean bTimedOut = false;
String ThemeOutput = StartProcessAndWait("rundll32.exe", System.Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.System) + #"\shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL " + System.Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.System) + "\\desk.cpl desk,#Themes /Action:OpenTheme /file:\"" + ThemePath + "\"", ref bTimedOut);
System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(3000);
//Wait for the theme to be set
IntPtr hWndTheming = FindWindow("CabinetWClass", null);
SendMessage(hWndTheming, (uint)WM_CLOSE, 0, 0);
//using (Bitmap bm = CaptureScreenShot())
//{
// Boolean PixelIsGray = true;
// while (PixelIsGray)
// {
// System.Drawing.Color pixel = bm.GetPixel(0, 0)
// }
//}
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
ShowError("An exception occured while setting the theme: " + ex.Message);
return false;
}
return true;
}
I just realized you can double click the theme and it autoswitches it - much simpler, so just executing the theme works, ex batch file:
:: Reactivate my theme after an remote desktop session
:: We must select another theme first before we can select ours again and hence re-activate Aero, please wait..."
#echo Off
"C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\aero.theme"
::echo "Simulating a pause while"
ping 127.0.0.1 -n 10 > null && "D:\Users\danielsokolowski\Windows 7 Aero Themes\`danielsokolowski` Theme (without Glass).theme"
::or ping 127.0.0.1 -n 3 > null && "%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\`danielsokolowski` Theme (without Glass).theme"
For Windows 10 I wrote this simple solution (it can also be used in DSC) in PowerShell
# Apply your theme
& "C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\Brand.theme"
# We need to wait for the theme to be applied
Start-Sleep -s 5
# Close the settings window that is opened by the action above
$window = Get-Process | Where-Object {$_.Name -eq "SystemSettings"}
Stop-Process -Id $window.Id
Okay so here is my take on this - a VB script. It's a bit nasty but the best I could come up with (sadly).
For a user that logs in, we simply run ChangeTheme.vbs as the user logs in (e.g. autorun). The script starts desk.cpl and passes the required parameters to it as well as the name of the selected theme.
One can run the script with or without parameters:
> ChangeTheme.vbs
> ChangeTheme.vbs AnyThemeName
The script:
' ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
'
' Changes the theme.
'
' Name:
' ChangeTheme.vbs
' Parameter 1:
' Theme name e.g. aero or anything
' located in in C:\Windows\Resources\Themes.
' If not present, a default theme will be used.
'
' Example:
' Inside a command line run
' > ChangeTheme.vbs TheThemeName
'
' ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
If(Wscript.Arguments.Count <= 0) Then
' If no parameter was given we set the following theme as default
selectedTheme = "aero"
Else
' Get theme via the first argument
selectedTheme = Wscript.Arguments(0)
End If
' Create WScript shell object
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
' Run the command to open the "theme application" (or whatever)
Set process = WshShell.Exec("rundll32.exe %SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL %SystemRoot%\system32\desk.cpl desk,#Themes /Action:OpenTheme /file:""C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\" & selectedTheme & ".theme""")
' Wait for the application to start
Wscript.Sleep 250
Success = False
maxTries = 20
tryCount = 0
Do Until Success = True
Wscript.Sleep 1000
' Set focus to our application
' If this fails, or the application loses focus, it won't work!
Success = WshShell.AppActivate(process.ProcessId)
tryCount = tryCount + 1
If (tryCount >= maxTries) Then
' If it does not work after maxTries we give up ..
MsgBox("Cannot change theme - max tries exceeded ..")
Exit Do
End If
Loop
' The crucial part: Send keys ALT + B for applying the theme
WshShell.Sendkeys "%(B)"
' Send key "escape" to close the window
WshShell.Sendkeys "{ESCAPE}"
Hope that helps.
It works on Windows 10.
this is my script. It changes the theme and closes the window. I save it to a batch file and run this patch file from TaskScheduler:
C:\WINDOWS\system32\rundll32.exe C:\WINDOWS\system32\themecpl.dll,OpenThemeAction C:\Users\xxx\Misc_computer_stuff\themes\my_fav_gr.theme
TIMEOUT 1 & REM Waits 1 seconds before executing the next command
TASKKILL /F /IM systemsettings.exe & close window
exit
You can simply open any of the .theme files present in C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\ to change the theme.
The only catch is that the settings app is also opened after this. But we can kill it using Stop-Process in PowerShell
Invoke-Expression "C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\<theme_name>.theme"
Start-Sleep -Seconds 2
Stop-Process -Name SystemSettings
For Example:
Invoke-Expression "C:\Windows\Resources\Themes\dark.theme"
I would like to be able to set "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor" via code. A PowerShell script would be ideal. WMI seems the way forward but I have zero knowledge in WMI.
Windows 7, 8 and 10 are supposed to come with a small program that does exactly this: displayswitch.exe. This page lists the following parameters:
displayswitch.exe /internal Disconnect projector (same as "Show only on 1" from the Display Properties dialog)
displayswitch.exe /clone Duplicate screen
displayswitch.exe /extend Extend screen
displayswitch.exe /external Projector only (disconnect local) (same as "Show only on 2" from the Display Properties dialog)
For a one-click solution to the problem posed, simply create a *.bat-file containing the single line
call displayswitch.exe /extend
and save it to your desktop.
[I tested this on Windows 8.1, and it has been confirmed to work on Windows 10.]
I've made a cleaner version that does not use sendkeys.
public class DisplayHelper
{
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
static extern DISP_CHANGE ChangeDisplaySettings(uint lpDevMode, uint dwflags);
[DllImport("user32.dll")]
static extern bool EnumDisplayDevices(string lpDevice, uint iDevNum, ref DISPLAY_DEVICE lpDisplayDevice, uint dwFlags);
enum DISP_CHANGE : int
{
Successful = 0,
Restart = 1,
Failed = -1,
BadMode = -2,
NotUpdated = -3,
BadFlags = -4,
BadParam = -5,
BadDualView = -1
}
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, CharSet = CharSet.Ansi)]
struct DISPLAY_DEVICE
{
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.U4)]
public int cb;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 32)]
public string DeviceName;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 128)]
public string DeviceString;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.U4)]
public DisplayDeviceStateFlags StateFlags;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 128)]
public string DeviceID;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = 128)]
public string DeviceKey;
}
[Flags()]
enum DisplayDeviceStateFlags : int
{
/// <summary>The device is part of the desktop.</summary>
AttachedToDesktop = 0x1,
MultiDriver = 0x2,
/// <summary>The device is part of the desktop.</summary>
PrimaryDevice = 0x4,
/// <summary>Represents a pseudo device used to mirror application drawing for remoting or other purposes.</summary>
MirroringDriver = 0x8,
/// <summary>The device is VGA compatible.</summary>
VGACompatible = 0x16,
/// <summary>The device is removable; it cannot be the primary display.</summary>
Removable = 0x20,
/// <summary>The device has more display modes than its output devices support.</summary>
ModesPruned = 0x8000000,
Remote = 0x4000000,
Disconnect = 0x2000000
}
public static void EnableSecondaryDisplay()
{
var secondaryIndex = 1;
var secondary = GetDisplayDevice(secondaryIndex);
var id = secondary.DeviceKey.Split('\\')[7];
using (var key = Registry.CurrentConfig.OpenSubKey(string.Format(#"System\CurrentControlSet\Control\VIDEO\{0}", id), true))
{
using (var subkey = key.CreateSubKey("000" + secondaryIndex))
{
subkey.SetValue("Attach.ToDesktop", 1, RegistryValueKind.DWord);
subkey.SetValue("Attach.RelativeX", 1024, RegistryValueKind.DWord);
subkey.SetValue("DefaultSettings.XResolution", 1024, RegistryValueKind.DWord);
subkey.SetValue("DefaultSettings.YResolution", 768, RegistryValueKind.DWord);
subkey.SetValue("DefaultSettings.BitsPerPel", 32, RegistryValueKind.DWord);
}
}
ChangeDisplaySettings(0, 0);
}
private static DISPLAY_DEVICE GetDisplayDevice(int id)
{
var d = new DISPLAY_DEVICE();
d.cb = Marshal.SizeOf(d);
if (!EnumDisplayDevices(null, (uint)id, ref d, 0))
throw new NotSupportedException("Could not find a monitor with id " + id);
return d;
}
}
I have only tested this on a newly installed computer.
This sort of operation is not directly accessible from PowerShell in the sense that there is not a .NET interface to these settings. A lot of core OS stuff is unmanaged code which can only be manipulated via win32 API calls. While you may be on to something with WMI, I searched for a while and wasn't able to find a satisfactory WMI class which is able to manipulate this setting.
The next step would be to modify the registry directly. It looks like the setting lies under HKLM:\system\CurrentControlSet\control\video--somewhere. I believe it's the one called "Attach.ToDesktop".
This is a partial solution, so I'm marking as community wiki answer.
I'm not certain this is the right registry key, and I don't have a system on which I can test multi-monitor at the moment. The purpose of this is to determine which is the primary controller, and then it outputs the value of the Attach.ToDesktop key.
param (
$ControllerName = "$( throw 'ControllerName is a mandatory parameter' )"
)
$regPath = "HKLM:\system\CurrentControlSet\control\video"
$devDescStr = "Device Description"
Set-Location -path $regPath
$regSubKey = Get-ChildItem -recurse -include 0000
$devDescProperty = $regSubKey | Get-ItemProperty -name $devDescStr -erroraction SilentlyContinue
$priDescProperty = $devDescProperty | Where-Object { $_.$devDescStr -match $ControllerName }
Set-Location -path $priDescProperty.PSPath
Get-ItemProperty -path . -name "Attach.ToDesktop"
One first possible solution is... through the GUI (but without user interaction)
VB script (also described here but in Autoit language):
Option Explicit
Dim WshShell, Dummy, Splash
On Error Resume Next
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
'Main
Call DoIt
WScript.Quit
Sub DoIt
wshshell.Run("%systemroot%\system32\control.exe desk.cpl,#0,3")
' Give Display Properties time to load
WScript.Sleep 1000
WshShell.SendKeys "2"
WScript.Sleep 10
WshShell.SendKeys "%E"
WScript.Sleep 500
WshShell.SendKeys "%A"
WshShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"
WshShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"
WshShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"
WshShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"
WshShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"
WshShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"
WshShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"
WshShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"
WshShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"
WshShell.SendKeys "{TAB}"
WshShell.SendKeys "{ENTER}"
End Sub 'DoIt
In Autoit, that would be:
;
; — toggle-screen.au3
;
; exec cpanel app `display settings`
Run(”C:\WINDOWS\system32\control.exe desk.cpl,#0,3?”)
; wait for window to be active
WinWaitActive(”Display Settings”)
; select 2nd display
Send(”{TAB}”)
Send(”{DOWN}”)
; work back to the ‘extend desktop’ control
Send(”+{TAB}”)
Send(”+{TAB}”)
Send(”+{TAB}”)
Send(”+{TAB}”)
Send(”+{TAB}”)
Send(”+{TAB}”)
Send(”+{TAB}”)
Send(”+{TAB}”)
Send(”+{TAB}”)
; toggle ‘extend desktop’ control and apply
Send(”{SPACE}”)
Send(”{ENTER}”)
; wait for window to be active
WinWaitActive(”Display Settings”)
; accept
Send(”{TAB}”)
Send(”{ENTER}”)
;
; — E.O.F.
;
2 lines in autohotkey
2nd display on:
RunWait C:\Windows\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /extend
2nd display off:
RunWait C:\Windows\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /internal
-
#NoEnv ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases.
; #Warn ; Enable warnings to assist with detecting common errors.
SendMode Input ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability.
#Persistent
Any1stKeyUWantToTurnOn::RunWait C:\Windows\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /extend
Any2stKeyUWantToTurnOff::RunWait C:\Windows\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe /internal
or
You can check and try out my tool on github / BNK3R-Boy / DisplaySwitch. I published it right now.
Here's another solution, in C# (via how to set primary monitor for Windows-7, in C#):
[Flags]
public enum SetDisplayConfigFlags : uint
{
SDC_TOPOLOGY_INTERNAL = 0x00000001,
SDC_TOPOLOGY_CLONE = 0x00000002,
SDC_TOPOLOGY_EXTEND = 0x00000004,
SDC_TOPOLOGY_EXTERNAL = 0x00000008,
SDC_APPLY = 0x00000080
}
[DllImport("user32.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
private static extern long SetDisplayConfig(uint numPathArrayElements,
IntPtr pathArray, uint numModeArrayElements, IntPtr modeArray, SetDisplayConfigFlags flags);
static void CloneDisplays() {
SetDisplayConfig(0, IntPtr.Zero, 0, IntPtr.Zero, SetDisplayConfigFlags.SDC_TOPOLOGY_CLONE | SetDisplayConfigFlags.SDC_APPLY);
}
static void ExtendDisplays() {
SetDisplayConfig(0, IntPtr.Zero, 0, IntPtr.Zero, SetDisplayConfigFlags.SDC_TOPOLOGY_EXTEND | SetDisplayConfigFlags.SDC_APPLY);
}
static void ExternalDisplay() {
SetDisplayConfig(0, IntPtr.Zero, 0, IntPtr.Zero, SetDisplayConfigFlags.SDC_TOPOLOGY_EXTERNAL | SetDisplayConfigFlags.SDC_APPLY);
}
static void InternalDisplay() {
SetDisplayConfig(0, IntPtr.Zero, 0, IntPtr.Zero, SetDisplayConfigFlags.SDC_TOPOLOGY_INTERNAL | SetDisplayConfigFlags.SDC_APPLY);
}
Here is my AutoIt-Script for switching monitors as my ATI graphics card doesn't allow me to have 3 monitors active at the same time. I have 2 monitors attached and a TV. This script is doing what VonC's script does but in a more effective and faster way.
Run("C:\WINDOWS\system32\control.exe desk.cpl", "C:\Windows\system32\")
WinWait("Screen Resolution")
ControlCommand("Screen Resolution", "", "ComboBox1", "SetCurrentSelection", "SAMSUNG")
if (ControlCommand("Screen Resolution", "", "ComboBox3", "GetCurrentSelection", "") = "Disconnect this display") Then
ControlCommand("Screen Resolution", "", "ComboBox1", "SetCurrentSelection", "2")
ControlCommand("Screen Resolution", "", "ComboBox3", "SetCurrentSelection", "3")
ControlCommand("Screen Resolution", "", "ComboBox1", "SetCurrentSelection", "0")
ControlCommand("Screen Resolution", "", "ComboBox3", "SetCurrentSelection", "1")
ControlClick("Screen Resolution", "", "Button4")
WinWait("Display Settings")
ControlClick("Display Settings", "", "Button1")
Else
ControlCommand("Screen Resolution", "", "ComboBox3", "SetCurrentSelection", "3")
ControlCommand("Screen Resolution", "", "ComboBox1", "SetCurrentSelection", "2")
ControlCommand("Screen Resolution", "", "ComboBox3", "SetCurrentSelection", "1")
ControlClick("Screen Resolution", "", "Button4")
WinWait("Display Settings")
ControlClick("Display Settings", "", "Button1")
EndIf
Just replace "SAMSUNG" with your third monitors/tvs name and you're all set!
As you surely know you can convert it to an executable which runs on any machine even without AutoIt installed.
I had to made some small modifications to get VonC's script to work on my machine. It is now a little more generic.
;
; — toggle-screen2.au3
;
#include <WinAPI.au3>
; exec cpanel app `display settings`
Run(_WinAPI_ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%windir%") & "\system32\control.exe desk.cpl,#0,3?")
; wait for window to be active
WinWaitActive("Display Properties")
; select 2nd display
Send("!d")
Send("{DOWN}")
; toggle the ‘extend desktop’ checkbox
Send("!e")
; close the dialog
Send("{ENTER}")
windows key + P button will do the same thing