I'm currently working to disable and lockdown tablets, and am having a hell of a time getting this part disabled. On a touch screen tablet, running windows 8, swiping from the right side of the screen will bring up a charms bar. I want this disabled.
I know this is controlled by a registry value (or multiple values) somewhere, but can't locate them. And I've researched this for hours and hours.
Just a heads up, this has nothing to do with CharmBarHints or the Metro Switcher. This also has nothing to do with my mouse's hardware options. Please, don't give me a fix for a PC running windows 8 that is using a touchpad, it's not the same.
I'm just trying to disable the charms bar for a tablet. Also, I know that windows 8.1 will contain a Kiosk Mode, however that will not be officially released until Oct 17th, and I will be shipping this fix out before then.
Thanks for your help.
You should definitely try going to
1. "COntrol Panel"-> "Mouse" -> "Device Settings" tab-> "Settings" options ->
Uncheck the "Enable Edge Swipes" option
Windows charms bar is operated by explorer.exe. So if your app can run without it then you can hack around it by first disabling the autorestart of explorer.exe via (run as administrator):
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" /v "AutoRestartShell" /t REG_DWORD /d 0
Then the lines below represent my launch.bat - which works in the end as expected:
;; kill explorer (this disables all windows functionalities
taskkill /f /im explorer.exe
;; start your kiosk app - should block the batch execution (so explorer.exe doesn't get executed at the end)
"\path\to\your\app.exe"
;; after you close both the app window and the opened chrome window relaunch explorer.exe to give back the functionality to windows
explorer.exe
I use the approach outlined above to let a keyboardless kiosk app run. Because with a keyboard you can still close the app with alt+f4.
Have you tried this method?
Navigate to the following registry key in Registry Editor:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER>Software>Microsoft>Windows>CurrentVersion>ImmersiveShell
Now go to
ImmersiveShell > New > Key from the context menu, and then name the new Key as EdgeUI.
Right-click the EdgeUI key, point to New, DWORD (32-bit) Value and then name the new DWORD as DisableCharmsHint.
Now double-click the newly created DWORD value, type 1 and click OK. You may also need to reboot Windows for the changes to come into effect.
Once done, it will disable both the top-right and bottom-right hot corners that reveal the Charms Bar.
Source: http://www.techattend.com/disable-charms-bar-in-windows-8-1/
Related
Here is the scenario:
In the Wix install script for our application , start menu shortcuts and desktop shortcuts are now handled differently than before.
These changes causes any user pinned shortcut to the application on the taskbar to be orphaned when a user runs an update from a previous installation. In other words, the shortcut remains but is no longer pointing to anything.
The shortcut is shown as a blank page indicating that the link has been removed. A quick peek at the C:\Users[UserName]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\TaskBar folder confirms this. Clicking on the shortcut will remove it and then show a windows dialog asking whether to remove the shortcut or not (answer has no meaning since it has already been removed).
My question is:
Is there any way to tell the taskbar to remove orphaned shortcuts ?
Preferrably this would be triggered by a custom action in the Wix script after installing the new version.
The roaming profile can move from machine to machine so it's pretty much impossible. About all you could do is leave behind a component that runs on logon and detects that your app is no longer installed and deletes the shortcuts.
I'd consider this user data and let the user worry about it.
I have a touch screen computer with Windows 7 and I would like to disable the multi-touch gesture :
But even if I disable it and apply the changes, when I reopen the window, the option is enabled again...
Any idea where I can disable it for good ? (maybe in the registry...)
Up: still have the problem.
How to disable "multi-touch gestures and inking"
Run \Windows\System32\regedt32 as Administrator
Navigate to HKEY_USERS
Find entry that starts with S-1-5-21-xxxxxxxx
Note there might be a few GUIDS that starts with S-1-5-21.
You need the one that you can drill to
S-1-5-21xx\Software\Microsoft\Wisp
Under Wisp key there should be keys like Pen, Touch,
to indicate you are in the right location
Under Wisp key add additional key MultiTouch
Go inside MultiTouch key and create DWORD
MultiTouchEnabled set to 0
Reboot
I have such problem. I've got Hanvon graphic tablet on a dual-display system. There is an option in tablet settings to select a display to work with, but I do need an opttion to switch monitors on the fly without entering options.
I've found out, that there is some file HWTabletFind.hou that controls the options. So, i've copied two versions of this file - each for one display. And created a *.bat file
#echo off
ren switch.hou temp.hou
ren HWTabletFind.hou switch.hou
ren temp.hou HWTabletFind.hou
taskkill /F /IM Jwpen.exe
start c:\windows\jwpen.exe /runtablet
HWTabletFind.hou is a running options file,
switch.hou are the options for other monitor
jwpen.exe is a process that controlls tablet.
Now the problem: everything works fine, displays are switching. But when I restart jwpen.exe process, all my applications (e.g. Photoshop) do not see my tablet anymore. Tablet works, but in "mouse mode" - no pressure, no tilt, etc. If I restart application, it sees tablet again.
I think, jwpen.exe must run on application initialisation. If it stopps, app thinks, that tablet is disconnected and does not see it again on jwpen.exe start.
Is there a way not to kill and start a process, but to reset it in some way?
If I change display from tablet settings panel, everything works ok. So it's possible to do it via custom script, to run it via hotkey without opening settings.
AutoIt can help to press and click buttons in a script, Autohotkey can do the same by a hotkey, and SENDKEYS via a VBS script can press keys in a GUI too.
I would like to completely remove the Windows 7 taskbar, including tray and start-button, so that the user can not reactivate it by pressing the Windows-key on the keyboard. however, all other explorer functionality (i.e. starting an explorer Window using Windows+E) should remain.
Is it possible to permanently hide the complete taskbar? Maybe there are some registry values on could change in order to make that behaviour selectable using a powershell script?
Thanks a lot
Here be my solution (it hides rather than replaces or removes the native taskbar - this allows it to work with programs that have a dependency on the native taskbar, such as display fusions taskbar).
disable-taskbar-always-top
Still to solve: [HALF SOLVED]
Eliminate the stupid line that auto-hide leaves with some maximized applications, such as Google Chrome
HALF SOLUTION -
If you move the taskbar to the left or right edge prior to doing the above steps, you don't get the stupid auto-hide line at the top or bottom of Google Chrome. Since the native taskbar is not mouse sensitive anymore, it won't impact your use of hot corners, or multi monitors (for instance I have the native taskbar on the left of my middle monitor, and it does not popup when moving between monitors using the steps in this post).
Okay, I think I have finally - finally - got a workaround that:
Keeps the native Windows 7/8 taskbar hidden for your session (you do have a couple of steps you need to do on start-up each time, or if you manually un-hide the taskbar).
Prevents the native Windows 7/8 taskbar from opening with popups or programs seeking attention (flashing taskbar thing).
Prevents the native taskbar from being mouse sensitive (i.e. despite auto-hide, it will not appear when you mouse over the hidden taskbar anymore).
Allows you to use the screen area that is occupied by the native taskbar (this is the problem of not combining Taskbar-Hide with the autohide setting; you can't use that screen real-estate).
Allows you to run alternative taskbars that are dependent on keeping the native taskbar functional (for instance Dislay Fusions Multi-Monitor Taskbar + [Settings >> Advanced Settings ?> 'Show On All Montiors'])
One Time Steps:
1) Download and run this registry edit to prevent balloon notification popups from the native taskbar/system tray:
Notifications - Enable or Disable Message Balloons - Windows 7 Help Forums
(You can open this in notepad to see what changes it will make prior to installing it, if you want).
2) Download and run Taskbar-Hide from here:
Hide Taskbar: Hide Taskbar in Windows 8 | 7 with a hotkey
3) Set the taskbar to auto-hide
Optional:
3) B) Add a shortcut to Taskbar-Hide.exe in your startup folder, to have it launch automatically with windows on startup (you still need to use the Ctrl+Esc hotkeys to activate the functions of taskbar-hide - though you could also script this if you were really keen).
Startup Folder:
C:\Users{User Name}\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
Steps to hide taskbar after each start-up or manually un-hiding using Taskbar-Hide
4) Make sure Taskbar-Hide is running.
5) Make sure the taskbar is in its auto-hide state (i.e. you'll have to look at any programs that are currently seeking attention).
6) Once the taskbar is 'auto-hidden', press the hotkeys for Taskbar-Hide (Ctrl+Esc)
[This should mean that the native taskbar area is no longer sensitive to mouse activity]
One way is to replace the explorer shell with your own shell. This is the a common method done in Windows 7 Embedded.
In older versions of Windows (such as XP) it was possible to specifiy a shell for each user via regedit. I am not sure this is easily possible in Windows 7.
See https://superuser.com/questions/352865/how-do-i-change-the-windows-shell-for-only-one-user
Make an empty exe file and use it as the file to use in your "Custom User Interface" group policy. Additional information here.
I have found another solution that works nearly perfect for me, by just hiding the Taskbar and the Start button by simply sending both the WM_HIDE message:
Handle = FindWindow("Shell_TrayWnd", "");
...
ShowWindow(Handle, SW_SHOW);
The only problem I have with that solution is that the taskbar is not hidden permanently, i.e. as soon as one element is activated that does not have the focus, which on the taskbar leads to the item flashing in yellow, the taskbar gets visible again.
I'm not sure if there is a way to prevent Windows from re-enabling the visible flag of the taskbar in some way, or a method to hook to the SW_SHOW in C# though.
Within the last day, in Internet Explorer 8, the developer tools window will not show up.
When I hit F12 or use menu Tools -> Developer Tools I get the Developer Tools entry in the Task Bar but the actual window will not show up.
It has been running fine for a month or so. I have tried rebooting with no luck.
How do I get a window back on the screen when it moved far, far away?
From the article:
Switch to the application, say by clicking on its taskbar button or by
Alt+Tab'ing to it. Then type Alt+Space to call up the System menu: You
should get a window floating at the edge of the screen. Type M to
select Move, then press an arrow key to enter Move mode.
Additional remark by #WebSolProv:
It would appear that something happens with IE that causes the developer tools window to be shrunk to the height of the header bar and width of about 2 inches. By using this solution you can then move the the window into view and enlarge as usual.
If you are on Windows 7, Windows Key + Up Arrow Key will maximize the window.
Not related to the window issue, but in some companies, this could be due to policies. In such cases, at least for me, it worked after modifying the registry like this
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > POLICIES > MICROSOFT > INTERNET EXPLORER > IEDEVTOOLS
and then modifying the DISABLED value to 0, which was 1 for me previously.
I had same problem on Windows 7 when I went back to single monitor setup after having a dual monitor setup.
Use the Windows 7 keyboard shortcut for moving windows around the screen. You may need to repeat the same combination twice.
Windows Key + Left Arrow
or
Windows Key + Right Arrow
Deleting some registry keys worked for me. Try running this in a prompt
reg delete "hkcu\software\microsoft\internet explorer\iedevtools" /v windowpos
Select by Developer Tools window by ALT+TAB then press ALT+SPACE to show window menu and select Maximize or type 'X' character. The Winow will Show UP.
If the window is off page and out of reach by the cursor you can always right click the program in the task bar, click Move then you can use the arrow keys to move the window back into view
For me the menu item 'tools > developer tools' and F12 would not do anything, however the command bar 'tools' dropdown worked as well as the command bar icon.
Run IE and hit F12 , window appears in taskbar.Right click on taskbar and select maximize. vola!! it will appear