explorer.exe issue

[GodForsakenSoul]

it's not exactly an issue, and i admit it doesn't entirely belong in this section.

I DO, however require some "general help and support" and it IS related (in a way) to autoit.

i'm making a little program to manage a few files for me.

the managing of files part is done. however, i would prefer it to run BEFORE explorer.exe, or even better, change the settings of my computer to the point that explorer.exe doesn't even load, instead, it loads my program and IT loads explorer.exe on the push of a button.

i know for a fact that there's an ini with something like

[ExecuteShell]=explorer.exe

written in it.

problem is that i don't know what happens if i change it into

[ExecuteShell]=myProgram.exe

i'm also afraid that the change, whatever may it be, will be irreversible, and i'll have to transplant my HD into another computer to edit that ini back.

is there a way to have windows load everything EXCEPT explorer.exe, load MY PROGRAM instead, and let IT load explorer.exe?

[Mat]

RegWrite("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon", "Shell", "REG_SZ", "MyProg.exe")

Not tested but thats the key.

Edit: The above example changes the setting for all users. "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon" is for the current user.

Edit2: Not loading explorer.exe is not the end of the world, just launch task manager and go to "File => New Task(Run...)" and that will bring up the usual run dialog. Type in explorer.exe there.

Edited January 16, 2010 by Mat

[KaFu]

Win Startup run sequence

Maybe adding an entry to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices" will do? I'm not sure if you need to apply something like _Service_ UDF() to the program first to make it run from that entry, guess so .

[GodForsakenSoul]

so, basically, if i disable explorer.exe, it'll just load everything as if i disabled it from task manager?

point is, that a link to the program will sit in the startup folder (since i'm kinda scared of messing with the registry).

will it run the startup folder when i disable explorer.exe via the registry key?

[Mat]

All I'm saying is that explorer.exe is just taskbar and the file explorer windows. If you are scared then download something like FreeCommander. To run programs you can use Task Manager, and you can access the directory structure through there in a FileOpenDialog. So changing that key will not do any damage. I once had explorer.exe deleted from my computer (trying to mess around with styling it), and it is pretty scary. But the good news is that everything is working, you just don't have the user interface that we have grown used to. I managed to copy it off my brothers computer onto a pen drive, and just copy that into the windows directory.

I don't know if it will run the startup folder, or if that is done by explorer.exe, but if you change the key to your program it will think your program is explorer.exe.

And yes, disabling it through the registry is the same as ending the process, only it won't try and re-run itself

Edited January 16, 2010 by Mat

[GodForsakenSoul]

final question before i go for it.

if i do the registry thing, will i be able to {winkey}+R to start up regedit.exe?

[Mat]

Winkey + r never opens regedit... It opens run.

To get to the registry just do the task manager trick and type Regedit into the run box.

Make sure before you start that you only write to that one key, and that the key is correct. It won't take effect until you restart, so go to the registry and check the value has written.

You could make an au3 script run on windows start with some simple functions like Run("Explorer.exe") and undo the registry changes.

Mat