ProcessExists("Explorer.exe") - PID w/o Shell?

[Marcus]

Here's a stumper.

>ProcessExists("Explorer.exe") will return a PID even when the shell isn't deployed.

AND

>WinExists("Explorer.exe") will return 0 whether or not the shell is up.

Looking for a way to reliably detect whether or not the Explorer is actually running as the shell (not just set in the system.ini or registry) in Windows with au3.

Any thoughts???

Thanks folks!

[MHz]

You could try to use one of the windows that explorer (shell) uses constantly. This example shows the taskbar, which displays it to hide for 5 seconds, then show it again. This has been tested on XP Pro.

Opt("WinTitleMatchMode", 4)

$handle = 'classname=Shell_TrayWnd'

If WinExists($handle) Then
    WinSetState($handle, '', @SW_HIDE)
    Sleep(5000)
EndIf

If WinExists($handle) Then
    WinSetState($handle, '', @SW_SHOW)
EndIf

A utility to locate these hidden windows can be found here at Nirsoft.

[CyberSlug]

Looking for a way to reliably detect whether or not the Explorer is actually running as the shell (not just set in the system.ini or registry) in Windows with au3.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'd still check the registry and ini keys...

For WinXP, it's $shell = RegRead("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon", "Shell")

I believe the keys need to be set in order for the shell to work, but I could be wrong. I tried out some shell switcher program a few years ago, but I can't remember the name.

[Marcus]

@MHz:

Thanks for the tip . . .

Question: Why do we need to hide and then show the taskbar (if the shell is dead, the taskbar process should not exist???) to determine if it is viable?

Wouldn't this work as reliably:

Opt("WinTitleMatchMode", 4)

$handle = 'classname=Shell_TrayWnd'

If WinExists($handle) Then
   ;Do something to let the world know that Mr. Gates is on the prowl...
EndIf

???

Thanks for the terrific input!

@CyberSlug:

Already got that in the code ... can change that (shell) value on the fly after boot -- Explorer may or may not have been invoked by the time a read is done

Thanks for the help!

[DaleHohm]

With the new beta you can use COM to get a collection of the shell objects and then figure out all sorts of things about them:

Dim $ObjShell = ObjCreate("Shell.Application")
Dim $ObjShellWindows = $ObjShell.Windows(); collection of all ShellWindows (IE and File Explorer)
For $item = 0 to ($ObjShellWindows.count - 1)
    $ObjIE = $ObjShellWindows.item($item); this is an InternetExplorer object
etc.

More information of the properties of the returned objects here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default....netexplorer.asp

Dale

[Marcus]

Thanks, Dale!

Looks like there's good stuff in that litterbox.

Need to get out my copy of the beta and scruff it up a bit

BTW -- Any ETA on the final???