Minimized application disappeared if explorer is not running

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Under Windows NT, if the explorer is not running (i.e. killed), all minimized
applications will appear at the bottom of the screen as an title bar.
Is there anyway to have this behave the same as NT under Windows XP?
Thanks Kindly
 
Not that I know of.

explorer.exe has to be running in order to even see the Taskbar. You have
to restart explorer.exe to see the running apps in the Taskbar.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
Hi Wesley,

Thanks for the reply.

Actually, I don't even want the task bar to be present. All I wanted is to
have only my applications showing, no desktop, no task bar and nothing else.
However to easily switch between applications (without using ALT-TAB, no
keyboard, only mouse) is to minimise the current application and maximise the
another. Having a "title bar" at the bottom of the screen for minimised
applications(as what NT does), user can easily tell how many application are
there, and click to the one he/she wanted.

anymore ideas? I don't want the explorer to run, otherwise they can get into
the files and etc ...
 
Very strange request, you do not want the explorer shell to run at all??
There are other shell's you can run when Windows starts such as Internet
Explorer or some third parties programs.

I would advise you not to do this but you could remove this registry entry
so the Explorer shell win not run at login.

[HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
Name: Shell
Type: REG_SZ
Value: Explorer.exe

Remove Explorer.exe and leave the line blank. You could put any program in
this entry including the path to the program, so when you logon the program
will start and be visible. But I fail to see the logic in this. Good Luck.
 
Which version of NT are you referring to?

Windows XP is really Windows NT 5.1.

Actually you can do what you want. explorer.exe is not running while I type
this. I never tried opening any applications after explorer.exe was killed
before, I never had any reason to, except for the command prompt. But you
can. Trying to open a folder from the Run command results in an error and
explorer.exe starts up.

Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) | Kill explorer.exe | File | New Task
(Run...) | Type in whatever you want to run

Right now I have Outlook Express (msimn.exe), notepad.exe and winword.exe
running. Everything is minimized except for this message. So I have three
minimized buttons, or "title bars", just above where the Taskbar would be if
explorer.exe were running.

Alt + Tab works to switch between applications, but so does using the mouse.

Unless you restrict the use of Task Manager anyone can open anything at all
from the Run command. But if you restrict the use of Task Manager you
cannot start anything.

I don't know why you didn't try any of this yourself.

See WTC's post.

But to add to that, I would imagine that you can start without explore.exe
and start your two applications from
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
although I have no intention of removing explorer from
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
and trying it.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
Thanks all.

The reason for doing this is to restrict the user to have access to other
parts of the machine, except the two applications we provided. I use the
policy editor to disable the "run" command from task manager - the logon user
can use task manager to see what programs are running and stop/kill them, but
should not be able to start any new programs. oh, these two application is
placed at the startup folder for this "user name" only. So they can start up
automatically when logon.

Wesley,

The old system used was NT4, sorry I din't make it clear.
The new system I am testing now is XP sp2. I did tried before post the
message, it didn't work. And I just tried again following your suggestions
and still no luck. I was hoping these is some setting I can set to enable
this feature.

Is your Xp with sp2 as well?
 
Thanks William,

I need that for security reason, also for users don't use computer that
much, it is easy for them to just have couple of BIG Buttons on the screen to
click on, rather than all the other pieces laying around on the desktop to
confuse them.


WTC said:
Very strange request, you do not want the explorer shell to run at all??
There are other shell's you can run when Windows starts such as Internet
Explorer or some third parties programs.

I would advise you not to do this but you could remove this registry entry
so the Explorer shell win not run at login.

[HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
Name: Shell
Type: REG_SZ
Value: Explorer.exe

Remove Explorer.exe and leave the line blank. You could put any program in
this entry including the path to the program, so when you logon the program
will start and be visible. But I fail to see the logic in this. Good Luck.

--
William Crawford
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

Kan said:
Hi Wesley,

Thanks for the reply.

Actually, I don't even want the task bar to be present. All I wanted is to
have only my applications showing, no desktop, no task bar and nothing
else.
However to easily switch between applications (without using ALT-TAB, no
keyboard, only mouse) is to minimise the current application and maximise
the
another. Having a "title bar" at the bottom of the screen for minimised
applications(as what NT does), user can easily tell how many application
are
there, and click to the one he/she wanted.

anymore ideas? I don't want the explorer to run, otherwise they can get
into
the files and etc ...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I have Windows XP Pro SP1. I have no idea what happens with SP2.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
Kan,

I think you might be going the wrong route here about the "security
reasons". I would suggest you learn on how to use the Group Policy Object
editor and NTFS permission for files and folders.

How to set, view, change, or remove file and folder permissions in Windows
XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308418

Using Software Restriction Policies to Protect Against Unauthorized Software
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/rstrplcy.mspx

Local Group Policy
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/.../xp/all/proddocs/en-us/sag_spconcepts_26.mspx

Security and administration
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/.../xp/all/proddocs/en-us/sag_spconcepts_26.mspx

--
William Crawford
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

Kan said:
Thanks William,

I need that for security reason, also for users don't use computer that
much, it is easy for them to just have couple of BIG Buttons on the screen
to
click on, rather than all the other pieces laying around on the desktop to
confuse them.


WTC said:
Very strange request, you do not want the explorer shell to run at all??
There are other shell's you can run when Windows starts such as Internet
Explorer or some third parties programs.

I would advise you not to do this but you could remove this registry
entry
so the Explorer shell win not run at login.

[HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
Name: Shell
Type: REG_SZ
Value: Explorer.exe

Remove Explorer.exe and leave the line blank. You could put any program
in
this entry including the path to the program, so when you logon the
program
will start and be visible. But I fail to see the logic in this. Good
Luck.

--
William Crawford
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

Kan said:
Hi Wesley,

Thanks for the reply.

Actually, I don't even want the task bar to be present. All I wanted is
to
have only my applications showing, no desktop, no task bar and nothing
else.
However to easily switch between applications (without using ALT-TAB,
no
keyboard, only mouse) is to minimise the current application and
maximise
the
another. Having a "title bar" at the bottom of the screen for minimised
applications(as what NT does), user can easily tell how many
application
are
there, and click to the one he/she wanted.

anymore ideas? I don't want the explorer to run, otherwise they can get
into
the files and etc ...


:

Not that I know of.

explorer.exe has to be running in order to even see the Taskbar. You
have
to restart explorer.exe to see the running apps in the Taskbar.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In Kan <[email protected]> hunted and pecked:
Under Windows NT, if the explorer is not running (i.e. killed), all
minimized applications will appear at the bottom of the screen as an
title bar.
Is there anyway to have this behave the same as NT under Windows XP?
Thanks Kindly
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I just tried on a XP Pro Sp1 machine, it works like it "always" does, but not
with SP2.
Do I have to change it back to Sp1?
 
Beats me.

Pretty soon I am going to have to get SP2. MS is pulling Service Pack
Support for SP1 on 17-Sep-2006.

[[Product Name: Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1
General Availability Date: 30-Aug-2002
Service Pack Support Retired: 17-Sep-2006

Product Name: Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2
General Availability Date: 17-Sep-2004
Service Pack Support Retired: Not Applicable See Note
Notes: Support ends either 12 months after the next service pack releases or
at the end of the product's support lifecycle, whichever comes first. Visit
the Lifecycle page to find the support timelines for your particular
product. ]]
from...
Lifecycle Supported Service Packs
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifesupsps

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
Thanks for the comments and links Will.

I do use group policy to set up some of the configurations. e.g. for this
user once they logon, even they can get to the explorer, they will still have
quite limited options to play with the machine. like no run on task manager,
and most stuff are disabled.

We just tested with XP Pro Sp1, it still works, the minimised button/tile
bar still can be seen from the bottom of the screen. However it is not
present under XP Pro sp2, which I have got.

May be Microsoft has this removed or it is not turn on by default. :(


WTC said:
Kan,

I think you might be going the wrong route here about the "security
reasons". I would suggest you learn on how to use the Group Policy Object
editor and NTFS permission for files and folders.

How to set, view, change, or remove file and folder permissions in Windows
XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308418

Using Software Restriction Policies to Protect Against Unauthorized Software
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/rstrplcy.mspx

Local Group Policy
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/.../xp/all/proddocs/en-us/sag_spconcepts_26.mspx

Security and administration
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/.../xp/all/proddocs/en-us/sag_spconcepts_26.mspx

--
William Crawford
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

Kan said:
Thanks William,

I need that for security reason, also for users don't use computer that
much, it is easy for them to just have couple of BIG Buttons on the screen
to
click on, rather than all the other pieces laying around on the desktop to
confuse them.


WTC said:
Very strange request, you do not want the explorer shell to run at all??
There are other shell's you can run when Windows starts such as Internet
Explorer or some third parties programs.

I would advise you not to do this but you could remove this registry
entry
so the Explorer shell win not run at login.

[HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
Name: Shell
Type: REG_SZ
Value: Explorer.exe

Remove Explorer.exe and leave the line blank. You could put any program
in
this entry including the path to the program, so when you logon the
program
will start and be visible. But I fail to see the logic in this. Good
Luck.

--
William Crawford
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

Hi Wesley,

Thanks for the reply.

Actually, I don't even want the task bar to be present. All I wanted is
to
have only my applications showing, no desktop, no task bar and nothing
else.
However to easily switch between applications (without using ALT-TAB,
no
keyboard, only mouse) is to minimise the current application and
maximise
the
another. Having a "title bar" at the bottom of the screen for minimised
applications(as what NT does), user can easily tell how many
application
are
there, and click to the one he/she wanted.

anymore ideas? I don't want the explorer to run, otherwise they can get
into
the files and etc ...


:

Not that I know of.

explorer.exe has to be running in order to even see the Taskbar. You
have
to restart explorer.exe to see the running apps in the Taskbar.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In Kan <[email protected]> hunted and pecked:
Under Windows NT, if the explorer is not running (i.e. killed), all
minimized applications will appear at the bottom of the screen as an
title bar.
Is there anyway to have this behave the same as NT under Windows XP?
Thanks Kindly
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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