Im making a kind of information terminal, is there a way to start my program instead windows 7 desktop? Not together but only my exe program.
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By desktop, do you mean the explorer.exe? Or you do not want the "desktop" as in the wallpapaer? – Austin T French Nov 13 '13 at 17:27
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Right there.. i dont want desktop wall-paper and dont want task bar too – Filipe Tagliacozzi Nov 13 '13 at 17:29
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1@FilipeTagliacozzi - Please update your question so its clear what you want exactly. – Ramhound Nov 13 '13 at 17:36
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Yes, you can change the default shell by editing the registry value
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell
and set it to the executable for your desired shell (powershell.exe for instance). Note that MS does not support shell replacement, and it is likely that most applications will not satisfactorilly replace the shell, so if you have trouble, be prepared to revert the setting using an offline registry editor.
http://www.somethingsomewhere.net/change-default-shell-of-windows-7/
Frank Thomas
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1It worked very well.. I reversed this change by hitting ctrl-alt-del then "file" , "run" , then typed "explorer.exe" then going to c:\windows\regedit.exe.. tnx.. May you edit my question to it become more clear? – Filipe Tagliacozzi Nov 13 '13 at 19:01
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What you are referring to is Explorer.exe, Windows Shell.
There are two ways to do this, one is an approximation and another is how applications like BBLean are used as the startup and default shell.
Do notice that this can be slightly risky, and may cause programs to break that rely on the Explorer shell.
Approximation Method Write a batch script that you can drop in the Startup folder or run on command.
taskkill /im explorer.exe
start C:\Path\Application
Alternatively, to actually replace what shell starts at startup (Icons, taskbar)
1) open regedit (start menu > run, and type in regedit) 2) go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. 3) Change Shell from explorer.exe to the new shell path e.g C:\your prgm dir\yourprogram.exe.
4) log out and log back in.
Changing the default shell (only current user):
1) open regedit (start menu > run, and type in regedit). 2) go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. 3) add a new string value (Edit > New > String Value) called shell. and set the value to the path of the new shell e.g C:\your prgm dir\yourprogram.exe.
You will still have a "desktop" with either method, but you will not have icons or a picture. If you want to finish the illusion of no desktop, just get rid of the wall paper by changing it to a solid color or a custom image.
Austin T French
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