WinXP and a clean desktop

[anders@dac.se]

Hi there.
I got a nice little HTPC with a remote. I use the a program called uICE for my remote and it displays the menus right on the windows desktop, it looks a little ugly if the desktop is not clean. I know how to hide the icons, but i also want to hide the startmenu and bar. I know that you can drag the bar out of the screen, but it leaves a litle line left of the bar down in the screen corner, and it irretates me :) Is it anyway to hide it exaktly like the icons?

/Anders

[bilu]

Hi,

I never got into the HTPC stuff, but if you don't know these links you'll find it interesting :)

http://myhtpc.net/

http://www.girder.nl/



Bilu

[anders@dac.se]

i know them :)

Both forums are dedicated to their projects, and dont like threads outside their own applications.

And this is not a general HTPC question, more a windows question howto remove the startmenu and bar (if possible)

/Anders

[qwerpoi]

Ha, what you really want is a replacement for the desktop itself. You see, all the icons on the desktop plus the background wallpaper plus the startbar and startmenu are all controlled by a single program, explorer.exe. This program, referred to as the shell, is one of the first programs loaded up when you start your computer (you can see it in your system.ini file, "shell = explorer.exe"). Well you can change it to be something else, there exists several very well made shell replacements. You can check out some opinions here:

http://shells.loose-screws.com/

My personal suggestion is to use Serenade, it strikes a good balance between customizability and user friendliness. However, just about any shell replacement will give you an icon-free desktop with as many or as few bars as you would like. If changing the shell is too extreme for you, I would suggest using a program called TClock2:

http://home.inreach.com/2tone/tclock2/tclock2.htm

This program simply changes the look of the startbar, startmenu, and desktop icons. If you're running XP or 2000, you can set transparencies and the like, so it should suit your needs just fine. I highly reccomend this program for any PC, not just a HTPC, definitely worth checking out. Hope that helps.

[int 21h]

Anywhere you recommend to get skins for Tclock2? I checked out some of the links from the site, but nothing really struck my fancy.

[qwerpoi]

@int 21h
Sorry, I haven't seen any good skins for TClock2 myself, although I certainly wouldn't say I looked very hard. Probably the best thing to do if you are interesed in a dramatically different look is to use a program like 3cc which changes all the color settings, including the taskbar color. Make sure you try and play around with all of the settings in Tclock2 though, if you haven't already - using small desktop icons, a flat taskbar, and icons only for tasks makes a HUGE difference in the way your Windows will look. If you're looking for an even bigger impact, check out http://wint.virtualplastic.net/ , although it's not for the faint of heart :D .

[Ramirez]

Download this little tool>>(Right Click "Save As") TaskBarHide (http://www.geocities.com/eecrazyone/TaskBarHide.zip) and forget your Taskbar like a bad dream :D,check the readme file for further instruction.

[anders@dac.se]

Thanks. I'll use taskbarhide. Nice little program :) do you know if it's freeware for commercial use?

/Anders

[anders@dac.se]

By the way, is the program memeory resident? I couldnt find it in the task manager after i've executed it.

/Anders

[anders@dac.se]

I've tried to make it start at startup like they say in teh readme

"To run it at startup for all users then include the entire path in the following registry key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run"

But i just dont get it. Should i create a new sring named Run under the key CurrentUser or what? And then give it the atribute "c:\program\tbh.exe" ?

/Anders

[Ramirez]

This program where created by Spenser Schroeder (CrazyOne) and it's copyrighted, no, I don't know how to contact him.:)

No this program isn't memory resident, upon execution it's makes one API call and then quits.

Create One String Value inside the "Run" folder and name it "TaskBarHide" then open it and write within "Edit String" box full path to the TBH.exe. >>

Screenshot (http://www.redzone.co.il/vad/Misc/TBH.png)

[int 21h]

I whipped up a little (20k) alternate utility for you to use free of license restrictions.

http://www.geocities.com/thefrail2k3/t-hide.htm

The first time you run it, it will hide the taskbar and add a key for itself to your registry so it is re-run upon every reboot.

It also has additional, optional commandline parameters. Read the included README for details.

[int 21h]

P.S. - If you need to use the taskbar after this has run, you can press the Windows key (or Control+Escape) to access the Start Menu.

Cheers.

[anders@dac.se]

Thanks! :) I'll try your little program :)

/Anders

EDIT:
Really great that its free, probaly going to bundle it with HTPC's that im going to sell here in sweden. Thanks alot! :D