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ejm
October 14th, 1999, 07:47 PM
Is it possible to deactivate the Windows Taskbar? I can make it disappear using SHAppBarMessage and ShowWindow, but if I push the Windows logo key on my keyboard the Start menu pops up anyway. Is it a matter of trapping the Windows logo key up/down event? Tried that too and funnily enough I can see the key down event but not the key up event.

Any and all suggestions welcome.

John
nordyj
November 23rd, 1999, 04:50 PM
If you don't mind, could you please tell me how you went about hiding the taskbar? Can you bring it back when you're done?
Chris Eastwood
November 24th, 1999, 02:23 AM
Checkout the code at http://codeguru.developer.com/vb/articles/1752.shtml

- it allows you to show/hide the taskbar and the icons on your desktop


Chris Eastwood

CodeGuru - the website for developers
http://codeguru.developer.com/vb
Ravi Kiran
November 24th, 1999, 03:41 AM
Cool!!!.. Chris THAT is you :-)

RK
nordyj
November 24th, 1999, 11:09 AM
VERY cool! That's exactly what I needed. Danke Zhen!!
psiclone
November 24th, 1999, 12:54 PM
IMHO, there are quite few ways to disable the Start Menu:

1) Still use FindWindow like you have been doing, but use SendMessage API to actually close the taskbar. I haven't tested this to see if it works, but I'll be interested to know the results. Unfortunately this option is not very attractive as you cannot show the taskbar without logging on again :-(

2) Use the method that you are currently using, but explore flags such as GW_CHILD. I'm not sure if the Start Menu is part of the taskbar, but if it is a bit like a child window some API calls might just disable it.

3) Hide the taskbar and then move it using SetWindowPos API. Move it right off the screen so that the Start Menu appears off-screen. Again, I have not tested this, so I will be interested in the results.

4) Set up a system-wide hotkey for the Windows Key. When pressed it runs a routine that does nothing or displays a message or whatever. Haven't tested this option either, so I don't know if Windows will let you 'pinch' its hotkey. Also, you'll want to register Ctrl+Esc as a hotkey as this also brings up the start menu.

Hope this helps, let me know if any of these work,
psiclone