Hide App from Task Manager

alemrantareq · Post by **alemrantareq** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 5:40 pm

Hi everybody,
Is there any idea to hide app name from application and process tab in task manager of windows xp. I found a soft (Lock My PC) and it can hide itself from task manager.

shadowslash · Post by **shadowslash** » Tue Jul 07, 2009 7:45 pm

The probable approach is that it uses a *.sys file which is NEVER shown in Task Manager. The "program" you may be seeing might just be a typical program which is called by the *.sys file.

alemrantareq · Post by **alemrantareq** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 5:16 am

Thanks for replying. How can I make a .sys file to call my app? pls, help me.

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 7:37 am

Hi alemrantareq,

Just out of curiosity, why do you want this?

Best,

Mark

alemrantareq · Post by **alemrantareq** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 10:52 am

I made an app which needs password to open and exit, so I dont want to get anyone can kill my app without pass using task manager

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 11:55 am

alemrantareq,

Does it run on your own computer only? I wouldn't want to lose control over the applications that run on my computer. What if your programme doesn't quit properly and needs to be aborted manually? Your users would be forced to hit the reset button and may never run your software ever again!

Best,

Mark

alemrantareq · Post by **alemrantareq** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 2:20 pm

I give a time to my app and after that time it makes my pc log off. I use this to control my brother's playing time. He knows how to kill my app using task manager. So, I need to give my app more security. Now, pls help me to hide my app from task manager. Two of my friends also like my app.

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 2:29 pm

alemrantareq,

That sounds like a valid use. I'm glad it is not intended for general distribution.

I searched a little on the 'net and found the following code here:

Code: Select all

sub command1_click()
x.hideMyProcess
end sub

I reckon, if you create a new VBS file, which first hides itself and then starts up your Revolution standalone, the VB process and the Rev standalone might be hidden. Your VB process won't probably quit until the Rev standalone quits.

I haven't tried this, I might be completely wrong on this one and you should probably look a bit around more on the 'net to get this done.

Best,

Mark

alemrantareq · Post by **alemrantareq** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 3:10 pm

Thanks Mark,
At first, I made a custom properties "cVBScript" for my stack and put your code into it. Then I made the following script for my stack -

Code: Select all

on preOpenStack
  put specialFolderPath(37) & "/cVBScript.vbs" into tVBSfile
  put the cVBScript of me into url ("file:" & tVBSfile)
  set the hideConsoleWindows to true
  get shell("cscript.exe //nologo" && quote & tVBSfile & quote)
end preOpenStack

But its not working. I use rev studio 2.8.1. What should I do?

SparkOut · Post by **SparkOut** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 4:59 pm

The code referred to above is VB, not VBScript. I'm not aware of a way to make VBScript hide a process in this manner.
You could try installing the app as a system service which should prevent it being listed in the running applications list. (See http://forums.runrev.com/phpBB2/viewtop ... 0255#10255) The process itself will still be accessible though, and if he's running an administrator account then he can still stop it.

n.allan · Post by **n.allan** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 2:57 pm

another option could be to call your app something inconspicuous like rundll32.exe or svchost or if that is frowed upon, you could call it services.exe or service.exe.

sturgis · Post by **sturgis** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 3:52 pm

Yet another way is to come at it from a completely different direction.

If you're on windows XP, give your brother a seperate account and don't give him your password, then use the net user command to define allowable login times. Don't give his account admin rights of course. Login on your admin account, run the command defining allowable login times, log your account out, and turn brother loose.
Here is a link explaining this a little.
http://www.bloggersbase.com/computers/s ... indows-xp/

If you're on vista of course, you can use the built in controls to manage this sort of thing.

Yet another option is that if you only want to restrict network acces to the same hours every day, you can setup your router to deny access to the internet from your ip/mac address after say.. 8:00. This would restrict you too, but you could always log back in to the router and open things back up when you want to use the system after hours.

n.allan wrote:another option could be to call your app something inconspicuous like rundll32.exe or svchost or if that is frowed upon, you could call it services.exe or service.exe.