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meridius · 2011-11-15, 09:30

Hi there was looking to boot xbmc and to stop xbmc lossing focus.

Q1 Will this fix the lossing focus problem
Q2 will it still load the ati gfx settings
Q3 how do use your script, in the startup folder ?

Thanks. Ang other tips or important info I am using windows 7 64bit.

**Raytestrak** · 2011-11-15, 10:35

meridius Wrote:Hi there was looking to boot xbmc and to stop xbmc lossing focus.

Q1 Will this fix the lossing focus problem
Q2 will it still load the ati gfx settings
Q3 how do use your script, in the startup folder ?

Thanks. Ang other tips or important info I am using windows 7 64bit.

I can only answer for my solution.

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Via Local Group Policies (or set the cmd as shell in the registry).

Jpaytoncfd · 2011-11-28, 03:47

Robbio85 Wrote:I have it working in Windows 7 Ultimate using a local policy that only applies to my user account. The policy tells Windows to use XBMC as my shell instead of Explorer (so there's no start menu, just a wallpaper). This way XBMC is instantly launched upon (automatic) user log in.

Step 2 only works on Windows 7 Ultimate, Enterprise and Professional! (The group policy object editor is not available in other versions, thanks M$)

1. Setting up your user account to log in automatically
Log in as administrator.

Open the start menu, and type in the search box: netplwiz <ENTER>.

Uncheck Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer and hit Apply.

A window will pop up asking for the user name and password of the user account which should log in automatically. Supply all the information and hit OK.

Next time you restart, the account selected in step 1 will log on automatically. Now you can setup this account to use XBMC as shell instead of Explorer:

2. Set XBMC as shell for a specific user account
Log in as administrator.

Open the start menu, and type in the search box: mmc <ENTER>.

Choose File -> Add/Remove Snap-in....

Select Group Policy Object Editor and hit Add.

In the wizard that pops up, hit Browse..., go to tab Users, select your user account (the one that you set up to log on automatically in step 1) and hit OK.

Make sure that the checkbox in the wizard is Unchecked, and hit Finish.

Hit OK in the Add/Remove Snap-ins window.

In the User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System folder, open Custom User Interface.

Select Enabled and enter the full path (including XBMC.exe and any switches that you may use) in the Interface file name textbox.

Hit OK and reboot your system. It should now log in and start XBMC automatically without showing the start menu and icons first

This site has a GPedit installer that worked for me. I am using gpedit on windows 7 starter.

Jpaytoncfd · 2011-11-28, 03:59

Jpaytoncfd Wrote:This site has a GPedit installer that worked for me. I am using gpedit on windows 7 starter.

Just realized it might help to add the link,
http://thecustomizewindows.com/2011/07/g...um-enable/

jj0076 · 2011-11-30, 16:12

I've had a good read of this thread over the last few days as this is something I was very keen to achieve and was suffering from the loss of focus issue associated with putting xbmc.exe or a shortcut into the win7 startup folder.

I ended up a solution that I don't think has been posted so far so I thought I would share mainly so that people have another alternative available.

I'm running win7 home premium on my main box but have only tested this on a win7 pro test rig, so please shout me down if there are problems ;-)

In a nutshell, I added the registry key suggested earlier in this post:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon] with the shell value set to C:\program files\xbmc\xbmc.exe but I put it under HKEY_CURRENT_USER rather than HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.

What you end up with by doing it this way is a user account that boots direct to xbmc yet maintains the ability for other accounts on the machine to boot into a standard shell. The xbmc shell user account can be set to default so there is no need to choose an account on logging in.

The other advantage I found with this method is that when you change the entry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and exit xbmc back to a blank screen, if you launch explorer.exe from the task manager you do not get the start menu and taskbar back. However when the value is changed under HKEY_CURRENT_USER the start menu and taskbar will return when you launc explorer.exe.

Result is a box that boots direct to xbmc with no need for 3rd party software or modifications and maintains the ability for normal pc use if needed. I've set chrome browser and itunes to launch via advanced launcher shortcuts on my xbmc home menu so never really need to exit out to task manager.

Final random thought....going to see if advanced launcher will allow me to launch explorer.exe from within xbmc giving me the ability to get back to a normal desktop if needed without needing to bring up task manager. Will post an update if anyone is interested??

Oh, and thanks for the thread so far...I wouldn't have my system anywhere near this stage without the info posted previously :-)

Burke · 2011-12-20, 11:26

NotShorty Wrote:Hey guys, running into a few problems here trying to get my seamless xbmc startup going. Server 2008 R2, hardware listed in signature.

Everything works perfect using explorer.exe as shell, eventghost set to start on system startup, and xbmc set to autostart via eventghost.

Almost perfect using Group Policy Object Editor method: only problem is that I'm unable to sleep/wake or shutdown the computer, even if hitting ctrl alt del and hitting the shutdown button from the lock screen (weird, right?)

Using the eventghost as shell method, everything seems to load fine, but my MCE remote doesn't work at all. Alt-tabbing to eventghost shows that it's not even "seeing" the key presses, which it did without problem when explorer.exe is the shell. Oh, still no sleep/wake or shutdown either...

Suggestions please! :o

NS

1. MCE remote doesn't work at all. - you shold run windows wit explorer on, start task manager and see what processes are ruining - for mce, then use eventghost to start those processes (or servicess if needed)

2. still no sleep/wake or shutdown either... server OS is ment to be running 24/7/365 there is no option to hyb or sleep server because you have no use of server that is not on Huh

server further more needs a reason to be shutdown or restarted (text you input in shut down screen) - you can bypass this by entering in this lin cmd: shutdown /s /t 0 0=zero for shutdown or shutdown /r /t O for restart - you could setup eventghost to run this commands or bat files with them
if you ask me its totaly wrong os for media center

mirage_19 · 2012-01-07, 01:19

Raytestrak Wrote:I personally run a .cmd file of .bat file which starts xbmc and then explorer.exe. This way, xbmc starts directly after windows loads and when I exit xbmc I still get my explorer. This is the easiest way without making use of extra software like eventghost.

Hi Raytestrak,

can you post your settings, please. Do you start you *.cmd over the custom user-interface (gpedit.msc)?

regards
mirage

**Raytestrak** · (This post was last modified: 2012-01-07, 13:16 by Raytestrak.)

mirage_19 Wrote:Hi Raytestrak,

can you post your settings, please. Do you start you *.cmd over the custom user-interface (gpedit.msc)?

regards
mirage

Yes, I start my cmd via the local group policy.

It's been updated a bit, I now start a .cmd file which starts a vbs, which starts xbmc and when I exit xbmc it starts the explorer. This way, you don't see the cmd window when exiting xbmc.

xbmc.cmd code:

Code:
@ECHO OFF

SET SourceDir=%~dp0

PUSHD "%SourceDir%"

start /max wscript.exe xbmc.vbs

xbmc.vbs code:

Code:
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

Documents = wshShell.SpecialFolders("MyDocuments")

Return = WshShell.Run(chr(34) & Documents & "\XBMC\XBMC.exe" & chr(34) & " -p -fs", 3 ,true)

WshShell.Run("explorer.exe")

I run my xbmc in portable mode from My Documents\xbmc, to avoid UAC issues. xbmc.cmd and xbmc.vbs need to be in the same folder.

Hopes this helps.

mirage_19 · (This post was last modified: 2012-01-07, 16:07 by mirage_19.)

Raytestrak Wrote:Yes, I start my cmd via the local group policy.

It's been updated a bit, I now start a .cmd file which starts a vbs, which starts xbmc and when I exit xbmc it starts the explorer. This way, you don't see the cmd window when exiting xbmc.

xbmc.cmd code:

Code:
@ECHO OFF SET SourceDir=%~dp0 PUSHD "%SourceDir%" start /max wscript.exe xbmc.vbs

xbmc.vbs code:

Code:
Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") Documents = wshShell.SpecialFolders("MyDocuments") Return = WshShell.Run(chr(34) & Documents & "\XBMC\XBMC.exe" & chr(34) & " -p -fs", 3 ,true) WshShell.Run("explorer.exe")

I run my xbmc in portable mode from My Documents\xbmc, to avoid UAC issues. xbmc.cmd and xbmc.vbs need to be in the same folder.

Hopes this helps.

Realy thanks for these settings.

regards and happy WE.
mirage

P.S.

My XBMC start from c:\program files\xmbc\xbmc.exe
Do I need to change your settings a bit so it works for me?

**Raytestrak** · 2012-01-08, 12:28

Yes, my settings point to the my documents folder, so you need to change that to the program files folder.

davidcom · 2012-01-11, 13:00

Hi Raytestrak,

I used your xbmc.cmd method. It works great. I have a question:

When I start it this way, my htpc doesn't show up in my network. I suppose it's because explorer.exe hasn't yet launched. Is that correct? Is there a way that I could use your method and still have my htpc show up in my network? Like maybe have explorer launch in the background?

Thanks for any help you could give.

**Raytestrak** · 2012-01-11, 14:09

That's strange, I can see my htpc just fine. I've shared my xbmc folder and I see it from my laptop.

Zeee1 · 2012-01-24, 06:12

Thank you guys some much. I finally figured it out.

Zeee1

Danielocean · 2012-10-19, 12:36

(2010-05-18, 21:12)Robbio85 Wrote: I have it working in Windows 7 Ultimate using a local policy that only applies to my user account. The policy tells Windows to use XBMC as my shell instead of Explorer (so there's no start menu, just a wallpaper). This way XBMC is instantly launched upon (automatic) user log in.

Step 2 only works on Windows 7 Ultimate, Enterprise and Professional! (The group policy object editor is not available in other versions, thanks M$)

1. Setting up your user account to log in automatically
Log in as administrator.

Open the start menu, and type in the search box: netplwiz <ENTER>.

Uncheck Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer and hit Apply.

A window will pop up asking for the user name and password of the user account which should log in automatically. Supply all the information and hit OK.

Next time you restart, the account selected in step 1 will log on automatically. Now you can setup this account to use XBMC as shell instead of Explorer:

2. Set XBMC as shell for a specific user account
Log in as administrator.

Open the start menu, and type in the search box: mmc <ENTER>.

Choose File -> Add/Remove Snap-in....

Select Group Policy Object Editor and hit Add.

In the wizard that pops up, hit Browse..., go to tab Users, select your user account (the one that you set up to log on automatically in step 1) and hit OK.

Make sure that the checkbox in the wizard is Unchecked, and hit Finish.

Hit OK in the Add/Remove Snap-ins window.

In the User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System folder, open Custom User Interface.

Select Enabled and enter the full path (including XBMC.exe and any switches that you may use) in the Interface file name textbox.

Hit OK and reboot your system. It should now log in and start XBMC automatically without showing the start menu and icons first

Hello...

I use this method to launch XMBC... but there is one problem - I need another program (IRtrans.exe) for using my harmony remote... how can I get it (without eventghost)?! In the textbox there is only space for one full path, i think...

**jjd-uk** · 2012-10-19, 13:17

(2012-10-19, 12:36)Danielocean Wrote: Hello...

I use this method to launch XMBC... but there is one problem - I need another program (IRtrans.exe) for using my harmony remote... how can I get it (without eventghost)?! In the textbox there is only space for one full path, i think...

Use Task Scheduler to start the program at Windows Startup, see http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/675...p-log.html