Switch to / Launch an application after period of inactivity 1

[dvornik]

In our office we run a security cameras management application. Basically it just shows live video from several cameras.

What we are trying to do is to switch to this application when the computer is not being used for anything else. Kind of like run it instead of a screensaver.

I have no idea where to start even.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bcastner]

Scheduled Tasks allows an idle time setting for tasks.
Oddly, you need to first schedule a task, complete the Scheduled Tasks Wizard, and then edit the task to see all the options. But this is to just run something during idle time.

I suspect though with your description, that creating a "service" with a .bat, .cmd or script file that allowed interruption might be a better choice. See Fire Daemon:

http://www.firedaemon.com/

You likely need a local consultant developer to handle this task. It should not be very expensive. This is essentially a trivial issue. You could even handle it without expense by creating, for free, virtual desktops. See the Microsoft Virtual Desktop Manager here:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

 

[dvornik]

Thank you. Basically from what I understood from my boss they'd like to switch to this application and make it full screen when the computer is idle. It runs in the background all the time from what I know. I'm not sure if executing the program would run a new instance of it - I'll check tomorrow. If not I guess the scheduler could be good enough.

Not sure how I would use the desktop manager for it.

Could you elaborate on creating a service?

If they need to hire a consultant they would probably abandon the idea altogether...

 

[dvornik]

Come to think of it, if there was a command line utility for switching tasks then scheduler would be all they need.

 

[bcastner]

Have you thought about making it a web aware screensaver?

 

[dvornik]

Web aware screensaver? I don't know what it is.

I found a command line utility that would probably work with windows scheduler - nircmd. It can manipulate open windows etc. I'll give it a try tomorrow and post if it worked.

 

[linney]

Have you tried experimenting in changing your WebCam.exe to WebCam.scr.

And with this Reg Key -

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

SCRNSAVE.EXE = C:\Windows\System32\ssmypics.scr (or desired screensaver file name and path).

It sort of works, but is a per user setting. You might have to fore go any Password On Resume setting. I did test it with the My Pictures Screensaver on a standalone machine.

My conclusion was - I'm sure there are easier and better ways to do this. Google is full of Internet WebCam pictures as Screensavers.

 

[dvornik]

OK, I've tried the scheduler thing and it's partially successfull.

I can't run the program as a screensaver cause each time it starts there's a prompt for username/password.

Just trying to launch a program when it's already running brings up the program and a small error message saying that it runs already. That would be OK but I believe it would keep coming up with those mesages every several minutes - haven't tested it fully yet.

nircmd has a "settopmost" function that sort of works, although it brings up only the video window of the program, not the rest of it. That would be OK too but the window remains topmost until you cancel it specifically with nircmd. So I'm still looking for a command utility that would switch tasks easily.

Thanks everyone for your help.