"freeze" desktop

[max]

hi all,

I plan to write a program to execute when the windows start. it's a
compare & update program between server and client. I want it to
freeze the desktop until the process is done. How can i do that??

Thanks.

 

[max]

anyone please??

 

[Andrew Thompson]

anyone please??

Please ..
- refrain from top-posting, and
- fix that sticky '?' key.
- be more patient when dealing with usenet*.

* Perhaps if you need answers within a 72
hour time frame, a help-desk or consultant
might be a better way to go.

What do you mean by 'freeze the desktop'?

As little as I understand your question, it
seems you want the user to be 'locked out' of
doing anything (including in other applications)
while this program does its updates. But that
is just silly.

How can i do that??

Why would you want to do that?

Andrew T.

 

[Oliver Wong]

anyone please??

See
http://moinmoin.riters.com/JINX/ind...sking_20Questions_20on_20Newsgroups#BePatient


I suspect that this isn't possible using a pure Java solution. You
might have better luck asking a Windows newsgroup.

- Oliver

 

[Lew]

See
http://moinmoin.riters.com/JINX/ind...sking_20Questions_20on_20Newsgroups#BePatient



I suspect that this isn't possible using a pure Java solution. You
might have better luck asking a Windows newsgroup.

and be sure to let us know the product name if it is ever generally available.
I want to be sure never to use it.

-- Lew

 

[Joshua Cranmer]

hi all,

I plan to write a program to execute when the windows start. it's a
compare & update program between server and client. I want it to
freeze the desktop until the process is done. How can i do that??

Thanks.

A) Use another language like C, C++, (shudders) Visual Basic. To write
this is in Java would require so much native code that it would be
easier to use a native language.

B) Poke around either msconfig or the Registry to find information.

 

[Thomas Kellerer]

max wrote on 21.03.2007 06:00:

hi all,

I plan to write a program to execute when the windows start. it's a
compare & update program between server and client. I want it to
freeze the desktop until the process is done. How can i do that??

Simple answer: don't

Users will be quite annoyed if you block their whole computer while you are
synchronizing data. I would de-install this type of program a split second after
it has locked me out of my computer

 

[Chris Uppal]

I plan to write a program to execute when the windows start. it's a
compare & update program between server and client. I want it to
freeze the desktop until the process is done. How can i do that??

[...]
I would de-install this type of program a split
second after it has locked me out of my computer

Tut, tut, tut; programmers really ought to think with greater precision than
that. You would de-install the program a split second after it had /let you
back into/ your computer.

;-)

-- chris

 

[max]

thanks for all the concern, i'm smart enough to avoid writing such
annoying software. As what i mention on the first message, I want the
program to run each time when the Windows start, not in the middle.
The user doesn't have a choice, because i'm writing it for my Cyber
cafe, not for the general market.

 

[Andrew Thompson]

..As what i mention on the first message, I want the
program to run each time when the Windows start, not in the middle.

A web started application, invoked at start-up,
could not only provide a simple splash screen
and messages to indicate progress, but also allow
other applications to continue in their own
threads, unhindered.

The user doesn't have a choice, because i'm
writing it for my Cyber cafe, ..

What precisely do you mean by 'my Cyber cafe',
are you referring to a shop with a row of
computers, and staff employed by you, to switch
them on in the morning (or reboot them as needed)?

What does this 'locking of the desktop' offer to
the process, how does it bring any advantage to
the people who are booting the computers?
(And if the answer is 'none', then 'why bother?')

..not for the general market.

If my understanding of 'Cyber cafe' is correct,
the end users who are paying for computer time
do not need to (re)boot the PC's? Is that what
you mean?

Andrew T.

 

[Gordon Beaton]

thanks for all the concern, i'm smart enough to avoid writing such
annoying software. As what i mention on the first message, I want the
program to run each time when the Windows start, not in the middle.
The user doesn't have a choice, because i'm writing it for my Cyber
cafe, not for the general market.

In that case, have a look at http://openkiosk.sourceforge.net/ for one
example. Search for "kiosk systems" for more.

/gordon

--

 

[Oliver Wong]

A web started application, invoked at start-up,
could not only provide a simple splash screen
and messages to indicate progress, but also allow
other applications to continue in their own
threads, unhindered.

I think the OP does NOT want to allow other applications to continue
in their own threads, unhindered.

What precisely do you mean by 'my Cyber cafe',
are you referring to a shop with a row of
computers, and staff employed by you, to switch
them on in the morning (or reboot them as needed)?

What does this 'locking of the desktop' offer to
the process, how does it bring any advantage to
the people who are booting the computers?
(And if the answer is 'none', then 'why bother?')


If my understanding of 'Cyber cafe' is correct,
the end users who are paying for computer time
do not need to (re)boot the PC's? Is that what
you mean?

A cybercafé is a place where you can rent computers for a few minutes
or hours at a time. The "cafe" part comes into play because you can
usually purchase beverages too.

I'm guessing the OP wants to completely lock down the system, so that
his main application (e.g. which meters how long the user has been using
the computer, for example) cannot be killed by the user. When time runs
up, the app takes over the system, "freezing" all other applications
(different implementations will implement "freezing" differently --
perhaps the apps are still running, but all keyboard/mouse input is
captured and prevented from reaching the app), requesting that the user
buys more time.

- Oliver

 

[Chris Uppal]

I'm guessing the OP wants to completely lock down the system, so that
his main application (e.g. which meters how long the user has been using
the computer, for example) cannot be killed by the user.

That, or something like it, seems quite plausible. I don't think that Java is
the right language at all for such a program, though (unless perhaps that
feature was just one small feature of a much larger Java-ish "application").

-- chris

 

[Lew]

That, or something like it, seems quite plausible. I don't think that Java is
the right language at all for such a program, though (unless perhaps that
feature was just one small feature of a much larger Java-ish "application").

I thought cyber cafes usually did their monitoring from a network or
Citrix[-like] server which timed the period from login to logout of the remote
nodes. Hotels use a Web gateway for Internet access, and you have to pay to
play. None of the billing, access or monitoring software runs on the client
machine, thus the patron has no conceivable access to the master processes.
Such a remote monitor system could indeed be written in Java.

I assess that having the monitor within the system that it monitors to be
fraught with Godelian peril.

-- Lew