For all you Sprinks haters out there

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Jan 2nd, 2002, 10:24 PM

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For all you Sprinks haters out there

I made this program real quick because of all the people who complain about the Sprinks popups. Sure, if you switch to the ugly yellow vbsquare style, they go away, but it's... well... ugly.

I only consider them mildly annoying, but I'm happy to get rid of them, anyway.

Attached is a very small program that runs silently in the background and kills all Sprinks popups on sight. To start it, just run it. Nothing will seem to happen. That's because you're not even supposed to be able to tell it's running unless you press Ctrl+Alt+Del. To close it, just run it again and a message box will pop up asking if you want to close it. Just click Yes and it'll close.

The program was originally written in VB, but I decided to rewrite it in C++. Now it takes less CPU time and doesn't require the VB runtimes.

These are the browsers it should work with:
Internet Explorer (only tested with IE6, tho)
Netscape (tested with version 4.7 and 6, but should work on the other versions too)
K-Meleon (I have the browser on my computer, so I figured...why not)

It does not work with Opera because I don't find the popups annoying at all on that browser. If you want it to work with other browsers, including Opera, let me know.

The single solitary purpose of this app is to get rid of the sprinks popups. I hope you like it :)

The latest version is 1.03 now. Version 1.0 was the original VB version. Version 1.01 was the first C++ version. Version 1.02 is the second C++ version. Version 1.03 takes out some unnecessary code. The source for it is posted in another post in this thread.
Jan 2nd, 2002, 10:28 PM
filburt1

Erm, VB Square Style Set?

Here's my contribution: http://www.turtletips.com/avatars/logos/diesprinks.jpg
Jan 2nd, 2002, 10:28 PM
JungleMan

Thanks! Come and get me Sprinks :p :p :p
Jan 7th, 2002, 07:26 AM

Filburt, I would use that icon of yours, but I already made one..

I rewrote SprinksKiller in C++. Now it has no dependancies and it uses up less CPU time. You still use it the same way. Run it once and it runs silently in the background. Run it again and it closes itself and pops up a messagebox telling you it was closed.
Jan 7th, 2002, 07:53 AM
JungleMan

I think i had a problem related to your program, sometimes this huge blue screen would pop up (not a BSOD :p) that I would have to click and hit Alt + F4 to close...now i'm going to see if your C++ version does this.
Jan 7th, 2002, 10:49 AM

Tygur do you think it can be possible to have some source code of your program just to see how you did ? If you do not want to give the C++ improved version maybe just the poor vb one ?:)
Jan 7th, 2002, 12:41 PM
NotLKH

Thank You Very Much!
Its working very nicely!
:D
BTW, did you put any back doors in?
Any Practical Jokes to be aware of?
Just wondering.
:D
Jan 7th, 2002, 12:43 PM
chrisjk

Quote:

Originally posted by NotLKH

Any Practical Jokes to be aware of?
Just wondering.
:D

Yep, if you type "yummy" when active, lots of naked women will start dancing on the screen
Jan 7th, 2002, 12:52 PM
NotLKH

UGGGHHH!
Yea, Right!
lots of naked ENORMOUSLY FAT HAIRY women !!!
HOW DO YOU SHUT IT OFF!!!!!!
:p
Jan 7th, 2002, 12:55 PM
chrisjk

:eek: :eek:
Jan 8th, 2002, 06:10 AM

I just uploaded a new version.

Instead of just closing when you start it again, this one will ask first to make sure you actually want to close it.

Also, version 1.01 (the first C++ version) wouldn't close when you shut down windows (oops). This one will.
Jan 8th, 2002, 06:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by NotLKH
BTW, did you put any back doors in?
Any Practical Jokes to be aware of?

no back doors..no practical jokes..

hmm..maybe I should throw in an easter egg..
Jan 10th, 2002, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DaoK
Tygur do you think it can be possible to have some source code of your program just to see how you did ? If you do not want to give the C++ improved version maybe just the poor vb one ?:)

I left your post unanswered for so long because I couldn't decide.

I think I'm gonna update the VB version so both are doing the same thing, then post the source for both. It'll be great for comparing C++ with VB. I'm not sure when I'll actually get around to doing this, tho.
Jan 10th, 2002, 07:49 AM
NotLKH

Can you at least give us some tips?
ie.. What are your Key API functions, if thats what your using?

I've got some Ideas, but doing a half hour quickie, I couldn't Close the Targeted Sprinks window with a WM_CLOSE message.

-Lou
Jan 11th, 2002, 01:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by NotLKH
Can you at least give us some tips?
ie.. What are your Key API functions, if thats what your using?

I've got some Ideas, but doing a half hour quickie, I couldn't Close the Targeted Sprinks window with a WM_CLOSE message.

-Lou

You'll see the code when I post it :)
It's actually very simple. The VB version didn't take very long to make.
Jan 11th, 2002, 06:25 AM
alex_read

TYgur, great app - been using it for the last week & it's been fantastic.
Not sure when this was first posted, but did you ever get round to posting the source code ?
Jan 11th, 2002, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by alex_read
TYgur, great app - been using it for the last eek & it's been fantastic.
Not sure when this was first posted, but did you ever get round to posting the source code ?

I only decided yesterday that I was gonna post it. I'm gonna update the VB version and post the source for both sometime soon. I'm not sure when.

Glad you like it :)
Jan 11th, 2002, 09:03 PM
MartinSmith

1 Attachment(s)

well here is my source code for what its worth (Ifound WM_CLOSE worked fine)
Jan 12th, 2002, 03:28 AM

1 Attachment(s)

Here's the source for both the VB and the C++ version of SprinksKiller. The VB version is a complete rewrite. It now works exactly the same as the C++ version. In fact, it's a line-by-line copy of the C++ version. Even the comments match.

A side effect of the VB version working so similar to the C++ version is that it uses lots of API functions.
Jan 12th, 2002, 11:47 AM

I am new at C++ like I have read up to the chapter 10 in Sams Teach YourSelf C++... but how many time you think we need to master C++ as you did with that program ? I am suprising to see all the code, simply impressive. And the Vb one is very advanced :) I though that it was more easy to code that, like so much API there whoaaaaa :) Well nice job, when I see that I feel so newby.
Jan 12th, 2002, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DaoK
I am new at C++ like I have read up to the chapter 10 in Sams Teach YourSelf C++... but how many time you think we need to master C++ as you did with that program ? I am suprising to see all the code, simply impressive. And the Vb one is very advanced :) I though that it was more easy to code that, like so much API there whoaaaaa :) Well nice job, when I see that I feel so newby.

The VB one could be simpler. Like I said before, it works exactly like the C++ version. If you look at the source for both versions, you'll see that one is a line-by-line translation of the other. As a result, the VB version uses lots of API functions, just because the C++ version also uses lots of API functions.
Jan 12th, 2002, 12:00 PM
SteveCRM

doh! this is a good idea! I had a program that could have done this! arg Im kicking myself! great work! :D
Jan 12th, 2002, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DaoK
... but how many time you think we need to master C++ as you did with that program ?

By the way, I'm relatively new to C++. This is my first real C++ program. Before this, it was "Hello World" programs and stuff like that. I suppose what helped a lot was my experience with using API functions in VB.
Jan 13th, 2002, 10:27 PM

For anyone who's confused by the source, here's a brief explanation of how it kills the popups:

After it detects that there is no previous instance running, it uses SetTimer to run EnumWindows every 10 milliseconds. EnumWindows is passed a pointer to the SprinksHunter function, which will then be run once for every window. SprinksHunter checks out the class name and window caption of the window given to it and sends a WM_CLOSE message if it detects that it is a Sprinks popup.