It is possible to do it even in VB.
Module code
VB Code:
Option Explicit
Public Type KBDLLHOOKSTRUCT
vkCode As Long
scanCode As Long
flags As Long
time As Long
dwExtraInfo As Long
End Type
Public Declare Sub CopyMemory Lib "kernel32" Alias "RtlMoveMemory" (Destination As Any, Source As Any, ByVal Length As Long)
Public Declare Function GetKeyState Lib "user32" (ByVal nVirtKey As Long) As Integer
Public Declare Function SetWindowsHookEx Lib "user32" Alias "SetWindowsHookExA" (ByVal idHook As Long, ByVal lpfn As Long, ByVal hmod As Long, ByVal dwThreadId As Long) As Long
Public Declare Function CallNextHookEx Lib "user32" (ByVal hHook As Long, ByVal nCode As Long, ByVal wParam As Long, lParam As Any) As Long
Public Declare Function UnhookWindowsHookEx Lib "user32" (ByVal hHook As Long) As Long
Public Const HC_ACTION = 0
Public Const WM_KEYDOWN = &H100
Public Const WM_KEYUP = &H101
Public Const WM_SYSKEYDOWN = &H104
Public Const WM_SYSKEYUP = &H105
Public Const WH_KEYBOARD_LL = 13
Public Const LLKHF_ALTDOWN = &H20
Dim m_udtKEYBOARDHOOK As KBDLLHOOKSTRUCT
Public Function KeyboardProc(ByVal nCode As Long, ByVal wParam As Long, ByVal lParam As Long) As Long
If (nCode = HC_ACTION) Then
If wParam = WM_KEYDOWN Or wParam = WM_SYSKEYDOWN Or wParam = WM_KEYUP Or wParam = WM_SYSKEYUP Then
CopyMemory m_udtKEYBOARDHOOK, ByVal lParam, Len(m_udtKEYBOARDHOOK)
'change this to call your actual EXE, otherwise it will crash
If .vkCode = 255 Then Shell "C:\YourProgram.exe", vbNormalFocus
End If
End If
KeyboardProc = CallNextHookEx(0, nCode, wParam, ByVal lParam)
End Function
Form code
VB Code:
Dim m_lngKeyboad As Long
Private Sub Form_Load()
m_lngKeyboad = SetWindowsHookEx(WH_KEYBOARD_LL, AddressOf KeyboardProc, App.hInstance, 0)
End Sub
Private Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)
If m_lngKeyboad <> 0 Then UnhookWindowsHookEx m_lngKeyboad
End Sub
Note Do not close the application while in IDE, but press X in the form's title bar. If you close it by pressing END button in IDE you wont be able to hook it again without restarting the IDE.