[2005] Minimize All?

[James-R]

I am making a screen locker program. But i have hit a block, I don't know how to Minimize all other programs.

I have tried a sample that I found in vb6 but it didnt work.
Code: http://www.freevbcode.com/ShowCode.Asp?ID=601

Also, if anyone knows how to hide the desktop icons & start bar that would save me some time.

[kleinma]

before you get too far into this project, are you making this just for fun?

It is next to impossible to create a real screen locking program in .NET, as you can't hook ctrl+alt+delete to prevent it from being used to simply close your program.

You can search high and low for code to disable ctrl+alt+delete, but it doesn't really work on newer NT based systems, they are generally shoddy hacks that change registry settings on the user.

[kleinma]

here is the code to do it either way.

It works with option strict coding on.

I only tested it on XP, and I imagine it may not work on some older systems.

Dim MyShell As Object = Nothing
        Dim MyType As Type = Type.GetTypeFromCLSID(New Guid("13709620-C279-11CE-A49E-444553540000"))
        MyShell = MyType.InvokeMember(Nothing, BindingFlags.CreateInstance Or BindingFlags.Default, Nothing, Nothing, Nothing)
        MyType.InvokeMember("ToggleDesktop", BindingFlags.Default Or BindingFlags.InvokeMethod, Nothing, MyShell, Nothing)