Desktop item's names, paths, icons, and current size, with SysListView32

**Peter Porter** · Oct 30th, 2017, 08:15 PM

I've been racking my brains on this for over a week, but I can't figure how to get everything from the desktop listview with the code below which I found through Google. It gives me the number of desktop items, their icons xy coordinates, but wont list names. I haven't been able to get this to work, to include all item paths, their icons, and current size.

I know how to pull this information with GetFolderPath & GetFileSystemEntries, but I also need all desktop icon's xy coordinates, as well as an accurate item count, which is why I've been playing with this code. Could someone please help me out?

Code:

Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.Text

Public Class Form1

    Public Const LVM_FIRST As UInteger = &H1000
    Public Const LVM_GETITEMCOUNT As UInteger = LVM_FIRST + 4
    Public Const LVM_GETITEMW As UInteger = LVM_FIRST + 75
    Public Const LVM_GETITEMPOSITION As UInteger = LVM_FIRST + 16
    Public Const PROCESS_VM_OPERATION As UInteger = &H8
    Public Const PROCESS_VM_READ As UInteger = &H10
    Public Const PROCESS_VM_WRITE As UInteger = &H20
    Public Const MEM_COMMIT As UInteger = &H1000
    Public Const MEM_RELEASE As UInteger = &H8000
    Public Const MEM_RESERVE As UInteger = &H2000
    Public Const PAGE_READWRITE As UInteger = 4
    Public Const LVIF_TEXT As Integer = &H1

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function VirtualAllocEx(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpAddress As IntPtr, ByVal dwSize As UInteger, ByVal flAllocationType As UInteger, ByVal flProtect As UInteger) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function VirtualFreeEx(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpAddress As IntPtr, ByVal dwSize As UInteger, ByVal dwFreeType As UInteger) As Boolean
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function CloseHandle(ByVal handle As IntPtr) As Boolean
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function WriteProcessMemory(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpBaseAddress As IntPtr, ByVal lpBuffer As IntPtr, ByVal nSize As Integer, ByRef vNumberOfBytesRead As UInteger) As Boolean
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function ReadProcessMemory(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpBaseAddress As IntPtr, ByVal lpBuffer As IntPtr, ByVal nSize As Integer, ByRef vNumberOfBytesRead As UInteger) As Boolean
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function OpenProcess(ByVal dwDesiredAccess As UInteger, ByVal bInheritHandle As Boolean, ByVal dwProcessId As UInteger) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.DLL")> _
    Public Shared Function SendMessage(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal Msg As UInteger, ByVal wParam As Integer, ByVal lParam As Integer) As Integer
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.DLL")> _
    Public Shared Function FindWindow(ByVal lpszClass As String, ByVal lpszWindow As String) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.DLL")> _
    Public Shared Function FindWindowEx(ByVal hwndParent As IntPtr, ByVal hwndChildAfter As IntPtr, ByVal lpszClass As String, ByVal lpszWindow As String) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function GetWindowThreadProcessId(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByRef dwProcessId As UInteger) As UInteger
    End Function


    <StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack:=1)> _
    Public Structure LVITEM
        Public Mask As UInteger
        Public Index As Integer
        Public SubIndex As Integer
        Public State As Integer
        Public StateMask As IntPtr
        Public Text As String
        Public TextLength As Integer
        Public ImageIndex As Integer
        Public LParam As IntPtr
        Public iItem As Integer
        Public iSubItem As Integer
        Public pszText As IntPtr
        Public cchTextMax As Integer
        Public iImage As Integer
        Public iIndent As Integer
        Public iGroupId As Integer
        Public cColumns As Integer
        Public puColumns As IntPtr
        Public hIcon As IntPtr
        Public iIcon As Integer
        Public dwAttributes As UInteger
    End Structure


    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        ListView1.Columns.Add("Name", 200)
        ListView1.Columns.Add("Path", 150)
        ListView1.Columns.Add("Location", 150)
        ListView1.View = View.Details
        ListView1.Font = New Font(New FontFamily("Arial"), 10, FontStyle.Regular)

        'Get the handle of the desktop listview
        Dim vHandle As IntPtr = FindWindow("Progman", "Program Manager")
        vHandle = FindWindowEx(vHandle, IntPtr.Zero, "SHELLDLL_DefView", Nothing)
        vHandle = FindWindowEx(vHandle, IntPtr.Zero, "SysListView32", "FolderView")

        'Get total count of the icons on the desktop
        Dim vItemCount As Integer = SendMessage(vHandle, LVM_GETITEMCOUNT, 0, 0)
        Label2.Text = vItemCount.ToString()

        Dim vProcessId As UInteger
        GetWindowThreadProcessId(vHandle, vProcessId)
        Dim vProcess As IntPtr = OpenProcess(PROCESS_VM_OPERATION Or PROCESS_VM_READ Or PROCESS_VM_WRITE, False, vProcessId)
        Dim vPointer As IntPtr = VirtualAllocEx(vProcess, IntPtr.Zero, 4096, MEM_RESERVE Or MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE)

        Try
            For j As Integer = 0 To vItemCount - 1
                Dim vBuffer As Byte() = New Byte(255) {}
                Dim vItem As LVITEM() = New LVITEM(0) {}
                vItem(0).Mask = LVIF_TEXT
                vItem(0).iItem = j
                vItem(0).iSubItem = 0
                vItem(0).cchTextMax = vBuffer.Length
                vItem(0).pszText = IntPtr.op_Explicit(CInt(vPointer) + Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(LVITEM)))

                Dim vNumberOfBytesRead As UInteger = 0
                WriteProcessMemory(vProcess, vPointer, Marshal.UnsafeAddrOfPinnedArrayElement(vItem, 0), Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(LVITEM)), vNumberOfBytesRead)

                'Get item's name
                SendMessage(vHandle, LVM_GETITEMW, j, vPointer.ToInt32())
                ReadProcessMemory(vProcess, vPointer + Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(LVITEM)), Marshal.UnsafeAddrOfPinnedArrayElement(vBuffer, 0), vBuffer.Length, vNumberOfBytesRead)
                Dim vText As String = Encoding.Unicode.GetString(vBuffer, 0, CInt(vNumberOfBytesRead))

                'Get icon location
                SendMessage(vHandle, LVM_GETITEMPOSITION, j, vPointer.ToInt32())
                Dim vPoint As Point() = New Point(0) {}
                ReadProcessMemory(vProcess, vPointer, Marshal.UnsafeAddrOfPinnedArrayElement(vPoint, 0), Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(Point)), vNumberOfBytesRead)
                Dim IconLocation As String = vPoint(0).ToString()

                Dim lvi As New ListViewItem
                lvi.Text = vText
                lvi.SubItems.Add("")
                lvi.SubItems.Add(IconLocation)

                'Insert an item into the ListView
                ListView1.Items.Add(lvi)
            Next
        Finally
            VirtualFreeEx(vProcess, vPointer, 0, MEM_RELEASE)
            CloseHandle(vProcess)
        End Try
    End Sub

End Class

**Peter Porter** · Oct 31st, 2017, 10:13 PM

If I can tweak the code above to get all desktop's Item's paths, I'll be able to pull the rest of their information easily.

**Peter Porter** · Nov 1st, 2017, 05:52 AM

With a few changes to the code above, the vbuffer is still empty. Where am I going wrong?

Changes are highlighted in brown:

Code:

Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.Text

Public Class Form1

    Public Const LVM_FIRST As UInteger = &H1000
    Public Const LVM_GETITEMCOUNT As UInteger = LVM_FIRST + 4
    Public Const LVM_GETITEMW As UInteger = LVM_FIRST + 75
    Public Const LVM_GETITEMPOSITION As UInteger = LVM_FIRST + 16
    Public Const PROCESS_VM_OPERATION As UInteger = &H8
    Public Const PROCESS_VM_READ As UInteger = &H10
    Public Const PROCESS_VM_WRITE As UInteger = &H20
    Public Const MEM_COMMIT As UInteger = &H1000
    Public Const MEM_RELEASE As UInteger = &H8000
    Public Const MEM_RESERVE As UInteger = &H2000
    Public Const PAGE_READWRITE As UInteger = 4
    Public Const LVIF_TEXT As Integer = &H1

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function VirtualAllocEx(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpAddress As IntPtr, ByVal dwSize As UInteger, ByVal flAllocationType As UInteger, ByVal flProtect As UInteger) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function VirtualFreeEx(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpAddress As IntPtr, ByVal dwSize As UInteger, ByVal dwFreeType As UInteger) As Boolean
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function CloseHandle(ByVal handle As IntPtr) As Boolean
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function WriteProcessMemory(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpBaseAddress As IntPtr, ByVal lpBuffer As IntPtr, ByVal nSize As Integer, ByRef vNumberOfBytesRead As UInteger) As Boolean
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function ReadProcessMemory(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpBaseAddress As IntPtr, ByVal lpBuffer As IntPtr, ByVal nSize As Integer, ByRef vNumberOfBytesRead As UInteger) As Boolean
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function OpenProcess(ByVal dwDesiredAccess As UInteger, ByVal bInheritHandle As Boolean, ByVal dwProcessId As UInteger) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.DLL")> _
    Public Shared Function SendMessage(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal Msg As UInteger, ByVal wParam As Integer, ByVal lParam As Integer) As Integer
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.DLL")> _
    Public Shared Function FindWindow(ByVal lpszClass As String, ByVal lpszWindow As String) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.DLL")> _
    Public Shared Function FindWindowEx(ByVal hwndParent As IntPtr, ByVal hwndChildAfter As IntPtr, ByVal lpszClass As String, ByVal lpszWindow As String) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function GetWindowThreadProcessId(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByRef dwProcessId As UInteger) As UInteger
    End Function

    <StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack:=1)> _
    Public Structure LVITEM
        Public Mask As UInteger
        Public Index As Integer
        Public SubIndex As Integer
        Public State As Integer
        Public StateMask As IntPtr
        Public Text As String
        Public TextLength As Integer
        Public ImageIndex As Integer
        Public LParam As IntPtr
        Public iItem As Integer
        Public iSubItem As Integer
        Public pszText As IntPtr
        Public cchTextMax As Integer
        Public iImage As Integer
        Public iIndent As Integer
        Public iGroupId As Integer
        Public cColumns As Integer
        Public puColumns As IntPtr
        Public hIcon As IntPtr
        Public iIcon As Integer
        Public dwAttributes As UInteger
    End Structure

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        ListView1.Columns.Add("Name", 200)
        ListView1.Columns.Add("Path", 150)
        ListView1.Columns.Add("Location", 150)
        ListView1.View = View.Details
        ListView1.Font = New Font(New FontFamily("Arial"), 10, FontStyle.Regular)
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click     
        'Get the handle of the desktop listview
        Dim vHandle As IntPtr = FindWindow("Progman", "Program Manager")
        vHandle = FindWindowEx(vHandle, IntPtr.Zero, "SHELLDLL_DefView", Nothing)
        vHandle = FindWindowEx(vHandle, IntPtr.Zero, "SysListView32", "FolderView")

        'Get total count of the icons on the desktop
        Dim vItemCount As Integer = SendMessage(vHandle, LVM_GETITEMCOUNT, 0, 0)
        Label2.Text = vItemCount.ToString()

        Dim vText(vItemCount) As String

        Dim vProcessId As UInteger
        GetWindowThreadProcessId(vHandle, vProcessId)
        Dim vProcess As IntPtr = OpenProcess(PROCESS_VM_OPERATION Or PROCESS_VM_READ Or PROCESS_VM_WRITE, False, vProcessId)
        Dim vPointer As IntPtr = VirtualAllocEx(vProcess, IntPtr.Zero, 4096, MEM_RESERVE Or MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE)

        Try
            For j As Integer = 0 To vItemCount - 1
                Dim vBuffer As Byte() = New Byte(255) {}
                Dim vItem As LVITEM() = New LVITEM(0) {}
                vItem(0).mask = LVIF_TEXT
                vItem(0).iItem = j
                vItem(0).iSubItem = 0
                vItem(0).cchTextMax = vBuffer.Length
                vItem(0).pszText = DirectCast(vPointer + Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(LVITEM)), IntPtr)

                Dim vNumberOfBytesRead As UInteger = 0
                WriteProcessMemory(vProcess, vPointer, Marshal.UnsafeAddrOfPinnedArrayElement(vItem, 0), Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(LVITEM)), vNumberOfBytesRead)

                'Get item's name
                SendMessage(vHandle, LVM_GETITEMW, j, vPointer.ToInt32())
                ReadProcessMemory(vProcess, DirectCast(vPointer + Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(LVITEM)), IntPtr), Marshal.UnsafeAddrOfPinnedArrayElement(vBuffer, 0), vBuffer.Length, vNumberOfBytesRead)

                vText(j) = Encoding.Unicode.GetString(vBuffer, 0, CInt(vNumberOfBytesRead))

                'Get icon location
                SendMessage(vHandle, LVM_GETITEMPOSITION, j, vPointer.ToInt32())
                Dim vPoint As Point() = New Point(0) {}
                ReadProcessMemory(vProcess, vPointer, Marshal.UnsafeAddrOfPinnedArrayElement(vPoint, 0), Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(Point)), vNumberOfBytesRead)
                Dim IconLocation As String = vPoint(0).ToString()

                Dim lvi As New ListViewItem
                lvi.Text = vText(j)
                lvi.SubItems.Add("")
                lvi.SubItems.Add(IconLocation)

                'Insert an item into the ListView
                Me.ListView1.Items.Add(lvi)
            Next
        Finally
            VirtualFreeEx(vProcess, vPointer, 0, MEM_RELEASE)
            CloseHandle(vProcess)
        End Try
    End Sub
End Class

**Peter Porter** · Nov 1st, 2017, 06:49 AM

I've changed a few things back since this code needs to work at runtime (not at a push of a button).

I thought adding LVM_GETITEMTEXT would solve this, but the vbuffer is still empty. I'm lost.

Code:

Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.Text

Public Class Form1

    Public Const LVM_FIRST As UInteger = &H1000
    Public Const LVM_GETITEMCOUNT As UInteger = LVM_FIRST + 4
    Public Const LVM_GETITEMW As UInteger = LVM_FIRST + 75
    Public Const LVM_GETITEMPOSITION As UInteger = LVM_FIRST + 16
    Public Const LVM_GETITEMTEXT = (LVM_FIRST + 45)
    Public Const PROCESS_VM_OPERATION As UInteger = &H8
    Public Const PROCESS_VM_READ As UInteger = &H10
    Public Const PROCESS_VM_WRITE As UInteger = &H20
    Public Const MEM_COMMIT As UInteger = &H1000
    Public Const MEM_RELEASE As UInteger = &H8000
    Public Const MEM_RESERVE As UInteger = &H2000
    Public Const PAGE_READWRITE As UInteger = 4
    Public Const LVIF_TEXT As Integer = &H1

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function VirtualAllocEx(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpAddress As IntPtr, ByVal dwSize As UInteger, ByVal flAllocationType As UInteger, ByVal flProtect As UInteger) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function VirtualFreeEx(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpAddress As IntPtr, ByVal dwSize As UInteger, ByVal dwFreeType As UInteger) As Boolean
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function CloseHandle(ByVal handle As IntPtr) As Boolean
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function WriteProcessMemory(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpBaseAddress As IntPtr, ByVal lpBuffer As IntPtr, ByVal nSize As Integer, ByRef vNumberOfBytesRead As UInteger) As Boolean
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function ReadProcessMemory(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpBaseAddress As IntPtr, ByVal lpBuffer As IntPtr, ByVal nSize As Integer, ByRef vNumberOfBytesRead As UInteger) As Boolean
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function OpenProcess(ByVal dwDesiredAccess As UInteger, ByVal bInheritHandle As Boolean, ByVal dwProcessId As UInteger) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.DLL")> _
    Public Shared Function SendMessage(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal Msg As UInteger, ByVal wParam As Integer, ByVal lParam As Integer) As Integer
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.DLL")> _
    Public Shared Function FindWindow(ByVal lpszClass As String, ByVal lpszWindow As String) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.DLL")> _
    Public Shared Function FindWindowEx(ByVal hwndParent As IntPtr, ByVal hwndChildAfter As IntPtr, ByVal lpszClass As String, ByVal lpszWindow As String) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function GetWindowThreadProcessId(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByRef dwProcessId As UInteger) As UInteger
    End Function


    <StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack:=1)> _
    Public Structure LVITEM
        Public Mask As UInteger
        Public Index As Integer
        Public SubIndex As Integer
        Public State As Integer
        Public StateMask As IntPtr
        Public Text As String
        Public TextLength As Integer
        Public ImageIndex As Integer
        Public LParam As IntPtr
        Public iItem As Integer
        Public iSubItem As Integer
        Public pszText As IntPtr
        Public cchTextMax As Integer
        Public iImage As Integer
        Public iIndent As Integer
        Public iGroupId As Integer
        Public cColumns As Integer
        Public puColumns As IntPtr
        Public hIcon As IntPtr
        Public iIcon As Integer
        Public dwAttributes As UInteger
    End Structure

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        ListView1.Columns.Add("Name", 200)
        ListView1.Columns.Add("Path", 150)
        ListView1.Columns.Add("Location", 150)
        ListView1.View = View.Details
        ListView1.Font = New Font(New FontFamily("Arial"), 10, FontStyle.Regular)

        'Get the handle of the desktop listview
        Dim vHandle As IntPtr = FindWindow("Progman", "Program Manager")
        vHandle = FindWindowEx(vHandle, IntPtr.Zero, "SHELLDLL_DefView", Nothing)
        vHandle = FindWindowEx(vHandle, IntPtr.Zero, "SysListView32", "FolderView")

        'Get total count of the icons on the desktop
        Dim vItemCount As Integer = SendMessage(vHandle, LVM_GETITEMCOUNT, 0, 0)
        Label2.Text = vItemCount.ToString()

        Dim vText(vItemCount - 1) As String

        Dim vProcessId As UInteger
        GetWindowThreadProcessId(vHandle, vProcessId)
        Dim vProcess As IntPtr = OpenProcess(PROCESS_VM_OPERATION Or PROCESS_VM_READ Or PROCESS_VM_WRITE, False, vProcessId)
        Dim vPointer As IntPtr = VirtualAllocEx(vProcess, IntPtr.Zero, 4096, MEM_RESERVE Or MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE)

        Try
            For j As Integer = 0 To vItemCount - 1
                Dim vBuffer As Byte() = New Byte(255) {}
                Dim vItem As LVITEM() = New LVITEM(0) {}
                vItem(0).Mask = LVIF_TEXT
                vItem(0).iItem = j
                vItem(0).iSubItem = 0
                vItem(0).cchTextMax = vBuffer.Length
                vItem(0).pszText = IntPtr.op_Explicit(CInt(vPointer) + Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(LVITEM)))

                Dim vNumberOfBytesRead As UInteger = 0
                WriteProcessMemory(vProcess, vPointer, Marshal.UnsafeAddrOfPinnedArrayElement(vItem, 0), Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(LVITEM)), vNumberOfBytesRead)

                'Get item's name
                SendMessage(vHandle, LVM_GETITEMTEXT, j, vPointer.ToInt32())
                ReadProcessMemory(vProcess, vPointer + Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(LVITEM)), Marshal.UnsafeAddrOfPinnedArrayElement(vBuffer, 0), vBuffer.Length, vNumberOfBytesRead)
                vText(j) = Encoding.Unicode.GetString(vBuffer, 0, CInt(vNumberOfBytesRead))

                'Get icon location
                SendMessage(vHandle, LVM_GETITEMPOSITION, j, vPointer.ToInt32())
                Dim vPoint As Point() = New Point(0) {}
                ReadProcessMemory(vProcess, vPointer, Marshal.UnsafeAddrOfPinnedArrayElement(vPoint, 0), Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(Point)), vNumberOfBytesRead)
                Dim IconLocation As String = vPoint(0).ToString()

                Dim lvi As New ListViewItem
                lvi.Text = vText(j)
                lvi.SubItems.Add("")
                lvi.SubItems.Add(IconLocation)

                'Insert an item into the ListView
                Me.ListView1.Items.Add(lvi)
            Next
        Finally
            VirtualFreeEx(vProcess, vPointer, 0, MEM_RELEASE)
            CloseHandle(vProcess)
        End Try
    End Sub
End Class

**Peter Porter** · Nov 1st, 2017, 04:23 PM

I've tweaked the code again with what I found here under comments:
https://www.codeproject.com/Articles...ons-on-desktop

...but still nothing. It worked for someone else under C#.

Code:

Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.Text

Public Class Form1

    Public Const LVM_FIRST As UInteger = &H1000
    Public Const LVM_GETITEMCOUNT As UInteger = LVM_FIRST + 4
    Public Const LVM_GETITEM = (LVM_FIRST + 5)
    Public Const LVM_GETITEMW As UInteger = LVM_FIRST + 75
    Public Const LVM_GETITEMPOSITION As UInteger = LVM_FIRST + 16
    Public Const LVM_GETITEMTEXT = (LVM_FIRST + 45)
    Public Const PROCESS_VM_OPERATION As UInteger = &H8
    Public Const PROCESS_VM_READ As UInteger = &H10
    Public Const PROCESS_VM_WRITE As UInteger = &H20
    Public Const MEM_COMMIT As UInteger = &H1000
    Public Const MEM_RELEASE As UInteger = &H8000
    Public Const MEM_RESERVE As UInteger = &H2000
    Public Const PAGE_READWRITE As UInteger = 4
    Public Const LVIF_TEXT As Integer = &H1

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function VirtualAllocEx(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpAddress As IntPtr, ByVal dwSize As UInteger, ByVal flAllocationType As UInteger, ByVal flProtect As UInteger) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function VirtualFreeEx(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpAddress As IntPtr, ByVal dwSize As UInteger, ByVal dwFreeType As UInteger) As Boolean
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function CloseHandle(ByVal handle As IntPtr) As Boolean
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function WriteProcessMemory(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpBaseAddress As IntPtr, ByVal lpBuffer As IntPtr, ByVal nSize As Integer, ByRef vNumberOfBytesRead As UInteger) As Boolean
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function ReadProcessMemory(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpBaseAddress As IntPtr, ByVal lpBuffer As IntPtr, ByVal nSize As Integer, ByRef vNumberOfBytesRead As UInteger) As Boolean
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function OpenProcess(ByVal dwDesiredAccess As UInteger, ByVal bInheritHandle As Boolean, ByVal dwProcessId As UInteger) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.DLL")> _
    Public Shared Function SendMessage(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByVal Msg As UInteger, ByVal wParam As Integer, ByVal lParam As Integer) As Integer
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.DLL")> _
    Public Shared Function FindWindow(ByVal lpszClass As String, ByVal lpszWindow As String) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.DLL")> _
    Public Shared Function FindWindowEx(ByVal hwndParent As IntPtr, ByVal hwndChildAfter As IntPtr, ByVal lpszClass As String, ByVal lpszWindow As String) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function GetWindowThreadProcessId(ByVal hWnd As IntPtr, ByRef dwProcessId As UInteger) As UInteger
    End Function

    <StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, Pack:=1)> _
    Public Structure LVITEM
        Public Mask As UInteger
        Public Index As Integer
        Public SubIndex As Integer
        Public State As Integer
        Public StateMask As IntPtr
        Public Text As String
        Public TextLength As Integer
        Public ImageIndex As Integer
        Public LParam As IntPtr
        Public iItem As Integer
        Public iSubItem As Integer
        Public pszText As IntPtr
        Public cchTextMax As Integer
        Public iImage As Integer
        Public iIndent As Integer
        Public iGroupId As Integer
        Public cColumns As Integer
        Public puColumns As IntPtr
        Public hIcon As IntPtr
        Public iIcon As Integer
        Public dwAttributes As UInteger
    End Structure

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        ListView1.Columns.Add("Name", 200)
        ListView1.Columns.Add("Path", 150)
        ListView1.Columns.Add("Location", 150)
        ListView1.View = View.Details
        ListView1.Font = New Font(New FontFamily("Arial"), 10, FontStyle.Regular)

        'Get the handle of the desktop listview
        Dim vHandle As IntPtr = FindWindow("Progman", "Program Manager")
        vHandle = FindWindowEx(vHandle, IntPtr.Zero, "SHELLDLL_DefView", Nothing)
        vHandle = FindWindowEx(vHandle, IntPtr.Zero, "SysListView32", "FolderView")

        'Get total count of the icons on the desktop
        Dim vItemCount As Integer = SendMessage(vHandle, LVM_GETITEMCOUNT, 0, 0)
        Label2.Text = vItemCount.ToString()

        Dim vText(vItemCount - 1) As String

        Dim vProcessId As UInteger
        GetWindowThreadProcessId(vHandle, vProcessId)
        Dim vProcess As IntPtr = OpenProcess(PROCESS_VM_OPERATION Or PROCESS_VM_READ Or PROCESS_VM_WRITE, False, vProcessId)
        Dim vPointer As IntPtr = VirtualAllocEx(vProcess, IntPtr.Zero, 4096, MEM_RESERVE Or MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE)
        Dim itemIndex As Integer

        Try
            For j As Integer = 0 To vItemCount - 1

                'Declare and populate the LVITEM structure.
                Dim vItem As New LVITEM()
                vItem.Mask = LVIF_TEXT
                vItem.cchTextMax = 512
                vItem.iItem = itemIndex
                vItem.iSubItem = 0

                'Memory for the actual item text.
                vItem.pszText = vPointer

                'Send the LVM_GETITEM message to fill the LVITEM structure
                Dim ptrvItem As IntPtr = Marshal.AllocHGlobal(Marshal.SizeOf(vItem))
                Marshal.StructureToPtr(vItem, ptrvItem, False)

                'Write the lvi structure into the desktops process memory
                Dim vNumberOfBytesRead As UInteger = 0
                WriteProcessMemory(vProcess, vPointer, ptrvItem, Marshal.SizeOf(vItem), vNumberOfBytesRead)
                Marshal.FreeHGlobal(ptrvItem)

                'Get the item at itemIndex
                SendMessage(vHandle, LVM_GETITEM, j, vPointer.ToInt32())

                'Read item text from desktop process memory
                Dim vBuffer As Byte() = New Byte(4095) {}
                ReadProcessMemory(vProcess, vPointer, Marshal.UnsafeAddrOfPinnedArrayElement(vBuffer, 0), 4096, vNumberOfBytesRead)

                'Bytes to string
                Dim itemText As String = Encoding.Unicode.GetString(vBuffer).TrimEnd(New Char() {ControlChars.NullChar})

                'Get icon location
                SendMessage(vHandle, LVM_GETITEMPOSITION, j, vPointer.ToInt32())
                Dim vPoint As Point() = New Point(0) {}
                ReadProcessMemory(vProcess, vPointer, Marshal.UnsafeAddrOfPinnedArrayElement(vPoint, 0), Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(Point)), vNumberOfBytesRead)
                Dim IconLocation As String = vPoint(0).ToString()

                Dim lvi As New ListViewItem
                lvi.Text = itemText
                lvi.SubItems.Add("")
                lvi.SubItems.Add(IconLocation)

                'Insert an item into the ListView
                Me.ListView1.Items.Add(lvi)
            Next
        Finally
            If vPointer <> IntPtr.Zero Then
                VirtualFreeEx(vProcess, vPointer, 0, MEM_RELEASE)
            End If
            CloseHandle(vProcess)
        End Try
    End Sub
End Class

**Peter Porter** · Nov 4th, 2017, 10:49 AM

I'm gettin' close. Below Shell32 pulls all item names from SysListView32, including disabled and hidden items from the desktop. Just need to figure out how to incorporate this into the code in my first comment above to get only the names of all visible desktop items with their xy coordinates.

Code:

Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices
Imports System.Text

Public Class Form1

    Public Const PROCESS_VM_OPERATION As UInteger = &H8
    Public Const PROCESS_VM_READ As UInteger = &H10
    Public Const PROCESS_VM_WRITE As UInteger = &H20
    Public Const MEM_COMMIT As UInteger = &H1000
    Public Const MEM_RELEASE As UInteger = &H8000
    Public Const MEM_RESERVE As UInteger = &H2000
    Public Const PAGE_READWRITE As UInteger = 4

    <DllImport("user32.DLL")> _
    Public Shared Function FindWindow(ByVal lpszClass As String, ByVal lpszWindow As String) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("user32.DLL")> _
    Public Shared Function FindWindowEx(ByVal hwndParent As IntPtr, ByVal hwndChildAfter As IntPtr, ByVal lpszClass As String, ByVal lpszWindow As String) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function OpenProcess(ByVal dwDesiredAccess As UInteger, ByVal bInheritHandle As Boolean, ByVal dwProcessId As UInteger) As IntPtr
    End Function

    <DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
    Public Shared Function VirtualAllocEx(ByVal hProcess As IntPtr, ByVal lpAddress As IntPtr, ByVal dwSize As UInteger, ByVal flAllocationType As UInteger, ByVal flProtect As UInteger) As IntPtr
    End Function


    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load

        'Get the handle of the desktop listview
        Dim vHandle As IntPtr = FindWindow("Progman", "Program Manager")
        vHandle = FindWindowEx(vHandle, IntPtr.Zero, "SHELLDLL_DefView", Nothing)
        vHandle = FindWindowEx(vHandle, IntPtr.Zero, "SysListView32", "FolderView")

        Dim vProcessId As UInteger
        Dim vProcess As IntPtr = OpenProcess(PROCESS_VM_OPERATION Or PROCESS_VM_READ Or PROCESS_VM_WRITE, False, vProcessId)
        Dim vPointer As IntPtr = VirtualAllocEx(vProcess, IntPtr.Zero, 4096, MEM_RESERVE Or MEM_COMMIT, PAGE_READWRITE)

        'Access SysListView32 
        Dim sh As New Shell32.Shell
        Dim dsktp As Shell32.Folder = SH.NameSpace(vPointer.ToInt32)

        'Loop through SysListView32 for each Item's Name  
        Dim sb As New StringBuilder

        For Each Item As Shell32.FolderItem In dsktp.Items
            sb.AppendLine(Item.Name)
        Next Item

        Label1.Text = sb.ToString
        
    End Sub

End Class

Thread: Desktop item's names, paths, icons, and current size, with SysListView32

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Desktop item's names, paths, icons, and current size, with SysListView32

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Re: Desktop item's names, paths, icons, and current size, with SysListView32

Re: Desktop item's names, paths, icons, and current size, with SysListView32

Re: Desktop item's names, paths, icons, and current size, with SysListView32

Re: Desktop item's names, paths, icons, and current size, with SysListView32

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