1

I need to install a PC with Windows 10 pro 64bit. It will be customized with a dock to launch predefined application.

How can I close (or completely hide) the windows taskbar?

I have already found several tips to audo-hide the taskbar but it does NOT work in my case since when I close an application the taskbar appears again.

I cannot close explorer.exe because I need to I need to launch an application downloaded from the Windows AppStore (for example this: https://www.microsoft.com/it-it/store/p/pressreader/9wzdncrfj13b )

In order to launch this application, I run a BAT file containing this line:

C:\Windows\explorer.exe shell:AppsFolder\NewspaperDirect.PressReader_f09x14bt6ejbt!App

If I close explorer.exe this command does NOT work any more and I cannot launch this application any more. Furthermore, even if I close explorer.exe after launching the application, some features of that application will not work and I will not be able to close that application hence I came to the conclusion that I must close only the taskbar keeping explorer.exe alive.

At this stage, I can take into consideration also Windows registry modification to do it.

Andrew Schulman
  • 8,561
  • 21
  • 31
  • 47
G P
  • 11
  • 1

1 Answers1

0

I think you have to edit the registry to tell it to run something other than explorer.exe. This will get rid of the start menu, menu bar, and desktop (and probably also the other touchscreen style corner things new since win8)

See How do I replace the windows explorer shell with some image during boot? where he says it was easy to edit HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon and change it to cmd.exe, and mentions you can't use a .bat file, only a PE file.

Peter
  • 2,546
  • 1
  • 18
  • 25
  • Dear Peter, Thanks but as I said before I cannot close explorer.exe or I will not be able to launch the Windows AppStore application – G P Mar 01 '18 at 09:14
  • You can as long as your replacement allows you to launch the applications you require. For example, write your own program that has a button to start the app store, or pay someone else to, or find something like that that already exists (like what some schools use to restrict people). – Peter Mar 07 '18 at 19:00
  • Hello Peter, I tried opening the folder where UWT are listed and launching the UWT application from there. It shows the error "explorer.exe Class not registered". – G P Mar 19 '18 at 16:35