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I need to run a software application 'hidden' under Windows XP. The software itself does not offer the option of running as a service and I'm not sure of whether or not this can be done.

It is a commercial piece of software which i would like to run 'hidden' from the desktop and taskbar (it will of course be running as a process in task manager), but I do not wish for it to be seen running on the desktop.

Can this be done? If so, how?

barlop
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omega1
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  • See my answer in [how to hide sound recorder in windows 7](http://superuser.com/a/837557) – DavidPostill Nov 12 '14 at 11:51
  • You have to explain what "hidden mode" is exactly since that's not an official name of any feature within Windows XP or any version of Windows. – Ramhound Nov 12 '14 at 11:58
  • By hidden mode I refer to the software not appearing on the desktop or on the taskbar. – omega1 Nov 12 '14 at 12:30
  • +1 to @Ramhound I would've done -1 for you the question but I fixed it.To reiterate somewhat,You should not have written 'hidden mode' when that's a term you made up. Sure it's possible to run programs hidden..some applications can do that built in and if not other applications can wrap them and do it, and there's an answer re those that act as a wrapper for whatever program in windows.But ur question title suggests u're using some win xp 'hidden mode' and you have an issue with it.That mode doesn't exist.n Hence me upvoting ramhound's comment, and downvoting your question.I fixed it though. – barlop Nov 13 '14 at 11:17

1 Answers1

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A service wrapper

The service wrapper is an application that allows any application to be installed and run as Windows Services or Unix Daemons. The service wrapper doesn't need to change an application it wraps, but add some service specific behavior:

  • The application runs 'hidden' to an user:
    • no icons in the task bar
    • no window
    • there can be icon in system tray or not
  • The application can be started at system starts
  • The application can be restarted automatically if it crashes

See more in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_wrapper.

There are some options I found in the Wikipedia article:

Windows application to hide an application from the taskbar

There are some application allows to hide an other application from the taskbar, to hide its window. Some of them can show a icon for the application in system tray. Some of the shows hidden application in own way.

Such applications often require user activity after every reboot. But they can be handy for not advanced users, as they doesn't need some additional knowledge about services and how OS works

See more in How can I hide an application from the Windows taskbar?

Some of them:

  • WinRAP
  • TrayIt!
Community
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kingoleg
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  • Could you edit your post and include the information? Linking to an article is not the SuperUser way, because those links may become invalid at some time. If you edit your post, I'll even vote it up. But now its almost worth voting down. – LPChip Nov 12 '14 at 11:53
  • Sorry, I have no reputation to post more then 2 URL. Is it OK now? – kingoleg Nov 12 '14 at 12:00
  • I understand. Voted up for effort. You can still name the applications without linking as example though, and explain more about what a service wrapper is and how it helps in the context of the question. – LPChip Nov 12 '14 at 12:03
  • +1. :) Yes, now this is a good answer. I'm sure others will now too vote it up. – LPChip Nov 12 '14 at 15:10
  • does HSTART do it too? and i've heard cmdow possibly. – barlop Nov 13 '14 at 11:48
  • HSTART has different purpose and looks like it cannot be runner on Windows XP – kingoleg Nov 13 '14 at 16:07
  • cmdow is command line tool. And it looks like it can be used, but it can be not so easy. – kingoleg Nov 13 '14 at 16:09
  • @kingoleg hstart.exe does run on xp.. and the latest hstart includes hstartui.exe which is gui and runs on xp. there is also an hstart64.exe The website for hstart is ntwind.com and XP is in the NT family of operating systems. And what do you mean when you say hstart has different purpose? – barlop Nov 13 '14 at 21:07
  • @barlop I am not very familar with hstart.exe. I just see that all Windows version are mention on its page are Vista and Windows 7. May be you are right. I have now XP to test it. I just wrote that "it looks like it cannot be run on Windows XP". "different purpose" - i mean that hide application window is just a small part of that it can do. hstart documentation says that it can do much more. For example, hide UAC prompt or set priority. May be it can be used to hide application, but it can be not so easy. I am not sure it can be run on XP – kingoleg Nov 14 '14 at 11:41
  • @kingoleg hstart does work in XP, i've used it there. But I notice that (windows version not relevant) it doesn't hide windows generally. The only window it hides is the console window. so hstart calc.exe and calc.exe is visible. hstart /NOCONSOLE dir >c:\blah\a.a and that runs that without any console window. And you misread.. The website doesn't say only win7 and vista. The website says about it dealing with UAC in Win7 and Vista. XP of course has no UAC but hstart runs in XP and you can hide a console window with it. – barlop Nov 14 '14 at 20:18