-1

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
  • 25,198
omega1
  • 347
  • 1
  • 5
  • 12

1 Answers1

1

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
  • 1
kingoleg
  • 136