WinVNC Tray Icon Mini-FAQ V1.0-2000.05.20

[Ingecom - SERRE Jean-Christophe]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 WinVNC Tray Icon Mini-FAQ V1.0-2000.05.20
 AKA "How can I disable WinVNC tray icon?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since it's a boring and Too Frequently Asked Question, this is a quick
attempt at providing a definitive summary on the topic -- HTH

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~~~~~ 0 - Official answer

A0.1-Oh no you can't:
 --> http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/faq.html#q45


~~~~~ 1 - You simply want to prevent messing with WinVNC server

(E.g., you don't actually want to remove tray icon, but its features.)

A1.1-Prevent users from accessing Properties

See "AllowProperties" registry setting at:
 --> http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/winvnc.html

A1.2-Prevent users from stopping VNC

See "AllowShutdown" registry setting at:
 --> http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/winvnc.html

A1.3-Disable or remove items from tray icon's context menu

Quick editing of WinVNC.EXE menu in a resource editor allows to prevent
"Kill all clients" and "Add new client", for instance. About it and
getting a resource editor, read "Disabling items in VNC server context
menu" thread and its follow-ups at:
 --> http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/archives/2000-05/0273.html
 --> http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/archives/2000-05/0347.html

A1.4-Completely hide the tray area

The little freeware TrayHide will make the whole tray area disappear
when executed (works flip-flop: running it again will make it reappear),
so if that meets your purpose you can add it to the Startup folder, or
make it less visible by putting it into a HKCU Run key in registry.

 --> ftp://ftp.creativelement.com/pub/win95ann/trayhide.zip


~~~~~ 2 - You don't want users to know when remoting is active

(E.g., users/students are officially warned about monitoring.)

A2.1-Make the two tray-icons be identical

Quick editing of WinVNC.EXE icons in a resource editor allows to export
the 3 "white icons" then re-import them over the corresponding 3 "black
icons", thus users know a monitoring program is running, but not when
they're actually watched. See A1.3 about getting a resource editor.


~~~~~ 3 - You really need the tray icon not to be there (for NT)

(E.g., you don't want to clutter a server's tray space.)

A3.1-Run WinVNC as a service and disable "Service Helper" autorun

When WinVNC runs as an NT service, it doesn't create its tray-icon by
itself. This is done by running the "Service Helper" after it. WinVNC
installation configure the Service Helper to be automatically executed
in the registry. So in:
   HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\
delete or rename the "WinVNC" value:
   WinVNC=""C:\Program Files\ORL\WinVNC\WinVNC.exe" -servicehelper"
and then the NT WinVNC service won't get a trayicon unless you manually
run the Service Helper.

A3.2-Run WinVNC as a non-interactive service

In Service Manager, change WinVNC service's startup properties so as to
uncheck the "Allow service to interact with desktop" checkbox. The
service will run fine but won't be able to display its trayicon (even if
Service Helper is run) nor to open any dialog on screen. Until
interactivity is set back and the service restarted, this will also
prevent from using the "Show Users settings" and "Show Default Settings"
shortcuts.


~~~~~ 4 - You really need the tray icon not to be there (for Win9x)

(No particular Win9x-dedicated trick.)


~~~~~ 5 - None of the above items apply

A5.1-Download latest source code, hack it for your needs, recompile.

A5.2-Update the regular installation with already-hacked binaries:
 --> http://www.ssimicro.com/~markham/vnc/
(Note that this is an older version 3.3.2 R6.)

A5.3-Forget VNC and plug BackOrifice, but don't ask about it here.

~~~~~ end

-- 
JCS - Jean-Christophe SERRE - INGECOM France - +33 (0)1.48.34.12.34

Le Titanic a finalement iti couli par le seul truc insubmersible
viritable sur notre planhte, un gros glagon. Le Titanic pouvait pas
faire face ` de l'eau trop froide. (Alain Turgeon)
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