Problem with desktops

Question

I have this code:

#define _WIN32_WINNT 0x0500
#include <cstdlib>
#include <iostream>
#include <windows.h>

using namespace std;

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    Sleep(500);
    HDESK hOriginalThread;
    HDESK hOriginalInput;
    hOriginalThread = GetThreadDesktop(GetCurrentThreadId());
    hOriginalInput = OpenInputDesktop(0, FALSE, DESKTOP_SWITCHDESKTOP);


    HDESK hNewDesktop=CreateDesktop("Test",NULL,NULL,0,DELETE|READ_CONTROL|WRITE_DAC|WRITE_OWNER|GENERIC_ALL,NULL);

    cout<<SetThreadDesktop(hNewDesktop);
    Sleep(575);
    SwitchDesktop(hNewDesktop);
    system("cmd");
    Sleep(1000);
    SwitchDesktop(hOriginalInput);
    SetThreadDesktop(hOriginalThread);
    CloseDesktop(hNewDesktop);
    CloseDesktop(hOriginalInput);
    Sleep(1000);
    return 0;
}

When I run this, it creates new desktop, switch to it, but command prompt not appeared. I must manualy terminate process "cmd" and my program then continue. Is there a way to show window of any application on other desktop? And how I can change background of desktop I created? Please help.

Answer 1

Are you just trying to run "cmd" in non-blocking mode? I believe you can do that in Windows with:

system(1, "cmd");

Answer 2

You can pick which desktop to start an application in when the application starts.

STARTUPINFO si = {0};
si.cb = sizeof(STARTUPINFO);
si.lpDesktop = L"winsta0\\Default";

Then pass this struct into CreateProcess or CreateProcessAsUser.

---

You can also pick which session to start the application in (Enable the session ID column in task manager to see which one you want)

You can create a process in another session by using: SetTokenInformation

on the token that you use in CreateProcessAsUser passing in a TokenSessionId

You can't change the session of an already running process.

Answer 3

Don't use *Desktop functions, I promise they don't do what you think they do, they're a holdover from NT4 - you're really trying to create a new Session, and the OS owns creating sessions. Just don't do it.

-guy who works in Windows org