I have used the template provided Here, to create a windows service. I would like to use this service to reset the system idle timer to avoid the OS going to sleep mode.
SetThreadExecutionState, seems the be the right way of doing so. However, it appears that this method, does not work when the program is running as a service. I have even tried sending an event with keybd_event function, but it appears that there are some security measures in place (see question No. 12747430), to filter out mouse/keyboard events for non-desktop applications ( Even though 'Allow service to interact with desktop' option, is checked for the service).
So here's the question: How can i reset the system idle timer through a windows service? (should not be dependent on user's desktop and should work on login screen as well)
PS: the OS is windows 7 x64
Thanks in advance
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I have a Windows credential which must negotiate with a service only one time (and no more) and it is when the Windows firstly boots up.
using "cpus" parameter in "SetUsageScenario" function, we only can detect the difference between unlock and log out scenario. The point is how to detect first Windows log on?
IMHO the Windows Service is the best way to detect Windows boot.
When you are registering service you can provide that your service don't support Stop command and mark it as auto-start.
There (at service start) you can be sure that the windows have just ben booted.
I successfully used SendSAS in a service (Local System Account). I call the API four seconds after the service starts. It seems that whatever the boot process duration, Windows manage to cache (sort of) the call: the same code finally shows me a logon screen a few seconds after the power on, on a fast laptop (Win10), and also shows me the logon screen after a very much longer delay on a slow Server (2012R2) running virtualized (wmware).
I am also able to use CreateProcessAsUser (with an updated token) to inject a tiny executable in the Session 1, Station WinSta0, Desktop Winlogon. The process then uses SendInput to "auto-logon" the session (yes, this is an awful think to do do, I am aware of that).
My problem: if the tiny process starts "too early", nothing happens. If the service waits, say, 2 minutes, all is OK.
What API should I use (in the service or in the started process) to find out when the WinLogon desktop is ready to accept keyboard inputs?
I tried WTSGetActiveConsoleSessionId (in the service) and OpenInputDesktop (in the process) hopping that failure would indicate the need to wait, but with no avail.
When your process starts in session 1, attached to the WinSta0\Winlogon desktop, you can periodically test the Control Type of the currently IUIAutomationElement focused element.
The APIs to use are : IUIAutomation::GetFocusedElement and then IUIAutomationElement::GetCurrentPropertyValue for the UIA_ControlTypePropertyId property. When you successfully get a focused element of type UIA_EditControlTypeId, the Windows logon screen is ready to accept inputs.
Don't forget to add a Sleep call between each try.
Tested OK with Windows Server 2008R2 and 2012R2, and with Windows 10.
I am writing a service application that will run with local system credentials. I will need to know from my service if the Windows logon screen is displayed at any particular time. Is there any way to do this?
PS. The screens that can be brought up by locking the workstation:
Or by trying to switch the user:
Or after a Ctrl+Alt+Del:
PS. I need this to run on Windows XP and up.
EDIT: The only viable solution that I came up with so far is to see if LogonUI.exe process is running. The issue with this approach is how to distinguish between the actual system logon process and any other process that has that image name?
As described in the comments you are trying to detect whether or not a process in an interactive desktop session should show a message box. There being no point doing so if the interactive session is not active.
In which case I believe that your proposed solution is the wrong one. Instead you should register for session change notifications by calling WTSRegisterSessionNotification. When you do this you'll get sent WM_WTSSESSION_CHANGE messages that allow you to keep track of the current state.
Note that you do this in your desktop app rather than the service. The service still sends its messages to the desktop app. But the desktop app now knows whether or not it is worth showing them.
Update
Remy suggests a better way in the comments:
And if a separate app is being used, there is no reason to detect session changes at all, that app can simply check if its currently assigned workstation/desktop is the currently interactive workstation/desktop instead, comparing GetThreadDesktop() to OpenInputDesktop(), for instance.
All such screens are presented on a separate desktop. You may try to enumerate the user's desktops and compare it with the current (I am not sure the service in session 0 - Vista and up - can do that; if not, spawn a helper process in the user session). This however may give a false positive if an UAC desktop is up. Another corner case is a userless situation (right after boot before any user looged on).
There are several states in the windows.
Logged-Off State
When Winlogon is in the logged-off state, users are prompted to identify themselves and provide authentication information. If a user provides correct user account information and no restrictions prevent it, the user is logged on and a shell program (such as Windows Explorer) is executed in the application desktop. Winlogon changes to the logged-on state.
Logged-On State
When Winlogon is in the logged-on state, users can interact with the shell, activate additional applications, and do their work. From the logged-on state, users can either stop all work and log off, or lock their workstations (leaving all work in place). If the user decides to log off, Winlogon will terminate all processes associated with that logon session and the workstation will be available for another user. If, instead, the user decides to lock the workstation, Winlogon changes to the workstation-locked state.
Workstation-Locked State
When Winlogon is in the workstation-locked state, a secure desktop is displayed until the user unlocks the workstation by providing the same identification and authentication information as the user who originally logged on, or until an administrator forces a logoff. If the workstation is unlocked, the application desktop is displayed, and work can resume.
reference: https://msdn.microsoft.com/ko-kr/library/windows/desktop/aa380547(v=vs.85).aspx
p.s. registering a secure attention sequence (SAS, CTRL+ALT+Delete) is included in Workstation-Locked state
Similarly, there are several desktop types on windows.
Winlogon desktop
Application desktop(=Default desktop)
Screensaver desktop
Secure desktop
I recommend you read this:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/ko-kr/library/windows/desktop/aa375994(v=vs.85).aspx
I don't know my answers are what you want... but I hope it helps in some ways.
How Can I execute a function when Windows shutdown. Here is my scenario, I am mounting a drive using WNetAddConnection2 function in my application. Now I want user to set the option if the drive will be mounted on next system startup or not.
If he selects , not to mount on next startup , then I need to remove the drive using WNetCancelConnection2 , but this should only happen when user shutdown the system.
I can only think of only solution. Create a service which will check the user option and then decide whether to mount the drive or not.
Are there any other ways to go ahead with it?
If you have a main window (even an invisible one) that can process messages, you can handle the WM_ENDSESSION message.
See: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa376889(v=VS.85).aspx
If you can make your app into a Windows service (or have your app communicate state with one that you provide) you can perform required actions on receipt of SERVICE_CONTROL_SHUTDOWN in your service control handler function. This would decouple your app that handles user interaction from the shutdown handling, which requires something to be running all the time (what if the user logs off?).
explorer.exe is the GUI process of windows which usually only gets shut down if Windows shuts down (exceptions have to be made for certain error conditions). You could listen on the WM_DESTROY window message for the process ID of explorer.exe and dismount then.
The way I can think of is to:
Register your program to auto Start up (when PC starts). Here's a tutorial on howto.
Store the user option (as mentioned above) in a repository or registry (if you know how). When your app would have started, you can read your registry and act accordingly.
For shutdown, your application will have to hook itself on a SystemEvent to detect shutdown (then you can act accordingly). Here's an example on howto (C#). For C++, you can listen to WM_ENDSESSION message.
I hope that my 2 cents can help you.
I have a C++ Win32 application that was written as a Windows GUI project, and now I'm trying to figure out to make it into a Service / GUI hybrid. I understand that a Windows Service cannot / should not have a user interface. But allow me to explain what I have so far and what I'm shooting for.
WHAT I HAVE NOW is a windows application. When it is run it places an icon in the system tray that you can double-click on to open up the GUI. The purpose of this application is to process files located in a specified directory on a nightly schedule. The GUI consists of the following:
A button to start an unscheduled scan/process manually.
A button to open a dialog for modifying settings.
A List Box for displaying status messages sent from the processing thread.
A custom drawn window for displaying image data (the file processing includes the creation and saving of images).
A status bar - while a process is not running, it shows a countdown to the next scheduled scan. During a scan it also provides some status feedback, including a progress bar.
WHAT I'M SHOOTING FOR is a service that will run on boot-up and not require a user to login. This would consist of the scheduled file processing. However, when a user logs in I would still like the tray icon to be loaded and allow them to open up a GUI as I described above to monitor the current state of the service, change settings, start a scan manually, and monitor the progress of a scan.
I'm sure that I have seen applications like this - that function as a service even when I'm not logged in, but still give me a user interface to work with once I do log in.
I'm thinking that instead of having a single multi-threaded application that sends messages to the GUI thread from the processing thread, I need two applications - a Service to perform the processing and a GUI application to provide visual feedback from the Service and also send messages to the Service (for example, to start a scan manually). But I am new to Windows Services and have no idea how this is done.
It is also possible that I'm completely off base and a Service is not what I'm looking for at all.
Any help / ideas / suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.
You can't do this as a service.
You'll need to make your Windows Service as a normal service application. This will startup on system startup, and run the entire time the system is up.
You'd then make a completely separate GUI application, which "talks" to the service. This can be set to run when a user logs in, in the user's account.
In order to make them "talk" to each other, you'll need to use some form of IPC. Since these run on the same system (but in different accounts, typically), named pipes or sockets both work quite well.
There is a simple way of doing it.
You can’t have the service access any user’s session (session 1,2,3..) since services are isolated and can access session 0 only. This is a change from 2011.
You should write a win32 program to be launched by your service per each user who logs in using https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms682429(v=vs.85).aspx
The service can continue performing any task that isn’t user specific.