Member Avatar for The Dude

Does anyone here know what file controls the action when you press CTRL-ALT-DEL and get that "Close Program" box??

The reason I ask is,i have a program called TASK MANAGER (It looks like XPs task manager) in 'My Breifcase' and I would really like to have "Task Manager" open when i hit CTRL-ALT-DELETE like it does on 2000,XP,etc.....

Im assuming it is stored either in the reg or a SYSTEM file (explorer.exe,etc) and i could probably just point it to that file instead of the CLOSE PROGRAM box.. If someone knows WHAT FILE it is,i could begin looking into it :)


This is an interesting experiment and maybe we can work on this together and produce excellent results :)

Thanx guys :)

Edited by The Dude because: n/a
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  • Latest Post Latest Post by albertjone125
Member Avatar for caperjack

are u using win98 .
so long ago,
do you get the option to make up a shortcut key if you right click on the file and go to properties

Edited by caperjack because: n/a
Member Avatar for The Dude

Yup i can bud......

But it seems logical that i could alter the file that the setting is in that brings up 'CLOSE PROGRAM' and instead have it open Task Manager (c:\My Briefcase\Task Manager) instead..

Member Avatar for caperjack

Yup i can bud......

But it seems logical that i could alter the file that the setting is in that brings up 'CLOSE PROGRAM' and instead have it open Task Manager (c:\My Briefcase\Task Manager) instead..

ok, it wold be in the registry somewhere,not sure where !had a quick look ,but i am using xp, but if you right click the program you could create your own key combo to open the device manager in my briefcase.like alt+ctrl+home

edit - you could look i your registry [not in my xp] in this general are
"Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System " ,looking for close program or something like that,
sorry i cant find any reference to it for win98 on Google or don't have any computer with 98 on it anymore

Edited by caperjack because: n/a
Member Avatar for jbennet

On NT based systems. its the kernel/winlogon. Thats because ctrl-alt-del is magic. Its a security feature (hence why on a domain you must do control-alt-del to logon - thats to ensure that the logon screen is the actual windows logon one and not a fake to try and spoof your details)

However, this was NOT the case on 98. I would say it probably is configurable on 98.

Member Avatar for The Dude

Well it just would be neat to do it....

CTRL-ALT-DEL is a reserved system COMBO so finding where that is set would be rewarding for this project :)

Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

That key is empty Caperjack (System)

Edited by The Dude because: n/a
Member Avatar for jackyjee

I have also used Win 98.
I get my entire system hanged & when i press press ALT-CTRL-DEL.
The system gets restarted & sometime it shows system is too busy screen.

Member Avatar for The Dude

Welcome my friend :)

Win98se is an awesome OS,its good to see you running it!

Member Avatar for jbennet

Win98se is an awesome OS

Really, it isnt....

Member Avatar for sparkax

I believe that the CTRL-ALT-DEL keyboard combination is
"hardwired" in ROM BIOS.

Member Avatar for The Dude

Hmm that might make it hard changing then :D

Member Avatar for jbennet

Well it clearly is modifiable a bit. A double-tap always seems to be a reboot, but a single one can seem to be caught by the kernel hence windows using it as a Secure Attention Sequence.

Member Avatar for The Dude

Ya its interesting thinking about no question!

Member Avatar for albertjone125

This problem persists in windows 98.
because when too many windows are opened it gets hanged & restarted when pressed CRTL-ALT-DEL.

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