NPVR startup in windows 7

[marc]

I know this has got to have an easy answer but I can't find it amongst the similar on the web. (I have just upgraded to windows 7 so all a bit unfamiliar)

I want NPVR to start and be ready to use from remote control when I turn the PC on. I have put a shortcut to NPVR in the startup folder and the program starts fine but it is not in focus (has the toolbar on top) so the remote won't control it. Is there an option I need to set somewhere or do I need to start the program by a different means?


Thanks

[imilne]

Try editing your shortcut to have the -ontop parameter.

Iain

[marc]

Thanks Ian,

Just given that a go but started the same with windows 7 toolbar seeming to be the priority

Marc

[smajor]

The startup folder items are loaded in alphabetical order. I had a couple of items in mine, so the trick for me was to name the shortcut zNPVR and use the -ontop parameter as Iain already mentioned.

[OTAjunkie]

You might try "auto hide" the toolbar but this yeilds an annoying white line at the base of my screen which can be removed by toggling windowed/full screen a couple of times.
This is not really a proper fix same with a simple mouse click on the NPVR "window" but may I ask why you shutdown your PC? Are there not recordings to be done and EPGs to load? My system is always on and one remote action kills the screen saver and I'm ready to go.

[marc]

Hi I,ve tried the zNPVR option but that did not work for me, I have tried a couple of programs from the web hat are suppose to keep the program on top which hasn't worked either. Why does Microsoft always seem to have one simple obvious feature missing or not working!

I've tried auto hide of the toolbar but the program is still not in focus for the remote control till I click on it with a mouse.

Normally this is not going to be a big issue as the PC is normally on and just goes in and out of sleep as required which works fine, I just want to be able to say that when I am not here if there is a problem reboot it and all will be fine and work straight away. It is also annoying at the moment while I am upgrading the system to windows7 and NPVR there are obviously a number of reboots as I tweak the system and add programs, upgrades.

[smajor]

You might have something that launches after NPVR and outside of the Startup Items that is stealing focus.

You could try launching NPVR with a .bat file in your Startup items using timeout at the beginning of the batch to delay NPVR from opening for a certain number of seconds, thus giving time for whatever it is to complete its launch. Something like:

timeout 5
cd "C:\Program Files\NPVR"
npvr.exe
exit

I know timeout works in Win7, but your sig says you have WinXP. If so, you can substitute it by pinging a non-existent IP address with a similar timeout, in this case 5000 should be about 5 seconds:

ping 1.1.1.1 -n 1 -w 5000 > nul

Increase/decrease the timeout until you find what launches NPVR truly "last".

[marc]

Thanks Smajor,
that was was the solution that worked for me. Had to up the time out a bit, and correct the .exe to NextPVR so final solution for me was a .bat as below in startup folder.

timeout 10
cd "C:\Program Files\NPVR"
nextpvr.exe
exit

(I've even updated my sig to show windows 7!)

Thanks for all the sugestions

[vintdiesel]

Interesting, I have been using the third party "sleep" command for time delays in batch files, I didn't know there was a "timeout" command in Win7.

Just of interest, the Wiki > Hardware Configuration > Remote Controls section has code for configuring the remote to launch NPVR on pressing the Green Power button. I just press that button if it has lost focus, it seems NPVR checks for running one instance and refocusses if it is already running. Originally though the power button still wanted to launch WinTV but I changed EVERY line entry for the GRNPOWER button in the .ini file to NPVR and it works fine.

[smajor]

Timeout has been around since Vista as I recall. There was something similar in XP, I can't remember if it was also called timeout or sleep and was added via a resource kit download. I always used the ping trick for XP since it was already there and one less thing I needed to reload if something got hosed.