VB Forum / Win API / June 2008

Hey All,

I would like to prevent the taskbar from updating.  I have seen code that
hides / unhides, like that below:

Dim handleW1 As Long

Private Declare Function FindWindowA Lib "user32" _
  (ByVal lpClassName As String, _
  ByVal lpWindowName As String) As Long

Private Declare Function SetWindowPos Lib "user32" _
  (ByVal handleW1 As Long, _
  ByVal handleW1InsertWhere As Long, ByVal w As Long, _
  ByVal x As Long, ByVal y As Long, ByVal z As Long, _
  ByVal wFlags As Long) As Long

Public Declare Function LockWindowUpdate Lib "user32" (ByVal hwndLock As
Long) As Long

Const TOGGLE_HIDEWINDOW = &H80
Const TOGGLE_UNHIDEWINDOW = &H40

Function HideTaskbar()
  handleW1 = FindWindowA("Shell_traywnd", "")
  Call SetWindowPos(handleW1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, TOGGLE_HIDEWINDOW)
End Function

Function UnhideTaskbar()
  Call SetWindowPos(handleW1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, TOGGLE_UNHIDEWINDOW)
End Function

However, if I try to take that handle and use in a LockWindowUpdate call, it
does not lock the taskbar window and icons continue to appear and reappear.

Is there a way to lock the taskbar or prevent certain windows or
applications from adding icons?

Thanks,

Todd