Topics

[Win+R]

One annoyance of Windows is that the CMD prompt (or DOS/Terminal prompt) normally opens as a big rectangle randomly somewhere on the desktop, and doesn't stay on top of all other windows when using it. It's also not transparent, so you can't easily see what's under it, resulting in you having to move it with the mouse (or minimize it) to see things underneath. All this is counter-productive to your work. There must be a better way, and there is!

AlomWare Toolbox has a window opening state called "As a reference strip", which means to position the window across the entire width of the bottom quarter of the desktop, with slight transparency, and remain on top of all other windows. The extra width means that DOS or PowerShell commands will now show their output text in a longer row, resulting in less horizontal scrolling (or even none) by you with the mouse to read it all. Nice!

So how do we set the CMD/DOS/Terminal prompt to always auto-open this way? First, open the prompt by pressing Win+R and typing "cmd" and pressing the Enter key (or clicking "OK"):



The big ugly default CMD prompt will open somewhere random on the desktop, covering your open windows. To prevent this nastiness, middle-click its icon area (top-left corner of its window) and navigate to and select "Opening state > Open like this, but with the window position > as a reference strip":



A confirmation dialog box appears (below), so just click the "OK" button to accept it:



Done! To test, close the CMD prompt and then re-open it by pressing Win+R and entering "cmd" again. As shown below, it now auto-opens wide, on top of all other windows, and transparent. Cool!

Sometimes you want to refer to your own custom notes about the app you're currently using. You could create and open your own saved document to do it, but AlomWare Toolbox lets you open a Notepad document from a hotkey or pop-up menu from the app itself, which is saved in your AlomWare Toolbox folder for portability if AlomWare Toolbox is run from a USB stick.

For the hotkey version, create this action:

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Action: Allow failure messages "0"
0002 Window: Assign active ""
0003 Window: Edit app notes ""
(End)
Assign this action to a hotkey, and then press that hotkey on whatever window is active to open your Notepad notes for it. Easy!

For the pop-up menu version, first middle-click the icon area of the active window, and then select "Edit app notes" from the Power menu that appears. Here's a screenshot showing this for the app "Paint Shop Pro":



The Notepad document for that app will open for editing and viewing your notes:



That's it! Two easy ways to achieve quick access to your own custom notes for any app.

[Alternatively:]

Question: Looking for a way to pin a window above all other windows

"I would like to keep a small window in the corner of my screen while working in another application. When I switch between programs, the pinned window should remain visible instead of going behind the active window."

The solution posted there was to install Windows PowerToys, but that installation takes up 515 MB of disk space to do the job. Why would you waste almost half a GB of your precious hard drive capacity like that? Plus, PowerToys doesn't keep a window on top of the taskbar and can't set a window to be on top automatically whenever the window opens. AlomWare Toolbox handles both of these and is less than 4 MB in size with no installation needed (it's a portable app).

To keep any window on top of all others with AlomWare Toolbox, just create this simple action:

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Action: Allow failure messages "0"
0002 Window: Assign active ""
0003 Window: Always on top "toggle"
(End)
Assign this action to a hotkey trigger and press the hotkey when the desired window is active. If the window is NOT on top of all others, then it becomes so. If it's already on top, then it stops being that state (which is useful for apps that set their windows on top that you may not want to be on top).

If you don't want the action to toggle the top-most state and just make the window stay on top when the hotkey is pressed, just change step 3 so that the text "toggle" is "1" for yes (always on top).

Unlike other apps, AlomWare Toolbox keeps the top-most state over the Windows taskbar, too! The target window truly is on top of all others.

Alternatively: If you have a regular window that you always want to open in a top-most state (such as the Calculator), then you can make AlomWare Toolbox do that, too. Just middle-click the window's icon area and select "Always on top" from the menu:



That window is now set to be on top, but since we'd like it to always open that way in future, we middle-click the window's icon area again and select "Opening state > Open like this (position, size, transparency, etc)":



A confirmation window for the state now opens, so we can just click the "OK" button to accept it:



That's it! Now whenever that window opens (Calculator in this example), it will automatically open always on top of all others.

Tip: Did you see in the last screenshot that you can optionally set keystrokes to type, or a DOS command to run, or an automated action to run, whenever the window opens? Now that's handy!

Question: NUM LOCK issue

"I just cannot get [my PC] to leave the NUM LOCK function as set to ON permanently."

This user has tried everything to get his PC to keep the Num Lock key on, but nothing worked. AlomWare Toolbox has a setting to force it on at all times. Once enabled, you can press Num Lock to turn it off, but it'll stay on regardless. Just open Toolbox's "Settings" and navigate to "Tweaks for your PC > Keyboard > Freeze the Num Lock key so that it always stays on".

AlomWare Toolbox lets you find any image on the desktop, such for clicking as part of an automated action. It uses the step called "Image: Find on desktop" to do the search. You first need to snip the image that you want to find and save it to a folder, then assign that snippet to find it on the desktop later.

If the image is found, its location is stored in these variables (which will all be blank if not found):

• imagex$ = The image's left position on the desktop.
• imagey$ = The image's top position on the desktop.
• imagew$ = The image's width (in pixels).
• imageh$ = The image's height (in pixels).

Here's an action that searches the desktop for the image specified in step 1, and then puts the mouse over the center of it (the calculation in step 3):

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Image: Assign "c:\image\to\find.png"
0002 Image: Find on desktop ""
0003 Mouse: Move to desktop position "{=imagex$+(imagew$/2)},{=imagey$+(imageh$/2)}"
(End)
As a test without using an image file, you can snip part of the desktop with the Windows "Snipping Tool" and copy the snip to the clipboard. Then run the action below to find what you snipped on the desktop:

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Image: Assign "clip"
0002 Image: Find on desktop ""
0003 Mouse: Move to desktop position "{=imagex$+(imagew$/2)},{=imagey$+(imageh$/2)}"
(End)


With AlomWare Toolbox, you can easily create a QR code from any website URL. You just use the "Image: Assign" step in the format "qr=URL". Here's an action that does it from a screenshot of AlomWare Toolbox's "Automation" tab:

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Image: Assign "qr=https://www.alomware.com/images/tab-automation.png"
0002 Image: Show at desktop position "numpad5"
(End)
Running this action results in the QR code being displayed in the center of the desktop. Try scanning it with your phone!



Here's an action that you can set to a hotkey that grabs the URL from the active web browser and creates a QR code for it:

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 String: Assign URL from active browser ""
0002 String: Insert text "1,qr="
0003 Image: Assign "string$"
0004 Image: Show at desktop position "numpad5"
(End)
Tip: You're not restricted to just website URLs; you can actually create a QR code for any text (but not "War and Peace"!). Just remember to prefix the text with "qr=" and you're all set.

By default, the Windows "Run" dialog box is not wide enough to show long text. With AlomWare Toolbox, you can now have it always open wider:



The setting is located here: "Tweaks for your PC > Windows > Make the Windows 'Run' box wider to show more text".



Once you go wide, you'll never go back! 

[Delete]

Question: Auto Minimize

"I want to know if there is a software that automatically minimizes my applications after x amount of time and auto reopens them the moment I move my mouse/press a key on my keyboard."

Aside from the obvious answer of using a screen saver, you can do this with AlomWare Toolbox with the following action:

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Wait: For user to ignore the PC "00:01:00"
0002 Computer: Show the desktop ""
0003 Wait: For user to operate the PC ""
0004 Computer: Restore minimized windows ""
0005 Action: Go to start ""
(End)
In this action, AlomWare Toolbox waits until the user hasn't used the PC for 1 minute (step 1 in "HH:MM:SS" format), and when they do it minimizes all windows to show the desktop (step 2). The action then waits for the user to operate the PC again (step 3) and when they, all minimized windows are restored (step 4). The action then goes back to step 1 again to repeat the process (step 5).

Unlike a screen saver, you can modify this action to do additional things, such as muting the system sound when all windows are minimized:

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Wait: For user to ignore the PC "00:01:00"
0002 Computer: Show the desktop ""
0003 Computer: Volume mute "1"
0004 Wait: For user to operate the PC ""
0005 Computer: Restore minimized windows ""
0006 Computer: Volume mute "0"
0007 Action: Go to start ""
(End)
To stop the action, select it in the "Running actions" list and press the Delete key.

Question: How to get a macOS style "Quick Note" on Windows? (Hover mouse to the corner/side to open a note)

"I really love the Quick Note feature on macOS where you just move your mouse cursor to the bottom-right corner (or side) of the screen, and a quick scratchpad notes window pops up instantly. smth like that on windows?"

You can use this short action with AlomWare Toolbox to do so. Just run it, and whenever the mouse is put in the bottom-right corner of the desktop, the app opens to its "Notes" tab.

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Wait: For the mouse to be "{=deskw$-1},{=deskh$-1}"
0002 Toolbox: Show the tab named "Notes"
0003 Wait: For the mouse to be "moved"
0004 Action: Go to start ""
(End)
Explanation of the steps:

• Waits for the mouse to be at the desktop's width and height (minus 1 pixel for each).
• Opens AlomWare Toolbox's window and jumps to the "Notes" tab for you.
• Waits for the mouse to be moved anywhere, which in this case is off the bottom-right corner.
• Goes back to step 1 to wait for the mouse to be at the bottom-right corner again.

If you wanted the action to show the "Notes" tab when the mouse is at the right side of the screen, just edit step 1 to be this:

Code Select Expand

0001 Wait: For the mouse to be "{=deskw$-1},#"
If you'd prefer a hotkey to show "Notes" instead, then you can use this single-step action (which has no mouse polling):

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Toolbox: Show the tab named "Notes"
(End)

[numpad3]

Quite often the question arises of how AlomWare Toolbox compares to AutoHotkey. Basically, AutoHotkey is a full programming language, whereas AlomWare Toolbox is more of a scripting tool that can achieve similar things to AutoHotkey but on a smaller and less technical scale. This is partly why AlomWare Toolbox was created: because AutoHotkey is just too hard and complicated for the everyday PC user to deal with. Not everybody is a programmer, and neither do they want to invest the time and effort into becoming one.

So, let's compare both products to see how they'd automate the task of opening the Windows Calculator, move it to the bottom-right of the desktop, and set its transparency level to 75%.

With AutoHotkey, the coding (which is always done by manual typing) is like this:

Code Select Expand

Run, calc.exe
WinWait, ahk_exe CalculatorApp.exe

SysGet, WorkArea, MonitorWorkArea
WinGetPos, , , WinW, WinH, ahk_exe CalculatorApp.exe
NewX := WorkAreaRight - WinW
NewY := WorkAreaBottom - WinH
WinMove, ahk_exe CalculatorApp.exe, , %NewX%, %NewY%

; Set transparency to 75%
; 255 = fully opaque, so 75% = 191
WinSet, Transparent, 191, ahk_exe CalculatorApp.exe

This is not very user-friendly to read, and has confusing data (specifying "191" for 75%), and as mentioned requires manual typing by hand. No, thanks.

By comparison, here's the exact same thing with AlomWare Toolbox, with easy-to-understand plain-English steps that are picked from a list instead of typing:

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(Start)
0001 Computer: App launch "calc.exe"
0002 Window: Assign and wait to activate "CalculatorApp.exe"
0003 Window: Move to desktop position "numpad3"
0004 Window: Transparency "75"
(End)
Here's how the above action looks in AlomWare Toolbox:



As you can see, the AlomWare Toolbox version is much cleaner, clearer to understand, and has nice icons for visibility (unlike AutoHotkey).

FAQ: What does numpad3 mean in step 3 above? Well, think of your desktop as being like the numeric keypad on your keyboard. See how the numpad's "3" key is at the bottom-right of the keypad, as shown in the image below? This means to automatically position Calculator at the bottom-right of the desktop (no matter what size the desktop is at the time), saving you the hassle of calculating the bottom-right corner of the desktop manually. Nice! But having said that, you can always manually specify a desktop position by typing the screen co-ordinates in step 3 using an X,Y format instead of the numpad# format.

Sometimes you are looking at an image (or folder/window) that has a lot of text, and you need to know if certain text is in it. For documents, you'd normally use the search function with the document's app, but for viewed images or a folder/window this isn't possible. This action, when bound to a hotkey, will search the current folder, image or window for the text you specify. Just press the hotkey when the item is active, and enter the text to find. You will then be told if the text is present or not (the action can't highlight or select the text for you).

Note: This action uses Windows OCR, so any failure to find the text is due to Windows (the OS) and not AlomWare Toolbox.

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Alert: Ask for a line of text "Search for this text:"
0002 Window: Assign active ""
0003 Window: Set windoc$ variable ""
0004 Action: Do this block if "windoc$<>blank$"
0005  Image: Assign "windoc$"
0006  Data: Assign "image"
0007 Action: End of block ""
0008 Action: Do this block if "windoc$=blank$"
0009  Image: Assign "window"
0010  Data: Assign "window"
0011 Action: End of block ""
0012 Action: Match case "0"
0013 String: Assign from assigned image ""
0014 Action: Do next step if "string$?alert$"
0015  String: Assign "The data$ DOES contain "alert$"."
0016 Action: Do next step if "string$!alert$"
0017  String: Assign "The data$ does NOT contain "alert$"."
0018 Alert: Show a message "string$"
(End)

Sometimes you may have a folder full of images and you need to find one that has specific text in it. This action, when bound to a hotkey, will search the text in all images of a folder (but not sub-folders) and open the first image it finds with the specified text. Just press the hotkey when a folder is active to start. Be aware that a lot of very large images in a folder can make this take a while to resolve.

Note: This action uses Windows OCR, so any failure to find the text is due to Windows (the OS) and not AlomWare Toolbox.

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Folder: Assign active ""
0002 Action: Continue if "folder$<>blank$"
0003 Action: Allow failure messages "0"
0004 Action: Match case "0"
0005 Alert: Ask for a line of text "Open all images containing this text:"
0006 Folder: Set file processing filter ".bmp,.gif,.ico,.jpg,.jpeg,.pcx,.png,.psd,.psp,.tga,.tif,.tiff"
0007 Folder: Start of file processing ""
0008   Image: Assign "folder$name$"
0009   String: Assign from assigned image ""
0010   Action: Do this block if "string$?alert$"
0011   Computer: App launch "folder$name$"
0012   Action: Finish ""
0013   Action: End of block ""
0014 Folder: End of file processing ""
0015 Alert: Show a message "Image search is complete and no matches were found."
(End)

[Win+R]

Someone on this forum asked me how the Windows "Run" box can always be made to auto-open in the center of their desktop, because they have a large monitor and it bothers them to look to the left when the box opens (https://www.alomware.com/forum/index.php?topic=143.msg374#msg374). They also wanted no text to be defaulted in it.

Here's how to do it:

• Open the Windows "Run" box by pressing Win+R.
• Middle-click its icon area (step 1 below) to open the Power menu for the window.
• Select "Opening state" from the Power menu (step 2).
• Select "Open like this, but with the window position" (step 3).
• Select "Centered" (step 4).

An "[Opening State]" window appears where we now set how AlomWare Toolbox can identify the window, and also set some optional actions when the window opens. For our purposes, we proceed as follows:

• We leave "Use ready title" selected for the "Run" box's title (step 1 below).
• Specify {delete} in the "Type these keys" section, to remove any default text when it opens (step 2).
• Click "OK" to save the opening state (step 3).

That's it! Now whenever the Windows "Run" box is opened, it auto-moves to the center of the desktop and also clears any text in it. 

Question: How to disable the caps lock FUNCTION but still have the caps lock button to use while gaming

"I would love for any type of assistance on getting the caps lock FUNTION to not work while still being able to use the cap lock as a button for gaming."

This person wants to use the Caps Lock key for gaming, but not to actually turn Caps Lock on when doing so. AlomWare Toolbox has a system tweak setting to do exactly that. Open Toolbox's "Settings" and navigate to "Tweaks for your PC > Keyboard > Freeze the Caps Lock key so that it always stays off" (as shown below). Done! Now whenever the Caps Lock key is now pressed, it turns off immediately again.

Sometimes you'll be working on a document but need to see something on another document for reference. Usually this involves tiling both windows side-by-side, or shrinking one down, or moving your work document back and forth with its title bar. The situation is made even worse if both documents need to be maximized, because you can't tile, shrink, or move them. Using Alt+Tab is possible, but flicking between them like that is inconvenient due to needing to release both keys between each window switch.

AlomWare Toolbox to the rescue! Here's an action (that comes as default with the app in the "Windows" group) that you simply assign a hotkey to. When you hold down the hotkey, your current work window drops temporarily to 10% transparency so you can see what's underneath it (that is, the other document being referenced). When you release the hotkey, your work window goes back to its original transparency level again. So unlike Alt+Tab, you just hold the hotkey down to view underneath your work document, and then let go to return to your work document.

Code Select Expand

(Start)
HOW TO USE: Copy from Start to End, and then paste into an action.
REFERENCE : See an example of pasting at alomware.com/paste.png
0001 Action: Comment "This action requires a hotkey to be used."
0002 Window: Assign active ""
0003 String: Assign "wint$"
0004 Window: Transparency "10"
0005 Wait: For action hotkey to be released ""
0006 Window: Transparency "string$"
(End)
Here's an animation showing pressing and releasing of the hotkey with AlomWare Toolbox's window. As you can see, the window's transparency has gone to 10% so you can see this forum topic underneath it. You can change the transparency level in step 4 of the action if you prefer.

By default, AlomWare Toolbox shows all tabs for all its functions:



This may be overwhelming to new users, but you can change which ones to show, and/or their order. To do this, click the "Settings" button, and then choose "Toolbox's Window > Display and behavior > Set the tab order (and/or tabs not to show)":





You'll get a prompt where you can set which tabs to show, and in which order. Here, we're choosing to only show Clipboard, Screenshots, and Automation tabs:



After clicking the "OK" button to set the changes, AlomWare Toolbox will restart with your new tab preferences:



As you can see, this is a lot less clutter if you don't need to use any particular tabs.

When you have a lot of processes running on your PC, the "Details" tab of Task Manager can require long scrolling to view them all. If you run AlomWare Toolbox with admin rights, you can make the Task Manager use a compact view instead, for a better "birds-eye" view of the processes. This can make finding and selecting a process a lot faster and simpler.

The setting is here: "Tweaks for your PC > Windows > Win 10+ specific > Task Manager 'Details' tab uses compact view".



The difference in the "Details" tab as shown as a toggle animation:

Question: Trouble changing priority of program in registry

"I'd like to permanently set a program to have a higher priority than normal. I found a few websites recommending the same registry change but it doesn't seem to have any effect."

This user wants a certain program to always open with a specific process priority set. He wanted to use the Windows Registry to do it, but that's dangerous and not recommended. Instead, just use AlomWare Toolbox to change any app's process priority when it starts, and avoid the risky Registry and batch files altogether.

So, how is it done? Let's demonstrate by making PeaZip always open in High priority instead of Normal priority. When PeaZip opens, middle-click its icon area to open AlomWare Toolbox's Power menu. Then highlight the "CPU priority" item and select "High" to change its priority:



Next we want to make PeaZip always open that way, so again middle-click its icon area but this time select "Opening state > Open like this" from the Power menu:



A confirmation window will now open for PeaZip, so select "Use app name" and click "OK" to save this PeaZip opening state:



That's it! Now whenever PeaZip opens, it will be in High process priority instead of Normal. The Task Manager confirms it:



Did you know: If you change some other settings in the Power menu before selecting "Opening state > Open like this", then those settings will get saved for the opening state as well. So you could make PeaZip open on top of all other windows, and/or always open it dimmed, and/or open it transparent, etc. Cool!

Question: Start WhatsApp Minimized At Windows Startup

"There are two general WhatsApp settings:

• Start WhatsApp at Login.
• Minimize to System Tray (Keep WhatsApp running after closing the application window).

But when I start Windows, WhatsApp opens with the window open on my desktop. I want it to start minimized when Windows starts."

This user wants WhatsApp to minimize to the system tray when it starts, because he's tired of manually closing its window to make it do so. AlomWare Toolbox is the perfect solution to this, because you can use AlomWare Toolbox to do anything to a given window when it opens.

To do this, when the WhatsApp window first opens, just middle-click its icon area and select "Opening state > Don't open (close immediately using Alt+F4)" as shown below. Then click the "OK" button on the confirmation box that appears. That's it! Now when WhatsApp's window first opens, AlomWare Toolbox will automatically close it, thus invoking WhatsApp's own function to minimize itself to the system tray.

Related: See our tip about how to auto-minimize any opening window to the systray.

If you've got an app whose window you want to always start minimized to the system tray when it starts, but the app itself doesn't support this feature, then you can make it happen with AlomWare Toolbox!

When the window opens, middle-click its icon area and select "Opening state > Open like this, but with the window position > minimized to systray", as shown in the example below for "Paint Shop Pro". Then click the "OK" button on the confirmation box that appears. That's it! Now when that window first opens, AlomWare Toolbox will auto-minimize it to the system tray for you, and you just click the icon in the systray to show the window again.