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Auto-loading a skin on Startup

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Groose
Posts: 1
Joined: August 9th, 2014, 5:02 pm

Auto-loading a skin on Startup

Post by Groose »

Hello all,

I've seen a few similiar queries here, but nothing that solved my issue, so I thought I'd register and ask. I have a custom skin which is always on top (yes, this was a choice) and I unload it when I'm watching a movie or playing a game and sometimes forget to reload it. Ideally, I'd like a solution that could detect when I was done with the game or movie and load the skin, but I can't even begin to imagine how that would work. No, instead, I'll settle for functionality that loads the skin on startup (even if it was unloaded before the last shutdown).

I'm envisioning a workaround involving a second skin which is unobtrusive and does nothing but launch the other skin on startup, but I was wondering if there's another way to achieve this without having a second skin.

Thanks!
User avatar
jsmorley
Developer
Posts: 22628
Joined: April 19th, 2009, 11:02 pm
Location: Fort Hunt, Virginia, USA

Re: Auto-loading a skin on Startup

Post by jsmorley »

One approach is to create a Layout that has at least that skin loaded.

Then go to your Windows Startup folder, in:

C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Edit the "Properties" of the Rainmeter shortcut there, and change the "Target" to:

"C:\Program Files\Rainmeter\Rainmeter.exe" !LoadLayout "MyLayout"

Then whenever your computer restarts, it will automatically load that layout containing your desired skin.
User avatar
killall-q
Posts: 305
Joined: August 14th, 2009, 8:04 am

Re: Auto-loading a skin on Startup

Post by killall-q »

You can make the skin automatically hide when a certain program is running.

Process plugin

Code: Select all

[measureProcess]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=Process
; Name of executable you want to detect
ProcessName=vlc.exe
UpdateDivider=5
IfAboveValue=0
IfAboveAction=!Hide
IfBelowValue=0
IfBelowAction=!Show
Last edited by killall-q on August 18th, 2017, 5:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Disguised
Posts: 1
Joined: August 18th, 2017, 11:59 am

Re: Auto-loading a skin on Startup

Post by Disguised »

I Realize I'm resurrecting an old thread, but I want to spare people who are new to Rainmeter hours of trial and error.

I came up with this to have a lockscreen Engaged on the startup of Rainmeter or the computer alike.

Code: Select all

[Rainmeter]
Update=25
OnRefreshAction=[!ActivateConfig "Rainlock" "Rainlock.ini"]


[MoveBG]
Meter=String


Meter=STRING
X=0
Y=0
Padding=5,5,5,5
FontColor=255,255,255
StringStyle=
FontSize=200
StringAlign=LEFT
FontFace=
Antialias=1
Text=.
Set the skin to ~100% Transparency, Enable clickthrough, and it should not create Interference.

The Lockscreen in my case is: https://themonotm.deviantart.com/art/RainLock-v3-0-for-Rainmeter-513752284