Windows 8 Run programs on lockscreen of Win7, 8.1

Johncoool

Extraordinary Member
I have two machines running Win 7 and Win 8.1 and need this to work on the win 8.1 but if we find a proper solution then it could work on Win 7 as well.

I want to display weather on the lock screen. So i found a metro app in the Microsoft store called Forca weather and it worked for about 5 days and after that it became hell. I tried many solutions and it would work sometimes and then stop working again. It also crashes a lot and I tried using a restart software for crashed programs for that but it was too annoying.

The I found an app called Lockscreenify that manages the entire lock screen but it does not seem to be connecting to any servers and therefore useless.

I did read that a lot of people seem to face similar issues with Win 8 metro apps so I am now trying to find a solution that does not involve using Metro apps.

Is there a program that can run an internet program over the lockscreen? I saw something a few years ago but I do not remember the details and I also recently read that a Gina.dll file can run any program over the lockscreen.

Are there tips to get this done? or how to use the Gina.dll file?
 
Rather than mucking about trying to hack Windows to do something it's not really meant for, try finding yourself a Weather screen saver that can run instead.
 
That is not a bad idea but we will leave it as a last option.

Does anyone know if Live wallpaper can run on Locked screen on the same O/S that would also include weather information?
 
While I was looking at the Stardock software and doing searches for examples I came across and found a software called rainmeter and it seems that there is a way to run it on the lockscreen and found the below solution in their forum but could not understand it.

I am pasting it here below... Can anyone explain to me the solution.

"
Re: Rainmeter'ed Lock-Screen
Post by santa_ryan » June 17th, 2011, 12:59 pm

You could get extremely complex with the use of autoit, rainmeter, and lua to do this.

Kill all instances of explorer to hide the interface, capture all windows hotkeys with autoit and nullify them, and use autoit for your "Logging In" by providing an input box, and typing in a password stored within the file (secret because its compiled, and store the source in a passworded zip file), then use rainmeter as you see fit. I have imagined doing this before, but never really wanted to try it. Also, its fairly safe, as if the autoit file for some reason fails and stops responding, it will stop capturing the windows hotkeys and in turn you can just use task manager.

Or you could use rainmeter input boxes to retrieve the password, then use Lua to check it.


"
 
I sent an email to the makers of the app mentioned above called Lockscreenify.
Let's see if there is a solution for it...
 
I found a solution by using the following method.

It takes 3 programs to get it to work as soon as the Screen is locked. The same method works on both Win 7 and 8.1. I think it will work on Windows 10 as well.

The three programs are listed here below with links to download them. There is one more program mentioned for running live wallpaper on LockScreen.

All programs are free

RunSaver

RunSaver

MonitorES_1.0.1b_Installer

Go down to the download section: ukanth/monitores

Rainmeter

Download the final release: Rainmeter, desktop customization tool

IrfanView (To Run GIF as live wallpaper)

IrfanView - Official Homepage - One of the Most Popular Viewers Worldwide

-----------------------------

Runsaver: is to run any program when screensaver is triggered. (This will replace any screensaver you might be using).

MonitorES_1.0.1b_Installer: is to run the screensaver as soon as the screen is locked even if the time is set for more minutes. After running it will open in System tray.

Rainmeter: is an amazing program with plenty of features. It works by installing skins which creates a background with many components. The background can also have some or all components on top of all windows. It can also run components from many different skins at the same time without needing any editing. If it will be used then check YouTube videos and use their Forum (I get response within 1hr on Forums. They have very good support).

Irfanview : is media viewer and should be set as the default tool to run Gif files (if another one is not already in use).

-----------------------------

As for running weather on lockscreen as soon as it is locked then use the following method:

Extract Runsaver and add the two files called runsaver.exe and runsaver.scr to windows\system32 folder and for 64bit windows also add it to SysWOW64 folder.

Create shortcut for only one of the runsaver.exe that are copied under the windows directory to change the program you want to run on screensaver. Then open the runsaver.exe (directly or from shotrcut) and add any file / program you want to show on screensaver.

Runsaver will create INI file in the both directories which will be identical and no need to worry about them. (I had an issue on win 8.1 and where it did not update the changed program.) If there is an issue then just search for all the runsaver.ini files under the windows directory and delete them, then add the program that you want again. (There will be more than 2 Runsaver.ini because windows will add the runsaver files to more directories. If not found then search the entire C directory for Runsaver.ini)

To use enable runsaver so that it runs the program when screensaver starts just choose runsaver as the windows screensaver.

To exit screen saver after it starts just press on Ctrl+Alt+Del. Mouse or other keyboard buttons do not seem to do so.

Just change one setting on MonitorES. Tick the Auto SSaver on and save. This will be enough to trigger the screensaver as soon as it locks regardless of the time set.

Because Runsaver takes over the entire screen you will need to create everything including the background if it is not taking up the entire area with Rainmeter.

After installing Rainmeter, create all the things you want to show on the lock screen including the clock. (I was searching for a way to display clock on lockscreen like it is on Win 8, 10 and many also searched for it in forums. The one available is a tool that does not look good as it takes over the entire lockscreen and works with a strange timer setting).

The below link is for the latest updates for the weather that work. Others on the web are old and do not work. Not all will provide the needed information. Some of them can be made to be glass and transparent.

⭐ Weather Skins - Rainmeter Forums

Rainmeter works by using INI files for quick editing. They are edited with the notepad program. For safety on the lockscreen you will need to disable right click by using the following code.

Just under

[Rainmeter]

add

RightMouseUpAction=[]

in the INI file and save it.

To disable setting then just delete the INI settings file.

There are options for each component to be at the bottom or at the top of others or on top of all windows. This will need to be done if the components are not showing up. (They might be behind others).

To run live wallpaper on lock screen then it is recommended to use GIF files because videos will run with complete player control.

I use IrfanView as the default GIF player. It has options to run immediately in fullscreen and will show directory on the top left corner by text which can be removed from the features. If used in fullscreen then it can exit with the esc button.

Some programs will not run if on runsaver if they are already running on the computer. So close the program to work on the lockscreen if there is an issue.

Then you can just proceed with the login after exiting the Runsaver screensaver.

Only Rainmeter needs to be allowed through the firewall for live weather updates.

Sometimes it might be needed to install the beta version. I recently had to use it because of some issues with weather. However, any issue you might be facing just request for support on the forum.
 
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On MonitorES. Also tick the "Start with windows" and save option to load it automatically at system start up.
 
Yes, such a feature as you ask is available on Windows OS. Just not on Windows 8.1.
It is only available on Windows 10 AFAIK. (The feature about connecting the lock screen tiles to the Internet and receiving updates through them )
But whether it allows you to select apps that show real-time information is not known to me.
Customization of lock screen AFAIK is not yet possible on Windows 10 yet.
 
It does have lock screen information on Win 8.1 but the programs do not run well.

Anyway. I have found a solution posted above that that works on WIn 7 - 8 - 8.1 and I think it will also work on Win 10.

I have been using it for a couple of weeks now and it is working great.

I don't require any more support on this.

Thanks to all that gave advice.
 
I found a solution by using the following method.

It takes 3 programs to get it to work as soon as the Screen is locked. The same method works on both Win 7 and 8.1. I think it will work on Windows 10 as well.

The three programs are listed here below with links to download them. There is one more program mentioned for running live wallpaper on LockScreen.

All programs are free

RunSaver

https://runsaver.de.softonic.com/?ex=TRAF-469.1

MonitorES_1.0.1b_Installer

Go down to the download section: ukanth/monitores

Rainmeter

Download the final release: Rainmeter, desktop customization tool

IrfanView (To Run GIF as live wallpaper)

IrfanView - Official Homepage - One of the Most Popular Viewers Worldwide

-----------------------------

Runsaver: is to run any program when screensaver is triggered. (This will replace any screensaver you might be using).

MonitorES_1.0.1b_Installer: is to run the screensaver as soon as the screen is locked even if the time is set for more minutes. After running it will open in System tray.

Rainmeter: is an amazing program with plenty of features. It works by installing skins which creates a background with many components. The background can also have some or all components on top of all windows. It can also run components from many different skins at the same time without needing any editing. If it will be used then check YouTube videos and use their Forum (I get response within 1hr on Forums. They have very good support).

Irfanview : is media viewer and should be set as the default tool to run Gif files (if another one is not already in use).

-----------------------------

As for running weather on lockscreen as soon as it is locked then use the following method:

Extract Runsaver and add the two files called runsaver.exe and runsaver.scr to windows\system32 folder and for 64bit windows also add it to SysWOW64 folder.

Create shortcut for only one of the runsaver.exe that are copied under the windows directory to change the program you want to run on screensaver. Then open the runsaver.exe (directly or from shotrcut) and add any file / program you want to show on screensaver.

Runsaver will create INI file in the both directories which will be identical and no need to worry about them. (I had an issue on win 8.1 and where it did not update the changed program.) If there is an issue then just search for all the runsaver.ini files under the windows directory and delete them, then add the program that you want again. (There will be more than 2 Runsaver.ini because windows will add the runsaver files to more directories. If not found then search the entire C directory for Runsaver.ini)

To use enable runsaver so that it runs the program when screensaver starts just choose runsaver as the windows screensaver.

To exit screen saver after it starts just press on Ctrl+Alt+Del. Mouse or other keyboard buttons do not seem to do so.

Just change one setting on MonitorES. Tick the Auto SSaver on and save. This will be enough to trigger the screensaver as soon as it locks regardless of the time set. Also tick the "Start with windows" and save option to load it automatically at system start up.

Because Runsaver takes over the entire screen you will need to create everything including the background if it is not taking up the entire area with Rainmeter.

After installing Rainmeter, create all the things you want to show on the lock screen including the clock. (I was searching for a way to display clock on lockscreen like it is on Win 8, 10 and many also searched for it in forums. The one available is a tool that does not look good as it takes over the entire lockscreen and works with a strange timer setting).

The below link is for the latest updates for the weather that work. Others on the web are old and do not work. Not all will provide the needed information. Some of them can be made to be glass and transparent.

⭐ Weather Skins - Rainmeter Forums

Rainmeter works by using INI files for quick editing. They are edited with the notepad program. For safety on the lockscreen you will need to disable right click by using the following code.

Just under

[Rainmeter]

add

RightMouseUpAction=[]

in the INI file and save it.

To disable setting then just delete the INI settings file.

There are options for each component to be at the bottom or at the top of others or on top of all windows. This will need to be done if the components are not showing up. (They might be behind others).

To run live wallpaper on lock screen then it is recommended to use GIF files because videos will run with complete player control.

I use IrfanView as the default GIF player. It has options to run immediately in fullscreen and will show directory on the top left corner by text which can be removed from the features. If used in fullscreen then it can exit with the esc button.

Choose the GIF file in the Runsaver application path.

Some programs will not run on runsaver if they are already running on the computer. So close the program to work on the lockscreen if there is an issue.

Then you can just proceed with the login after exiting the Runsaver screensaver.

Only Rainmeter needs to be allowed through the firewall for live weather updates.

Sometimes it might be needed to install the beta version. I recently had to use it because of some issues with weather. However, any issue you might be facing just request for support on the forum.
 
The next post is the safer way to run live wallpaper on the lock screen (because IrfanView gives access to disk files.) do the same thing but it is more complicated.

I found a solution by using the following method.

It takes 3 programs to get it to work as soon as the Screen is locked. The same method works on both Win 7 and 8.1. Tested and works on Windows 10 as well

The three programs are listed here below with links to download them. There is one more program mentioned for running live wallpaper on LockScreen.

All programs are free

RunSaver

https://runsaver.de.softonic.com/?ex=TRAF-469.1

Rainmeter

Download the final release: Rainmeter, desktop customization tool

Nircmd (At the bottom of the page. Not the 64 bit one.)

NirCmd - Windows command line tool

-----------------------------

Runsaver: is to run any program when screensaver is triggered. (This will replace any screensaver you might be using).

Rainmeter: is an amazing program with plenty of features. It works by installing skins which creates a background with many components. The background can also have some or all components on top of all windows. It can also run components from many different skins at the same time without needing any editing. If it will be used then check YouTube videos and use their Forum (I get response within 1hr on Forums. They have very good support).

Irfanview : is a media viewer and should be set as the default tool to run Gif files (if another one is not already in use).

-----------------------------

As for running weather on lockscreen as soon as it is locked then use the following method:

Extract Runsaver and add the two files called runsaver.exe and runsaver.scr to windows\system32 folder and for 64bit windows also add it to SysWOW64 folder.


To Change the program that will run on the screensaver then open the Windows screensaver tool and click on settings and add the path to the program that will run on screensaver.

Runsaver will create INI file in the both directories which will be identical and no need to worry about them. (I had an issue on win 8.1 and where it did not update the changed program.) If there is an issue then just search for all the runsaver.ini files under the windows directory and delete them, then add the program that you want again. (There will be more than 2 Runsaver.ini because windows will add the runsaver files to more directories. If not found then search the entire C directory for Runsaver.ini)

To use enable runsaver so that it runs the program when screensaver starts just choose runsaver as the windows screensaver.

To exit screen saver after it starts just press on Ctrl+Alt+Del. Mouse or other keyboard buttons do not seem to do so.

Because Runsaver takes over the entire screen you will need to create everything including the background if it is not taking up the entire area with Rainmeter.

After installing Rainmeter, create all the things you want to show on the lock screen including the clock. (I was searching for a way to display clock on lock screen like it is on Win 8, 10 and many also searched for it in forums. The one available is a tool that does not look good as it takes over the entire lock screen and works with a strange timer setting).

The below link is for the latest updates for the weather that work. Others on the web are old and do not work. Not all will provide the needed information. Some of them can be made to be glass and transparent.

Weather Skins - Rainmeter Forums

Rainmeter works by using INI files for quick editing. They are edited with the notepad program. For safety on the lockscreen you will need to disable right click by using the following code.

Just under

[Rainmeter]

add

RightMouseUpAction=[]

in the INI file and save it.

To disable setting then just delete the INI settings file.

There are options for each component to be at the bottom or at the top of others or on top of all windows. This will need to be done if the components are not showing up. (They might be behind others).

To run live wallpaper on lock screen then it is recommended to use GIF files because videos will run with complete player control (Which is a security risk).

I use IrfanView as the default GIF player. It has options to run immediately in fullscreen and will show directory on the top left corner by text which can be removed from the features. If used in fullscreen then it can exit with the esc button.

Choose the GIF file in the Runsaver application path.

Some programs will not run on runsaver if they are already running on the computer. So close the program to work on the lock screen if there is an issue.

Then you can just proceed with the login after exiting the Runsaver screensaver.

Only Rainmeter needs to be allowed through the firewall for live weather updates.

Sometimes it might be needed to install the beta version. I recently had to use it because of some issues with weather. However, any issue you might be facing just request for support on the forum.

To run the screen saver as soon as the screen is locked regardless of the delay assigned then create the batch file. To create a batch file then open a text file and change the extension from ".txt" to ".bat". To edit the batch file just right click on it and choose edit.

Enter the following commands in the batch file and save it.

-----------------
@echo OFF

Timeout /T 6

Nircmd.exe Screensaver

Exit

----------------

The number after Timeout is the number of seconds.

Then create a task in task scheduler (Default program in Windows). Name it something related to this guide.

On the triggers tab, just use “On Workstation lock” from the drop down menu.

On the actions tab, choose the batch file that was created.

On the conditions tab, uncheck ”Start the task only if the computer is on AC power” for laptops and tablets.

After boot up the screen saver runs within a few moments (Even before login) and Crtl+Alt=Del will not exit it. Press on Crtl + Mouse right click then go to Rainmeter then Exit.
 
Last edited:
The safer way to run Live Wallpaper on the lock screen. (System resources can still be accessed if Crtl + mouse right click are pressed).

The more secure method:

It takes 3 programs to get it to work as soon as the Screen is locked. The same method works on both Win 7 and 8.1. Tested and works on Windows 10 as well.

The programs are listed here below with links to download them.

All programs are free.

RunSaver

https://runsaver.de.softonic.com/?ex=TRAF-469.1

Nircmd (At the bottom of the page. Not the 64 bit one.)

NirCmd - Windows command line tool

RainMeter
(To Run GIF as live wallpaper)

Rainmeter, desktop customization tool

Winrar

WinRAR download free and support: Download
WinRAR is a data compression tool for Windows that focuses on RAR and ZIP files. It also supports CAB, ARJ, LZH, TAR, Gzip, UUE, ISO, BZIP2, Z and 7-Zip

www.win-rar.com

-----------------------------

Runsaver: is to run any program when screensaver is triggered. (This will replace any screensaver you might be using).

Rainmeter: is a very good program that has many features. This guide is only to run the GIF file on lock screen. The rainmeter forum is very good and can get support within one hour. Rainmeter Beta is stable and can run the latest skin but the Final one can’t always run the latest skins.

Nircmd: Used to run Screensaver as soon as the screen is locked in combination with a batch file and a scheduled task.

Winrar: Used to extract the downloaded compressed files if another one is not available already.

-----------------------------

Extract Runsaver and add the two files called runsaver.exe and runsaver.scr to C:\windows\system32 folder and for 64bit windows also add it to C:\windows\SysWOW64 folder.

To use Rainmeter on screen saver then just Choose open screensaver configuration and click on settings then choose the path to Rainmeter.

Runsaver will create INI file in the both directories which will be identical and no need to worry about them. (I had an issue on win 8.1 and where it did not update the changed program.) If there is an issue then just search for all the runsaver.ini files under the windows directory and delete them, then add the program that you want again. (There will be more than 2 Runsaver.ini because windows will add the runsaver files to more directories. If not found then search the entire C directory for Runsaver.ini)

To use enable runsaver so that it runs the program when screensaver starts just choose runsaver as the windows screensaver.

Extract Nicmd files and add them to C:\windows\system32 folder. (If it gives an error then extract the contents to a folder that you create on the desktop then copy the contents to that location).

To run live wallpaper on lock screen then it is recommended to use GIF files because videos will run with complete player control which is a security risk.

Exit
Runsaver can run any program but it can run only one (It is not recommended to run just any program on lock screen as it might give access to all files on the PC). To exit the program running on the screensaver then Just press Ctrl+Alt+Del (or delete).

-----------------

Choose Rainmeter.exe in the Runsaver location path.

There are many GIF files available for download on the internet.

You can create GIF files by using an extension from Chrome store.

Follow the guide in the below link to create GIF files and to edit the code so that it works. It will show how to extract the GIF files frames into images which needed to run in Rainmeter. Just edit the name of the file which is before the number and include the correct number of frames. Add the Frames to the correct directory that is provided in the code.

I just edited the example code in the link and the moved the frames to the correct location and it works well.

Animated .GIF Files - Rainmeter Docs

To disable right click on the GIF file for security reasons. Then just add the below code anywhere under [Rainmeter]

RightMouseUpAction=[]

Some programs will not run on runsaver if they are already running on the computer. So close the program to work on the lock screen if there is an issue.

Then you can just proceed with the login after exiting the Runsaver screensaver on the lock screen.

To run the screen saver as soon as the screen is locked regardless of the delay assigned then create the batch file. To create a batch file then open a text file and change the extension from ".txt" to ".bat". To edit the batch file just right click on it and choose edit.

Enter the following commands in the batch file and save it.

-----------------
@echo OFF

Timeout /T 6

Nircmd.exe Screensaver

Exit

------------------

The number after Timeout is the number of seconds.

Then create a task in task scheduler (Default program in Windows). Name it something related to this guide.

On the triggers tab, just use “On Workstation lock” from the drop down menu.

On the actions tab, choose the batch file that was created.

On the conditions tab, uncheck ”Start the task only if the computer is on AC power” for laptops and tablets.

After boot up the screen saver runs within a few moments (Even before login) and Crtl+Alt=Del will not exit it. Press on Crtl + Mouse right click then go to Rainmeter then Exit.
 
Last edited:
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