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Message Box and Balloon Pop-Up Interception

  • Article

5/10/2007

Windows XP Embedded allows you to customize how your device responds to error messages, message boxes, service messages, or pop-ups. The following are just a few examples of messages:

  • "Virtual Memory Minimum Too Low" (System message)
  • "Unable to Locate Component " (Error message)
  • "New programs installed" (Pop-up)

There are many scenarios in which you do not want these items displayed, such as headless systems or set-top boxes. Users may not be able to respond to these messages, they may be confused by the messages, or wonder what they did wrong. Or, there may be scenarios in which you do not want users to interact with these messages. Fortunately, you can hide or suppress these messages and pop-ups. You can also create a log to track these windows and messages while still hiding them from users.

For information about Win32 Hooks and how message events occur within Win32 APIs, see this Microsoft Web site.

In This Section

  • Enabling Default Reply
    Describes both how to use EnableDefaultReply, a registry value that responds to a MessageBox function call with the default reply, and how to instruct the system to log the contents of the message box to the event log.
  • Creating a Win32 Service
    Describes how to create a Win32 service using Win32 APIs that periodically scans the desktop for displayed windows.
  • Suppressing Balloon Pop-Ups
    Describes how to prevent balloon pop-ups appearing in your run-time image by changing component settings or by modifying the EnableBalloonTips registry value.
  • Filtering Out ErrorMode Messages
    Describes how to hide some or all ErrorMode messages. This does not intercept the message box and choose the default button, it merely hides the message.
  • Shell Customization
    Describes how to customize the shells included with Windows XP Embedded, how to create custom shells, and how to define the way system messages, balloon pop-ups, and Plug and Play are handled on your run-time image.