The portable software WinRAP has two core features. The first option is to hide applications in Windows which hides the open application window from appearing in the taskbar. If you leave it at that, someone else could still see that the software is running by opening the task manager or looking at the system tray. To avoid that, it is possible to disable the task manager and hide the taskbar in locked status.

The program populates the list of running applications on startup. You hide one or multiple apps in Windows by selecting them first and pressing the H hotkey afterwards. You can alternatively click on the Hide button. You will instantly notice that the application does not appear in the taskbar anymore.

Windows 7 users can customize the system tray to hide application icons and notifications there natively, which would leave the task manager to find out that a specific program is running on the system.

You can lock the application which adds password protection to the program. Users who want to access the list of programs need to enter the correct password to do so. The WinRAP icon itself is fully transparent in the system tray in this state.

The default password (1234) can be changed in the options. This is also the place where a new hotkey can be set for unlocking the program’s stealth mode.

WinRAP does not offer 100% protection against users who snoop around on a PC system. One option would be to install a third party process manager like Process Explorer to get a listing of all applications and processes running on the system.

Windows users can download WinRAP from the program website over at Sourceforge. The program is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system.

I have reviewed several alternatives for Windows in the past, including WinVisible, WinHide.SB and Hide App.

System Silencer is a versatile highly configurable program to set PC idle state actions. The program offers options to configure actions for idle states in desktop and battery mode.

One interesting aspect of the portable application is that it offers to set the idle time for actions individually.

system silencer

The program can perform the following actions when the computer is idle:

• Toggle mute
• Toggle show desktop
• Toggle taskbar icons
• Toggle desktop icons
• Hide windows
• Kill processes
• Run programs / files
• Turn off computer monitors
• Lock the workstation

Each action can be configured individually in the program for desktop mode and battery mode, including the option to set idle times for each action individually as well.

It is for instance possible to activate the hide windows action and configure window names that the program should hide when the computer is in idle state for the specified time.

The same is possible for running background processes, and programs that could be run in idle state.

The main advantage of System Silencer over comparable applications is its customizability, which exceeds that of the other programs.

A click on the save and apply button saves the configuration and minimizes the program to the system tray.

System Silencer is an excellent program for Windows users who want as much control as possible over their computer in idle state. (via Cybernetnews)

Switching manually to a safe website takes time, even if it is open in another tab in the web browser. Even worse, the title of the page that you do not want to reveal is still shown on the screen.

Panic Button is a lightweight userscript that offers a safer and faster way of switching sites. The userscript is compatible with Firefox and Google Chrome, and displays a Panic button in the lower right corner of the screen after installation.

A click on that button instantly switches to a preconfigured website in the same tab, that is now showing the Panic button.

It is furthermore possible to press Ctrl+Shift+Q to activate the userscript so that the safe page is loaded. The final shortcut is Ctrl+Q which changes the visibility of the Panic button in the browser.

panic button

Firefox users can configure the add-on by editing the script in the browser. Here it is possible to define the button size, button position and website that should be opened when panic mode is activated.

Users with privacy concerns may also consider changing the locations of the panic button images, as they are by default pointing to the developers website. This means that the developer is theoretically able to see all pages that are accessed by a specific user of the extension.

Chrome users may need to download the userscript first, edit it locally before installing it for the same customization options.

The Panic Button script is available for installation and download at the Userscripts website. Users of the Windows operating system have lots of software alternatives, including Plancoin, WinHide or Hide Windows.

That is problematic as it might sometimes be appropriate to hide windows from colleagues, classmates or friends and family.

WinHide.SB is a portable software program that can hide Windows quite easily. The program places a program shortcut in the Windows System Tray by default that can be used to hide programs and windows from the taskbar and the system tray.

Advanced users can define and use hotkeys to quickly hide and display windows and programs.

A right-click on the program icon in the system tray displays options to hide and show windows. Hide window displays all open windows in the operating system while show window only those that have been hidden before.

The hotkeys and other program settings can be configured in the program’s options. Pressing a hotkey will display the function right on screen. The show window hotkey will for instance display all hidden windows on the screen that can then be selected to be displayed again.

Hotkeys can not be assigned to individual program windows which would make the process of hiding and showing windows even faster.

The options can also be used to change the icon of the WinHide.SB application, change the hint and to hide it from the system tray as well which would make hotkeys the only way of interacting with the program.

WinHide.SB comes with an option to permanently hide windows. We could not really figure out how this is different from the hiding windows option. Our best bet would be that it will remain active even after reboots while the hide windows settings will only remain active for the current session.

WinHide.SB is an excellent program for users who want to hide windows in the Windows operating system. It worked well on our 64-bit Windows 7 test system and should work as well on all Microsoft operating systems from Windows 2000 on. (via ShellCity)

Dad’s Around is a panic button software that was created as a contribution to the Donation Coder NANY 2009 programming challenge. The software program is supplied in 7z format which means that a unpacker supporting that format is needed. The software itself is portable and can be run from any location without installation.

It provides access to four options that can be activated with the [Windows Z] key by default. The options can be configured by right-clicking the system tray icon after execution. The possibilities are to silence WAVE audio, kill the actual foreground process, minimize all windows and show a black screen. Each option can be activated or deactivated separately.

The hotkey can be changed as well in case it is interfering with existing hotkeys on the computer system. The program uses roughly 5 Megabytes of computer memory while running.

Update: The Panic button application is hotkey driven, which means that you need to press the hotkey when you want it to perform the configured actions. You can configure Dad’s Around to perform one, multiple or all of the actions. You need to press the hotkey again to return the system to its previous state. I’d suggest to use a hotkey that cannot be found that easily. Someone walking in on you might catch a glimpse of what your fingers press on the keyboard.

Make sure you check out or panic button alternatives. The Ultimate Boss Key / Panic Button Apps Listing offers a selection of boss key and panic button applications for web browsers and Windows.

The feature can be useful if you work with applications that provide independent windows, say a color palette in Adobe Photoshop, the project manager in C++ builder and basically any other window that you need from time to time but not constantly. You could for instance add and hide a notepad window on the right side of the screen and use it to write down comments, remarks or to-dos.

The application is very simplistic, it provides only two shortcuts to hide applications and an interface where you can remove panels again. Pressing CTRL ALT A adds the panel of the active window to the list of panels that are automatically hidden when you move the window near one of the screen edges. The window automatically docks to the screen and minimizes itself.

Please note that I said panel and not window that is added to the list that gets automatically minimized. If you do that for an explorer window all explorer windows will have that behavior. It does not really matter for Notepad or other applications that you usually only open once though.

The second option is to press ALT A if the Panel Hider window is active and your mouse hovers over another window. The application adds an icon to the system tray providing options to restore the settings and to remove panels from the list of windows that are automatically processed.

Once the window is docked to the screen you can reveal it by simply moving the mouse over the title bar of the window. Yes that is right, the title bar will still be visible but the rest of the window won’t be.

Simply select the window from the Watchcat system tray icon and it will be automatically hidden in Windows. Now this only works with windows that are not minimized to the system tray. If they are located in the system tray maximize them first and select them afterwards in Watchcat. I made a quick test with Thunderbird which is minimized in the system tray most of the time. I maximized it and used Watchcat to hide the window.

The mail notifications would still appear in the system tray and I was able to view new mail as usual. I personally think that it does not make much sense to hide windows that are already minimized in the system tray. This works definitely best for windows that are in the taskbar.

Watchcat is highly customizable. It’s really incredibly what the author packed into such a tiny application. It’s possible to password protect the application or unhide all applications on system exit. Even more interesting than that is the extensive list of hotkeys that are available for all sort of purposes in Windows.

Windows Hidie is a 17 Kilobyte program that runs under Windows XP SP2 and all Windows Vista editions. It id capable of hiding pretty much any window, not just the ones that you have opened in Windows. It displays lots of system windows as well which might be a bit confusing for beginners. My advice would be to check out the filenames if you are unsure about an entry. Most that you would like to had have appropriate names though, say uTorrent if you prefer to hide the Bittorrent client at system startup or during a session.

Checking a window and clicking on hide hides the window on the system. The reference however is still visible in Windows Hidie so that you can display it again if you need to. The process in the task manager, if there is one, is also still visible of course.

The best part however is the option to hide windows on startup. This makes sure that the window will be hidden whenever windows is running and not only in the current session.

Three shortcuts are available while windows Hidie is running. You can hide the active window by pressing Windows Z, Windows S shows all hidden windows again and Windows A displays or hides Windows Hidie.

The version of Windows Hidie is only 0.1 and I would like to propose a few changes that would improve the application. A way to filter windows would be nice, maybe implement a default filter that would not display all those windows system windows that are only confusing. I would also like to see a way to mark more than one window at once and hide them together.

Plancoin is able to hide windows for you. You can either select to hide all windows that you add to Plancoin or all windows except those that you add to the software. The latter is the safer choice in my opinion but it is up to you. Adding windows is a little bit problematic because Plancoin uses page titles to identify windows.

This means that you have to find a generic name that is always in the window title to make sure the application will be closed every time you press the hotkey. Pressing CTRL + F8 either hides or reveals all windows.

Discovering generic titles is however not as complicated as it may sound. Firefox for instance has always ‘Mozilla Firefox’ in the title.

I was surprised on how quickly all those windows were hidden after pressing the shortcut. It should be noted that sound does not stop playing when hiding the windows which means that listening to Internet Radio for instance can still reveal that something is not right.

The software Plancoin itself is not visible in the taskbar or system tray after you press the ‘hide this dialog’ button. The configuration window can only be revealed by pressing the shortcut CTRL + ALT + F8.

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