How do I go from "Boot -----------> Program" without OS splash screen?

[renobastian100]

I want to boot my game without Windows XP splash screen or desktop similar to Mega-touch etc. How can I do this in both Windows and Linux? Is there an alternative? I currently have my boot programs running from the "StartUp" folder but would like a more professional start-up for my application.

[SparkyGoBlue]

Try this:

http://www.gameex.net/Community/InstantShellerandshellingguide/tabid/73/Default.aspx

[bkenobi]

FYI...InstantSheller doesn't work 100% in Vista AFAIK due to some changes M$ made in the OS.  I don't know how it will work with Win7 as it hasn't been tested yet.  It works great with XP though!

[bungy]

If you want to do it manually in XP, there's a couple posts over on the Maximus Arcade forums that can help you replace your shell with a frontend and hide/replace the XP splash screen.  It looks like the instructions should work for any front-end.  The second link shows how to *completely* hide the mouse cursor.

http://forums.maximusarcade.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=506
http://forums.maximusarcade.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2015

The process is a little time intensive, but you'll have the most flexibility.
What I did was replace Explorer with Maximus Arcade as my shell, and I wrote a little bootloader to launch helper apps like AutoHotKey and XPadder since MA only supports launching one app at startup.

[Bender]

WIKI

[severdhed]

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Hiding_Windows

^everything you need to know...