Tools to Hide Your Active Windows Applications from the Taskbar

Just as you would hide your folders on your desktop to keep your personal details safe and also to protect your privacy, you might probably do the same to your running programs – hide them from view, so that no one has the chance to peep on what programs that you are running, not even your spouse, friends , children or boss!
Not just for privacy purpose, you might also need them to make your running windows less obtrusive. Imagine having a handful of programs running on your Windows taskbar. You might choose to hide some inactive programs. Here I have highlighted three free windows applications that can help you keep your running programs out of view.

1. Window Hidie

This light weight yet useful utility can hide any running programs with just a hot key. You won’t be able to find the program in the Windows taskbar or Alt+Tab menu either once you’ve hide the program. There are three keyboard shortcuts available for use. They are :

• Windows Key + A to show/hide the program.
• Windows Key + Z to hide active window.
• Windows Key + S to show all hidden windows.

You can define your own hot keys if you want. You can also choose to hide the programs manually from the list of running applications in Window Hidie. However, I still prefer the windows shortcuts because Window Hidie includes system processes in its list of running windows, which may be confusing for you to find the program that you want to hide.
Download Windows Hidie Now | 92 KB
Note : Make sure you have the Microsoft .NET 2.0 Framework installed on your desktop before download.

2. Magic Boss Key

Just like Window Hide, Magic Boss Key also works with hot keys. Even more, you can hide all your desktop icons to turn your desktop into a clean desktop.


Download Magic Boss Key Now | 549KB

3. WatchCat

This is a better hide-programs-from-view utility. Besides using hot keys to hide your windows programs, you can also set up timers which automatically hide or close windows after a specified period of time. You can even protect hidden windows with a password.


Download WatchCat Now | 147 KB


 OUTTA SIGHT

Whether you’re playing flash games at work, dealing with too many open windows, or simply looking for computer privacy, at some point you’ve probably thought about how useful it would be to hide running Windows programs with the push of  a button.
Personally, I find that hiding the more distracting windows actually increases my efficiency while I use my computer. In fact, having less on the screen at one time means no more absent minded glances at the taskbar, no getting lost on facebook, and a whole lot more concentration.
OuttaSight is an excellent free solution to the common time management or privacy problems that computer users face today. This lightweight application allows users to hide active windows either by the push of a button, or automatically when they are run. While it is only stated as supporting up through Windows 2000, it works perfectly fine on XP and Vista.

OuttaSight is a Windows desktop utility that hides running application windows to un-clutter the desktop, quickly hide private work, or secure your applications while you’re away from your computer.

Features

• Hide running programs with the push of a button
• Set programs to automatically hide when they start up
• Hide OuttaSight from the taskbar
• Password protect OuttaSight to prevent changes
• Hide/Show all windows with a single hotkey
• Ability to hide windows to the system tray (instead of hiding them completely)

Using OuttaSight

The first thing you’ll notice when you download and run OuttaSight is that it’s very simple looking. This is one of my favorite aspects of the software – it’s very clear, lightweight, and efficient.

First, it is important to personalize the utility. Go to “Hot Keys” and decide what you want your shortcuts for different actions to be. My personal set up used F10 as the hide window hotkey, CTRL+F11 to hide all windows, and CTRL+F12 to show them all.  While you are setting things up, keep in mind the reasons you got OuttaSight in the first place. Do you want it to be very easy and intuitive to show and hide windows, or would you like to be the only person that knows how to do it?
Second, you’re going to want to decide how you want programs to hide. Would you like them to disappear altogether (for secrecy) or minimize to the tray instead? If you are tired of your taskbar being cluttered, but do not mind people seeing that the programs are running, you may want to tell OuttaSight to minimize them to the tray as shown below.
To do this, navigate to the Options tab and check off  “Hide windows to system tray“. If this is not checked, the default behavior is to completely hide windows.
Next, you’ll need to decide if there are some programs you would like to automatically hide whenever they start. These programs could consist of automatic virus scans, annoying startup messages, or other things of that nature. If for some reason you like to start up applications with the intention of not viewing them at all, you can do that too .
To set up a list of programs that will hide when they run, simply navigate to the “Auto-Hide” tab and start adding programs.

Note that you can specify whether you would like the program to hide completely, or run in the tray instead. To view a window that has minimized to the tray, simply double click it.
Finally, analyze things with your privacy in mind. You have the option to password protect OuttaSight. That means that even if someone knows it is running, they can’t use it without entering your password. That also means that your hidden programs remain hidden no matter what. To prevent others from seeing OuttaSight you have the option of hiding it from appearing even in the taskbar. If you do this, make sure you remember the hotkey to pull up OuttaSight – otherwise you’ll have to reboot your computer to access it again.
Hopefully this article was informative. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to post your comments and let me know if you found a better free alternative. Overall I’d like to hear what you have to say about this concept in general – do you use software like this and why?

Zhider

Zhider is a nifty little freeware application that will be most useful for anyone trying to hide a program or window that’s currently showing in the Windows Taskbar. So next time you’re porn-surfing at the office or visiting a web site that you don’t want anyone to come by and see you on, try using Zhider to quickly hide the program.
Zhider is a very small program that completely hides a window from your desktop and taskbar, as if you had not even opened that program. You can instantly hide the current active window you are working on or you can instantly hide all windows in your taskbar. The program doesn’t even have an GUI interface, you simply run it and use the shortcut hotkeys to do all of the hiding and un-hiding.
This is also useful because if you’re trying to hide a window or program from someone, you certainly don’t want them to be able to find the program that does the hiding in the first place!

Here’s the list of keystrokes you need to know after you double-click on the Zhider exe file:

  Primary Key    Secondary Key    Function
  —————————————————————————–
  CTRL+ALT+Z    WIN+Z        Adds currently-active window to the list of
                                             windows to hide/unhide and immediately hides it.
  —————————————————————————–
  CTRL+ALT+X    WIN+X        Toggles hide/unhide to all added windows.
  —————————————————————————–
  CTRL+ALT+C    WIN+C        Immediately unhides all hidden windows and
                                             clears the list of windows to hide/unhide.
  —————————————————————————–
  CTRL+ALT+L                        Displays a list of all added windows.  The list
                                             Can be manipulated by menu or by double-clicking
                                             directly within the list.  While the list is
                                             open, all hotkeys are disabled until it is
                                             closed.  This also displays version information
                                             in the lower-left hand corner of the window.
  —————————————————————————–
  CTRL+ALT+M                       Same as CTRL+ALT+C, but also exits ZHider.

The other really cool thing about this program is that it even removes your hidden program from the Windows Task Manager! So it makes it almost impossible for someone to detect the program using the basic Windows tools. Of course, if someone uses a third-party program like ProcessExplorer, etc they will probably be able to find it. However, it’s great for just hiding any open program window from visible sight!

Once I hide the Notepad window, here’s what my Task Manager looks like now:

Using the program with the Windows key shortcuts makes it very practical and quick to hide one window or all windows on your taskbar. Just make sure you remember what the key combination is to un-hide everything before you hide windows!

[tags]hide windows, hide taskbar programs, quick hide windows, how to hide windows, hide windows taskbar, hide windows desktop[/tags]


WinAutoHide

WinAutoHide is a free portable and opensource tool for Windows that can hide any active window with a hotkey. Unlike ClickyGone, this tool is portable and can be used to quickly hide/unhide important windows. You can hide upto 4 windows since only 4 shortcut keys are supported(Win+Left, Win+Right, Win+Up, and Win+Down).
Since this tool does not include advanced functionalities, it is recommended not to use it as a security or privacy tool. Instead, it’s real purpose is to hide any window in which you are mostly active(e.g Command Prompt, Graphic Tools, Browser Windows, etc). Once you have hidden your window, you can complete other tasks and come back to it later.
Just extract the files and click winautohide.exe to run it directly, no installation is required.


Click any one of the four shortcuts to hide the active window, use the same shortcut to unhide it. To unhide all windows, right-click the winautohide icon in the system tray and select Un-autohide all windows. It has a very small memory footprint(takes only 3MB of Ram) and was originally build for Windows XP(the developer has tested it under Win XP), but I was able to run it under Windows Vista too(although it was a little buggy when hiding certain windows). Enjoy!

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AMD vs. Intel: What to Get? Which is Better?

There are countless companies in the computer industry but there is only one battle that counts... AMD vs. Intel. This is a favorite topic in the forums, yet instead of blindly pledging allegiance to one CPU or the other, let's take a look behind the scenes and find out which companies processor is the best bet.

Now I should say that I'm a hardware enthusiast at heart, so for me CPU performance matters the most. I stick with gear only as long as it keeps my PC at the front of the performance curve. After that, I drop it like a rock and move onto greener pastures, regardless if it's the same brand or not. After all, what's the point of brand loyalty? AMD and Intel don't love you back, no matter how much you might sing their praises. Put another way, it's not like AMD only sells to you, or Intel has a smiling shot of your mug on every pay stub as a testament to your past processor purchases now is it?

The nice thing about being computer enthusiast is that right now both AMD and Intel platforms support a lot of cross compatible hardware. Sure the CPU and motherboards are platform specific, but you can share DDR2 memory, videocards and other peripherals easily enough. If PC speed is what you crave, you can jump from one processor platform to the next ever couple months, taking your memory, videocards, hard drives and everything else along with you.

Anyway, the point I'm trying make is this. As a hardware enthusiast you have the pick of some of the fastest computer hardware on the planet. Ignore the urge to stick with AMD or Intel out of tradition, go out there and find the best gear based on benchmarks!

So, who offers the best performance - is it AMD or Intel? I'm glad you asked, the answer is....

...Intel. For the moment anyway, Intel's dual and quad core processors are the king of the heap. In particular, the companies Core 2 Duo/Quad processor lineup is out-pacing AMDs current Athlon64 X2/FX processor families. That may indeed change by the end of Q4'07, or it may not.

AMD is partly to blame for its current situation. Big green has not refreshed its CPU lineup since the last time PCSTATS dished the dirt on the AMD vs. Intel slugfest. AMD won the battle back then, but relying on the now somewhat dated K8 Athlon64 processor has left AMD without a good competing CPU for Intel's "Conroe". Intel published performance results on "Conroe" for quite some time before it was officially released, so it's not like AMD was blindsided by it either.

Intel Climbs Back To The Top

For its efforts, Intel has undergone more than a few self-evaluations. It had to deal with a "Prescott" Pentium 4 voltage leak issue, it stopped pushing GHz as the singular processor metric and adopted the same kind of rating system AMD had been using for years. Then, Intel abandoned Netburst and modernized the P6 core into what we now know as the Core Solo and Core 2 Duo processor.

The Core Solo was nice, but Intel's Core 2 Duo is the real beauty. The CPU was an immediate hit among gamers from the time of its release, and it continues to out pace comparable Athlon64 processors.

Intel's previous NetBurst architecture had de-emphasized FPU power in favor of special instructions (SSE, 2, 3). This is partly the reason so many gamers ditched their Pentium 4/D computers in favor of AMD Athlon64 processors and it's more powerful FPU.

With the Intel Core processor architecture, the company finally addressed the FPU issue. Intel's "Conroe" CPU core has a very powerful FPU, and that has guaranteed a very welcome reception by gamers ever since.

As it stands in the fall of 2007, the Intel Core 2 Duo processor is generally more powerful than AMD's Athlon64 X2/FX series in games, and all around.

Whether you're working on multimedia tasks, workstation or just need raw data crunching power, the Core 2 Duo trounces AMD's best almost every time.

It's also proved its mettle as an excellent overclocker!

Early stepping Intel Core 2 Duo processors could overclock to 3.2 GHz+ on air cooling, and the recent 'G0' stepping can go even further. I've overclocked to the region of 3.8 GHz with the stock heatsink in fact.

By comparison, AMD's 90nm Athlon64 X2/FX processors have difficulty overclocking much past 3 GHz.... Make no mistake about it, clock for clock Intel's Core 2 Duo is currently faster than AMD's Athlon64 X2 and FX processors.

Thermal Output Improving

The Intel Pentium 4 and D processor series were notorious for consuming a lot of power, and consequently running quite hot. The architecture Intel based the Core 2 Duo processors on is much better in this regard. While Pentium 4 architecture was at one time headed towards 150W TDP (Typical Design power), many of its current processors are now pushing 85W or less. One generation before, Intel Pentium D CPUs hovered around the 125W TDP range, late model Core 2 Duo processors (like the E6750 ) have a 65W TDP!

It's true enough that the power values AMD and Intel specify are not entirely comparable with each other, but total system power measurements give a good basis for comparison. I've conducted some power draw measurements recently, and those tests showed that Intel is genuinely kicking high power habit. An average Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 based computer system draws about 7W more power than a budget AMD Sempron 3600+ based PC system with its single CPU core running at idle. You'd think the lower power budget AMD chip would be significantly easier on the juice than the fairly high end E6750 Core 2 Duo, but the difference is pretty small.

With an Intel Core 2 Duo system under load, total power draw results are impressive. For instance, a Core 2 Duo E6750 system consumes 163W of power (total PC power draw) when running with both CPU cores under load.

A comparable Intel Pentium D 940 system consumes 253W of power with both processing CPU cores stressed, and an AMD Athlon64 FX-62 power system consumes upwards of 235W! It's clear you can save a lot on the utility bills by switching to a CPU that sips electricity. Intel offers this, with great performance. (Please keep in mind that these are total system power draw values, not just the processor.)

I've often thought that Intel is the more innovative of the two companies when it comes to designing heatsinks for its processors. The current Core 2 Duo bifurcated radial fin heatsinks are remarkably good, and very quiet.

Gone are the days of throwing out the stock heatsink for an after market cooler the second the box is opened... For good all around CPU cooling, it's tough to beat Intel in terms of noise level. The stock heatsinks are just so quiet, thanks in large part to 90mm fans and Pulse Width Modulation which allows the rotational speed to vary based on moment to moment thermal output.

Of course, these aren't the only reasons Intel is leading with the Core 2 Duo, as we'll talk about next, chipsets play a big role....

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