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Ctrl+Alt+Esc using Send()?

SeanMay

By SeanMay,
in AutoIt General Help and Support

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SeanMay Seeker

SeanMay

Posted
Posted (edited)

Update: Send("^!{ESC}") did indeed work as expected, and the correct shortcut was utilized within the application we were interacting with. This thread wouldn't even have been necessary if I had realized I was mistakenly confusing the expected functionality of Ctrl+Alt+Esc with Ctrl+Shift+Esc... /facepalm.

 

Hi folks,

I understand that sending a Ctrl+Alt+Del through AutoIT isn't possible, but what about Ctrl+Alt+Esc? I've tried the following with no luck: 

Send("^!{ESC}")
Send("{CTRLDOWN}")
Send("{ALTDOWN}")
Send("{ESC}")
Sleep(1000)
Send("{CTRLUP}{ALTUP}")
Send("{CTRLDOWN}{ALTDOWN}{ESC}")

The first scenario seemed like it was the most direct method, however it basically ignores the Ctrl and just does an Alt+Esc.

Any clarification on what I might be doing wrong, or confirmation that there's no way to get this to work, would be greatly appreciated.

Edited by SeanMay
Issue fixed
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spudw2k Universalist

spudw2k

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, AutoBert said:

Isn't possible for security reasons , read helpfile.

Where? I can't find where that limitation is mentioned in the help file (searched Send and Send Key List help topics).  Also...help me understand...what does ctrl+alt+esc have to do with shutdown?  Doesn't appear to do anything on my Win 7 machine.

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AutoBert Universalist

AutoBert

Posted
Posted (edited)
Quote

N.B. Windows does not allow the simulation of the "CTRL-ALT-DEL" combination!

...

Table with codes

...

To send the ASCII value A (same as pressing ALT+065 on the numeric keypad)
    Send("{ASC 065}")

If you want to shutdown windows use ShutDown.

Edited by AutoBert
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iamtheky Universalist

iamtheky

Posted
Posted

ctrl+shift+esc to bring up taskmanager?  But really, sending keystrokes is probably unnecessary if you would reveal the endgame. 

,-. .--. ________ .-. .-. ,---. ,-. .-. .-. .-.
|(| / /\ \ |\ /| |__ __||| | | || .-' | |/ / \ \_/ )/
(_) / /__\ \ |(\ / | )| | | `-' | | `-. | | / __ \ (_)
| | | __ | (_)\/ | (_) | | .-. | | .-' | | \ |__| ) (
| | | | |)| | \ / | | | | | |)| | `--. | |) \ | |
`-' |_| (_) | |\/| | `-' /( (_)/( __.' |((_)-' /(_|
'-' '-' (__) (__) (_) (__)

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iamtheky Universalist

iamtheky

Posted
Posted

what does ctrl+alt+esc do?  on my win 10 (14905.rs_prerelease) it has no function. 

,-. .--. ________ .-. .-. ,---. ,-. .-. .-. .-.
|(| / /\ \ |\ /| |__ __||| | | || .-' | |/ / \ \_/ )/
(_) / /__\ \ |(\ / | )| | | `-' | | `-. | | / __ \ (_)
| | | __ | (_)\/ | (_) | | .-. | | .-' | | \ |__| ) (
| | | | |)| | \ / | | | | | |)| | `--. | |) \ | |
`-' |_| (_) | |\/| | `-' /( (_)/( __.' |((_)-' /(_|
'-' '-' (__) (__) (_) (__)

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spudw2k Universalist

spudw2k

Posted
Posted

@AutoBert

The OP acknowledged Ctrl+Alt+Del is not permitted...he asked about Ctrl+Alt+Esc.  :blink:
 

10 hours ago, iamtheky said:

ctrl+shift+esc to bring up taskmanager?  But really, sending keystrokes is probably unnecessary if you would reveal the endgame.

Agreed, to both the former and latter
 

Both ctrl+shift+esc and ctrl+alt+esc work perfectly fine for me under W10:

What does Ctrl+Alt+Esc do on your machine?

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genius257 Universalist

genius257

Posted
Posted

On my pc it seems Ctrl+Alt+Esc minimizes the currently selected windows?

If that's the goal then i would suggest something like: 

WinSetState( $hWnd, "", @SW_MINIMIZE )

 

like this.png

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iamtheky Universalist

iamtheky

Posted
Posted

or alt+m for most everything 

,-. .--. ________ .-. .-. ,---. ,-. .-. .-. .-.
|(| / /\ \ |\ /| |__ __||| | | || .-' | |/ / \ \_/ )/
(_) / /__\ \ |(\ / | )| | | `-' | | `-. | | / __ \ (_)
| | | __ | (_)\/ | (_) | | .-. | | .-' | | \ |__| ) (
| | | | |)| | \ / | | | | | |)| | `--. | |) \ | |
`-' |_| (_) | |\/| | `-' /( (_)/( __.' |((_)-' /(_|
'-' '-' (__) (__) (_) (__)

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SeanMay Seeker

SeanMay

Posted
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Posted

Hi folks,

Ctrl+Alt+Esc should bring up the task manager. If you're seeing behavior resulting in a minimized application, you're probably pressing Alt+Esc, or the Ctrl isn't being recognized, which is what happens to me when I try and use ^!{ESC}.

In my case, a customer is opening a 3rd party remote control application (think VNC), but sometimes the Ctrl+Alt+Del screen is presented when the machine isn't already logged on. Ctrl+Alt+Esc is the keyboard shortcut to "send" a Ctrl+Alt+Del through the app according to the makers of the app. I find it a bit odd that they didn't choose some other unused combination of keys to trigger that action within their software, but that's another story.

So, we're definitely not looking to minimize a screen, and we're definitely not trying to pass a Ctrl+Alt+Del.

Thanks everyone for your replies (even those that thought this was about Ctrl+Alt+Del :) ).

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spudw2k Universalist

spudw2k

Posted
Posted

For me, Ctrl+Shift+Esc has always been the reliable way to quickly launch task manager (unless disabled by policy).  

Is there a menu item to send Ctrl+Alt+Del in the 3rd party (VNC like) app?  

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rcmaehl Universalist

rcmaehl

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, SeanMay said:

Hi folks,

Ctrl+Alt+Esc should bring up the task manager. If you're seeing behavior resulting in a minimized application, you're probably pressing Alt+Esc, or the Ctrl isn't being recognized, which is what happens to me when I try and use ^!{ESC}.

In my case, a customer is opening a 3rd party remote control application (think VNC), but sometimes the Ctrl+Alt+Del screen is presented when the machine isn't already logged on. Ctrl+Alt+Esc is the keyboard shortcut to "send" a Ctrl+Alt+Del through the app according to the makers of the app. I find it a bit odd that they didn't choose some other unused combination of keys to trigger that action within their software, but that's another story.

So, we're definitely not looking to minimize a screen, and we're definitely not trying to pass a Ctrl+Alt+Del.

Thanks everyone for your replies (even those that thought this was about Ctrl+Alt+Del :) ).

You could possibly bring up the on-screen keyboard on the remote machine, through accessibility or the like. Other than that Windows Remote Desktop isn't really that feature packed.

Edited by rcmaehl

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iamtheky Universalist

iamtheky

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

Quote

 

Hi folks,

Ctrl+Alt+Esc should bring up the task manager.

 

No, it shouldnt, unless you have an application or driver that has mapped this behavior.  

Its like saying "Ctrl+Alt+Down Arrow doesnt flip my screen 180 degrees!", the problem would not be the keystrokes, it would be your lack of a video driver that responds to that keystroke.

Edited by iamtheky 

,-. .--. ________ .-. .-. ,---. ,-. .-. .-. .-.
|(| / /\ \ |\ /| |__ __||| | | || .-' | |/ / \ \_/ )/
(_) / /__\ \ |(\ / | )| | | `-' | | `-. | | / __ \ (_)
| | | __ | (_)\/ | (_) | | .-. | | .-' | | \ |__| ) (
| | | | |)| | \ / | | | | | |)| | `--. | |) \ | |
`-' |_| (_) | |\/| | `-' /( (_)/( __.' |((_)-' /(_|
'-' '-' (__) (__) (_) (__)

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rcmaehl Universalist

rcmaehl

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, iamtheky said:

 

No, it shouldnt, unless you have an application or driver that has mapped this behavior.  

Its like saying "Ctrl+Alt+Down Arrow doesnt flip my screen 180 degrees!", the problem would not be the keystrokes, it would be your lack of a video driver that responds to that keystroke.

If you read through the Description. He's using a Remote Desktop Client, in which Ctrl + Alt + Esc = Ctrl + Alt + Del. So based on that, Ctrl + Alt + Esc would give you an option to open up task manager.

My UDFs are generally for me. If they aren't updated for a while, it means I'm not using them myself. As soon as I start using them again, they'll get updated.

My Projects

WhyNotWin11
Cisco Finesse, Github, IRC UDF, WindowEx UDF

 

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iamtheky Universalist

iamtheky

Posted
Posted

I did, but that first sentence prior tries to dismiss everybody elses explanation of what they are seeing.  If the OP cant even reveal which flavor of RDP is being used, then this thread will be rather circular. 

,-. .--. ________ .-. .-. ,---. ,-. .-. .-. .-.
|(| / /\ \ |\ /| |__ __||| | | || .-' | |/ / \ \_/ )/
(_) / /__\ \ |(\ / | )| | | `-' | | `-. | | / __ \ (_)
| | | __ | (_)\/ | (_) | | .-. | | .-' | | \ |__| ) (
| | | | |)| | \ / | | | | | |)| | `--. | |) \ | |
`-' |_| (_) | |\/| | `-' /( (_)/( __.' |((_)-' /(_|
'-' '-' (__) (__) (_) (__)

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SeanMay Seeker

SeanMay

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Yup, sorry for the confusion - Ctrl+Shift+Esc brings up the Task Manager. Not sure why my brain confused the two since I've been using Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open the task manager for like 13 years, but there you have it...

Ctrl+Alt+Esc appears to just minimize whatever the active window is, which is effectively the same thing as Alt+Esc. Either way though, at least now I know why my test AutoIT scripts weren't working the way I thought they would. Oi.

So, even though the problem might be solved by that simple clarification, the application we're interacting with is called NetSupport. For the purposes of this thread that wasn't really relevant. We had already been in contact with them to see what keystrokes we might be able to use to leverage their built-in "Send Ctrl+Alt+Del" button/menu option, and Ctrl+Alt+Esc was what they gave us.

Thanks for the input!

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spudw2k Universalist

spudw2k

Posted
Posted

Sounds good.  If you still can't get the Ctrl+Alt+Esc keystroke to work, you might be able to use the WinMenuSelectItem function to automate click the  "Send Ctrl+Alt+Del" button/menu option.

Ok, I'm done. :)

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iamtheky Universalist

iamtheky

Posted
Posted

have you tried sending {LCtrl}+{LALT}+{ESC}? 

,-. .--. ________ .-. .-. ,---. ,-. .-. .-. .-.
|(| / /\ \ |\ /| |__ __||| | | || .-' | |/ / \ \_/ )/
(_) / /__\ \ |(\ / | )| | | `-' | | `-. | | / __ \ (_)
| | | __ | (_)\/ | (_) | | .-. | | .-' | | \ |__| ) (
| | | | |)| | \ / | | | | | |)| | `--. | |) \ | |
`-' |_| (_) | |\/| | `-' /( (_)/( __.' |((_)-' /(_|
'-' '-' (__) (__) (_) (__)

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