ableton to load instead of default windows interface

[Miromiric]

i somehow managed to delete my windows which i only used for ableton. i had the windows tweaked so every time i started them ableton would start automatically and none of the windows silly proceses would start.
i lost the "how-to" do it.
maybe somone knows something about this and can help?

[rounser]

Start Menu -> Run -> type "regedit", hit return -> In Registry Editor, burrow down into My Computer -> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> Software -> Microsoft -> Windows -> CurrentVersion -> Run

Add and delete entries as needed...

[Miromiric]

yay yay yay. props to an unknown soldah

As I wait for beta 5, i'll post a tweak I use live...

More of a Window$ tweak than a Live tweak, but anyway...

When I use Live in a live environment, I run it as a 'Custom user interface' or 'shell' in Windows XP Professional. Basically what this is if you aren't familiar with it, is replacing Explorer with Live as a shell. This means there is no desktop environment, no taskbar, no start menu, no applets running, etc.

There are many advantages to this when using Live - improved stability, free memory, improved performance, etc. The disadvantage is you lose a practical way to multi-task. (But who needs multi-tasking when you only need to run Live live?)

To accomplish this in Windows XP Pro, type 'gpedit.msc' in the run command. This brings up the 'Group Policy Editor'. Under 'User Configuration' / 'Administrative Templates' / 'System', there is a setting called 'Custom user interface'. By default this setting is 'Not Configured' (meaning Explorer).

If you select 'Enabled' and type in the path to Live (or any application), Windows will boot into Live upon startup without anything else running.

Screenshot HERE

You must include parenthesis if the path to Live contains spaces - ex. "C:\Program Files\Ableton\Live 4.0b4\Program\Live 4.0b4.exe".

Restart computer!

If you do the above & wish to change the setting back, just hit CTRL+ALT+DEL to bring up the Task Manager, hit New Task (Run), type 'gpedit.msc' and change the setting back to 'Not Configured'. Restart and you're back to Explorer. If you use a sound device that requires an applet to be running all the time, then I don't really know what your success will be. I used to use an Emagic EMI USB card that installed itself as a system service and always ran at boot-up. I never had any problems running Live as a shell. If you decide to give it a shot, it won't mess up your system in any way. If for instance you enable this setting & the path or program is not found upon boot-up, Windows$ will load the default Explorer shell.

Unfortunately for Window$ XP Home users there is no Group Policy Editor. If you use Window$ 98, there is a different way to do this & I'll post how to as well as show you some other groovy crap like creating a boot-menu if anyone requests it. But for now, I'll assume noone is still running 98.

[TechMouse]

Info on setting up an alternative shell (for all versions of Windows) here (http://www.shell-shocked.org/article.php?id=220).