up vote 5 down vote favorite
5
share [g+] share [fb]

How can I replace the default program providing console windows under Windows XP?

I know of alternative programs, and I have a shortcut to start cmd.exe in Console2. But now I want console applications to start in Console2 rather than the default console program, even when I have no control over the program that starts the console application. (I.e. a non-console program starts consoleapp.exe, and I can't change it to start Console2 instead, but I still want the application to be started inside a new instance of Console2.)

(Note that I want to replace the console itself, that is, the window in which console (i.e. text mode) applications run. And I must be able to run arbitrary, unmodified console applications: a substitute for a specific console program such as Cmd won't do me any good.)

EDIT: So what I'm after is a CSRSS replacement, which leads to

OT: I want to know when Microsoft is going to make a decent CSRSS replacement. Not being able to adjust the width of a "terminal" by resizing the window is a complete joke.

Go download the ISE already. (It's included in Win7/2008R2.)

But as far as I understand this ISE is an environment for Powershell, not a general console emulator.

link|improve this question
22% accept rate
The deficiency mentioned in your new quote does not apply to CMD when it is run inside Console2, anyway, IIRC. – paradroid Sep 30 '10 at 18:33
@jason404: Yes but if you double-click a batch file, for instance, it will not open in Console2. Instances like this are where you could actually need to replace the command line shell. I think it's a great question, +1. – Sasha Chedygov Sep 30 '10 at 20:09
feedback

1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote

You can't. Win32 consoles always use the built-in console windows provided by CSRSS.

link|improve this answer
Thanks, now I know what I'm after is a CSRSS replacement. – Gilles Sep 30 '10 at 18:12
@Gilles: Good luck with that. (Actually, on Windows 7 much of its functionality has been moved into the kernel, but it still stays a "critical process", being core of Win32 subsystem and all that.) – grawity Sep 30 '10 at 18:24
@Gilles: Then use a different shell, as I said. The Win32 console is just the standard Windows terminal emulator. – paradroid Sep 30 '10 at 18:29
@jason404: And as Gilles said, it is not the shell (cmd.exe) but the console (terminal emulator) he's looking to replace, so that any program that uses console windows would use the replacement. – grawity Sep 30 '10 at 18:58
2  
Windows 7's console window implementation has been moved out of csrss into conhost.exe. Sadly, it's still the same old UI, and as far as I know, its APIs are undocumented. More at blogs.technet.com/b/askperf/archive/2009/10/05/… – ak2 Sep 30 '10 at 20:10
show 1 more comment
feedback

Your Answer

 
or
required, but never shown
discard

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.