Run an Executable in the Background as a Start-Up Application

You can configure your application to have no visible front panel and no task bar item by doing the following:

1. Launch LabVIEW and open your VI.

2. Select File»VI Properties»Window Appearance.

3. Select the Custom radio button and click Customize

   

4. Configure the window appearance settings as shown below; uncheck Show front panel when called, Show front panel when loaded and Window has title bar, and check Window runs transparently and set it to 100%. You can also use these settings to control what the user is able to modify. Click OK on both dialog boxes

   

5. Build your VI into an executable and remember where you saved it.

6. Navigate to the directory of your built executable, notice there are two additional files in the same directory, one of which has the extension .ini, open it.

7. Move the cursor to the bottom of this text file and add in the following additional line of text:
   HideRootWindow=True

8. If you'd also like the VI to not appear on the taskbar, add the ini token: UseTaskBar=FALSE

9. Save and close the .ini file and run your application. You won't be able to see it as it is running in the background, you can quit it by holding Ctrl and pressing the . key.

10. If you want the application to run on start-up, move the executable into the Startup directory which you can find in your Start menu; Start»All Programs»Startup.