Using CreateProcess to invoke an exe file?

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Ok, so cracked it finally after trying out a lot of flags from the documentation. Hope it's helpful for anyone else struggling with it.

#include<Windows.h>

int main()
{
    STARTUPINFO si = { sizeof(STARTUPINFO) };
    si.cb = sizeof(si);
    si.dwFlags = STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW;
    si.wShowWindow = SW_HIDE;
    PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
    CreateProcess("C:\\Program Files\\Nero\\Nero 7\\Core\\nero.exe", NULL , NULL, NULL, FALSE, CREATE_NO_WINDOW , NULL, NULL, &si, &pi);
}//main

Note that Nero's GUI will show up, but some other exe's which you may try will start, but the window won't be visible. You'll be able to see the application in TaskManager though.

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Nav

Updated on June 08, 2022

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  • Nav
    Nav almost 2 years

    Been trying to invoke the Truecrypt exe from my Visual Studio C++ application, but CreateProcess just isn't working. GetLastError() shows 127.
    The objective is to invoke the exe without showing the command window. Please help. I've tried searching and also reading the CreateProcess parameter explanation.

    #include <stdio.h>
    #include <stdlib.h>
    #include <iostream>
    #include<Windows.h>
    
    int main( void )
    {
        HANDLE StdInHandles[2]; 
        HANDLE StdOutHandles[2]; 
        HANDLE StdErrHandles[2]; 
    
        CreatePipe(&StdInHandles[0], &StdInHandles[1], NULL, 4096); 
        CreatePipe(&StdOutHandles[0], &StdOutHandles[1], NULL, 4096); 
        CreatePipe(&StdErrHandles[0], &StdErrHandles[1], NULL, 4096); 
    
        STARTUPINFO si;   memset(&si, 0, sizeof(si));  // zero out
    
        si.dwFlags =  STARTF_USESTDHANDLES; 
        si.hStdInput = StdInHandles[0];  // read handle
        si.hStdOutput = StdOutHandles[1];  // write handle 
        si.hStdError = StdErrHandles[1];  // write handle 
        PROCESS_INFORMATION pi; 
        std::cout<< CreateProcess("\"C:\\Program Files\\TrueCrypt\\cmd.exe\\TrueCrypt.exe\"", " //b" , NULL, NULL, FALSE, CREATE_NO_WINDOW , NULL, NULL, &si, &pi)<< "\n" << GetLastError() << "\n";
        std::cin.get();
    }