HOWTO: Hide the Automation Manager

ID: Q138067

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Visual Basic Professional and Enterprise Editions for Windows, version 5.0
Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows, version 5.0
Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition, 32-bit only, for Windows, version 4.0

SUMMARY

Remote OLE Automation occurs when a client requests an object from a remote server. For Remote OLE Automation to work, an application known as the Automation Manager (AM) must be running on the server computer. When the AM is started on the remote server computer, the LocalServer32 subkey under the clsid key for the AM in the system registry is read. The AM is visible by default. There are two ways to do this, either specify /Hidden as a command line switch for the AM or modify a registry entry for the AM.

MORE INFORMATION

To specify a command line switch for the AM, you will need to edit its command line in the properties window provided by Windows NT or Windows 95 or Windows 98. You will want something like this:

C:\Winnt35\System32\Autmgr32.exe /Hidden

You need to add the /Hidden switch in the system registry as follows under the CLSID of the Automation Manager in order to hide the AM:

FA4FEBC3-4591-11CE-95E5-00AA0051E510 (Remote Automation CLSID_StubMarshaler)
LocalServer32 = C:\WINNT35\SYSTEM32\AUTMGR32.EXE /Automation /HIDDEN

NOTE: Once it is hidden, the only way to terminate the AM is through the Pview system utility under Windows NT and the Pview95 system utility under Windows 95.

Additional query words: kbRemote kbAutomation kbVBp400 kbVBp500 kbdss kbVBp

Keywords : kbGrpVB
Version : 4.0,5.0
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto