Setup Dialog

VirtuaWin

Setup Dialog

The Setup dialog can be opened by:

  • Double clicking the left mouse button on the system tray icon.

  • Selecting Setup in the Control Menu.
  • Binding the UI: Open VirtuaWin setup command to a Hotkey and pressing this Hotkey.
  • Running the VirtuaWin program while VirtuaWin is already running.
  • The setup dialog consists of 5 different setup tabs with keys, mouse, modules and other various configuration options under them. It is possible to use the Apply button to try out different settings. If Cancel is pressed, all changed from the last apply will be undone.

    General Tab

    Desktop Configuration

  • Enable desktop wrapping: If checked, it will be possible to cycle through all desktops in both directions, meaning that from the last desktop in any direction, it’s possible to go to the first again by continuing in the same direction.
  • Name of desktop # defines the name of the current desktop, this is used in the tooltip given when the mouse is moved over the system tray icon. If no name is give the name used will be ‘Desktop #’ where # is the current desktop number.
  • The Next button can be used to move to the next desktop.
  • User Interface

    • Switch To can be used to access any window directly, meaning that VirtuaWin will change to the window’s desktop and give the focus to the window.

  • Move Here is used for moving the selected window to the current desktop, useful for moving windows to different desktops.
  • Show is used to temporarily display the selected window on the current desktop; the window will be returned to its original desktop when it is either dismissed (see the dismiss window hotkey) or on the next desktop change.
  • Always Show is used to toggle whether a window is visible on all desktops (sometimes termed 'sticky').
  • It is possible to choose any combination and if more than one function is selected, the menus will be displayed side-by-side. Selecting a column title, e.g. click on 'Switch To', will change the menu to display all columns.

    Note: The menus will only contain the windows that are possible to affect during the time, for example, moving a window to the same desktop that it already belongs to is pointless and therefore windows on the current desktop will not appear in the Move Here column.

  • Use desktop title lines in window list: If checked each group of windows on a desktop within the Window List menu will be headed by a desktop title line, making the menu easier to read. The title line also displays the desktop name if one has been set.
  • Mouse opens compact window list: If checked the compact form of the window list is opened by the mouse rather than the standard form. The window list can be opened using the mouse by left clicking on the system tray icon or by middle clicking on a the desktop (if enable, see Enable middle button window list activation).
  • The compact form of the Window List displays only one column, clicking on the title of the column will change the menu to the next column.

    Note: The compact list has two further advantages, firstly it is able to support many more windows (multiple menu columns will be automatically used if there are too many windows to display in a single column) and the length of text for each window is truncated to 128 characters rather than only 30 for the non-compact form.

  • Mouse opens compact window menu: If checked the compact form of the window menu is opened by the mouse rather than the standard form. The window menu can be opened using the mouse by middle clicking on a the desktop (if enable, see Enable middle button window menu activation).
  • Note: The compact form of menus use sub-menus to keep the size of the main menu small.

  • Mouse opens compact control menu: If checked the compact form of the control menu is opened by the mouse rather than the standard form. The control menu can be opened using the mouse by right clicking on the system tray icon.
  • Hotkey opens menu or list at fixed location: If enabled VirtuaWin will open all menus and dialogs at a fixed location on the screen, if disabled most menus and dialogs are opened next to the mouse.
  • Hotkeys Tab

    The Hotkeys tab is used to bind system wide ‘hotkey’ combinations to VirtuaWin functionality, as the hotkey is system wide a key combination must not be used by any other application including Windows itself. The following commands can be bound to a hotkey:

  • NAV: Move right: Moves to the next desktop to the right, this command fails if the current desktop is in the right most column and Enable desktop wrapping is disabled.
  • NAV: Move up: Moves to the next desktop above (which desktop this is depends on your Expert Invert Up/Down setting). This command fails if the current desktop is on the top row and Enable desktop wrapping is disabled.
  • NAV: Move down: Moves to the next desktop below (which desktop this is depends on your Expert Invert Up/Down setting). This command fails if the current desktop is on the bottom row and Enable desktop wrapping is disabled.
  • NAV: Move to next: Moves to the next desktop; this command will fail if the current desktop is the last desktop and Enable desktop wrapping is disabled.
  • NAV: Move to previous: Moves to the previous desktop; this command will fail if the current desktop is the first desktop and Enable desktop wrapping is disabled.
  • NAV: Move to desktop #: Moves directly to the desktop specified.
  • NAV: Return to last desktop: Moves to the last desktop. Note the last desktop is defined to be the last one you stayed on for more than a second and isn't the current one.
  • WIN: Toggle always show: Toggles whether the current window is visible on all desktops or just the current one.
  • WIN: Always on top: Toggles the Window’s ‘Always on top’ property which keeps the window above other windows.
  • WIN: Bring to top: Brings the window under the mouse to the top of the desktop giving it the current focus. Note that this does not set the Window's 'Always on top'.
  • WIN: Push to bottom: Pushes the window to the back of the desktop, i.e. under every other window.
  • WIN: Dismiss window: If the current window is only being temporarily show (for example the window list 'Show' feature was used to display it, also see option On hidden window activation) it will be moved back to its original desktop, otherwise the window will be minimized.
  • WIN: Gather process windows: Moves all the windows created by the current window's process onto the current desktop.

  • WIN: Move left: Moves the current window to the next desktop to the left; this command will fail if no window currently has focus or if the current desktop is the left most desktop and Enable desktop wrapping is disabled.
  • WIN: Move right: Moves the current window to the next desktop to the right; this command will fail if no window currently has focus or if the current desktop is the right most desktop and Enable desktop wrapping is disabled.
  • WIN: Move up: Moves the current window to the next desktop above (which desktop this is depends on your Expert Invert Up/Down setting); this command will fail if no window currently has focus or if the current desktop is the top most desktop and Enable desktop wrapping is disabled.
  • WIN: Move down: Moves the current window to the next desktop below (which desktop this is depends on your Expert Invert Up/Down setting); this command will fail if no window currently has focus or if the current desktop is the bottom most desktop and Enable desktop wrapping is disabled.
  • WIN: Move to next desktop: Moves the current window to next desktop; this command will fail if no window currently has focus or if the current desktop is the last desktop and Enable desktop wrapping is disabled.
  • WIN: Move to previous desktop: Moves the current window to next desktop; this command will fail if no window currently has focus or if the current desktop is the first desktop and Enable desktop wrapping is disabled.
  • WIN: Move to desktop #: Moves the current window to the specified desktop; this command will fail if no window currently has focus.
  • WIN: Move left and follow: Same as WIN: Move left except VirtuaWin changes to desktop as well.
  • WIN: Move right and follow: Same as WIN: Move right except VirtuaWin changes to desktop as well.
  • WIN: Move up and follow: Same as WIN: Move up except VirtuaWin changes to desktop as well.
  • WIN: Move down and follow: Same as WIN: Move down except VirtuaWin changes to desktop as well.
  • WIN: Move to next desktop and follow: Same as WIN: Move to next desktop except VirtuaWin changes to desktop as well.
  • WIN: Move to prev desktop and follow: Same as WIN: Move to previous desktop except VirtuaWin changes to desktop as well.
  • WIN: Move to desktop # and follow: Same as WIN: Move to desktop # except VirtuaWin changes to desktop as well.
  • WIN: Gather all windows: Moves all windows being managed by VirtuaWin onto the current desktop.
  • WIN: Reapply window rules: Re-initializes all windows visible on the current desktop, applying all window rules appropriately. Window settings like 'Always show' will be reset.
  • UI: Open standard control menu: Opens VirtuaWin’s standard Control Menu, which can also be opened by right clicking on the system tray icon.
  • UI: Open compact control menu: Opens VirtuaWin’s compact Control Menu, which can also be opened by right clicking on the system tray icon. The compact menu moves some menu items into sub-menus ensuring the size of the menu does not get unmanageable.
  • UI: Open standard window menu: Opens the standard window menu to control the current window; this command will fail if no window currently has focus.
  • UI: Open compact window menu: Opens the compact window menu to control the current window; this command will fail if no window currently has focus. The compact menu moves some menu items into sub-menus ensuring the size of the menu does not get unmanageable.
  • UI: Open standard window list: Opens the standard window list menu, which is used to access any window.
  • UI: Open compact window list: Opens the compact window list menu which is used to access any window. See option Mouse opens compact window list for more information on the differences between the two window list forms.
  • UI: Open most recently used window list: Opens a menu listing all windows in order of last use, VirtuaWin will switch to the selected window.
  • UI: Open window rules setup: Opens the Window Rules Dialog.
  • UI: Open VirtuaWin setup: Opens VirtuaWin’s main Setup Dialog.
  • UI: Toggle enable state: Toggles whether VirtuaWin is enabled or not; when VirtuaWin is disabled this hotkey command is the only one which remains bound.
  • UI: Toggle display of system tray icon: Toggles the display of the VirtuaWin icon in the taskbar system tray.
  • UI: Boss key: Hides sensitive application windows by moving immediately to desktop 1 and then disables & hides VirtuaWin itself. If an Unboss key is defined then only the unboss key can be used to restore access to VirtuaWin and the other desktops, if no unboss key is defined then the boss key acts as a toggle, i.e. press once to active boss key mode and press again to restore VirtuaWin.
  • Note: Boss key takes the highest priority, so even if VirtuaWin is currently disabled (see Toggle enable state) pressing this key will still make VirtuaWin change to desktop 1 and hide. It cannot however disable modules such as the numerous pagers which run independently.

  • UI: Boss key: Deactivates Boss key mode - see Boss key above.
  • UI: Exit VirtuaWin: Exits VirtuaWin.
  • Hotkeys

    • The first sub-window on the Hotkeys tab contains a list of current hotkeys, select a line to Modify or Delete the selected hotkey. When a line is selected, the remaining fields in the tab are updated to reflect the hotkey selected.

  • Command is used to configure what command is to be executed by the hotkey, see above for a complete list of available commands and what they do.
  • Desktop: Some commands require a desktop to be specified, e.g. NAV: Move to desktop #, the Desktop contains a drop down list of all available desktops, use this to specify the required desktop.
  • Note: Usually this list only contains normal visible desktops, if using a hidden desktop you must first go to the hidden desktop for it to appear in this list.

  • Operate on window under mouse: This option is available for commands which operate on a 'current' window. If enabled the current window is defined to be the one which is currently under the mouse cursor rather than the one which has the current input focus.
  • Use the Hotkey entry to specify the required hotkey by simply clicking into the entry and pressing the required Hotkey combination, the + WIN key checkbox will also need to be set depending on whether the Windows key modifier is desired.
  • Note: If the Hotkey is already bound by something else (including VirtuaWin and Windows) the entry will not be correctly changed, it may be set to None and the action bound to the hotkey will be executed. This is a limitation of the Windows Hotkey interface, see the main VirtuaWin FAQ for instructions on how to manually configure some hotkeys.

  • Pressing the Add button add the current Command/Hotkey configuration as a new hotkey, it will be added to the bottom of the list. This button is not enabled if the Hotkey is not set to a valid hotkey combination.
  • Pressing the Modify button up-date the currently selected hotkey with the current Command/Hotkey configuration. This button is not enabled if a hotkey is not selected in the list or the Hotkey is not set to a valid hotkey combination.
  • Pressing the Delete button removes the currently selected Hotkey. This button is not enabled if a hotkey is not selected in the list.
  • Mouse Tab

    Mouse Support

  • Only change when dragging a window: If checked, desktop changing with the mouse is only possible when dragging a window.
  • The Delay before changing desktop slider configures how long it will take to switch desktop when the mouse goes to the ends of the screen. You can set a value between 50 - 4000 ms.
  • Enable modifier key control: If checked, you can choose a key that must be held down if the mouse should move to a new desktop. This is useful for avoiding accidental desktop switch when using Mouse support.
  • Enable desktop edge knocking: If checked the mouse must 'knock' the desktop edge before VirtuaWin will change desktops. To knock the edge the mouse must move to the desktop edge, then move away from the edge (by a quarter of the Mouse jump length), before going back to the edge - this action must be performed within a second. So if the Mouse jump length is set to 60 (recommended) the mouse must move 15 pixels away from the edge, also the mouse must not wander in the direction perpendicular to the edge by more than the Mouse jump length.
    • When Always required is also checked, a knock must always be performed to change desktops with the mouse. If disabled a knock is only required when the mouse operation starts near the edge (within 'Mouse jump length', e.g. 60 pixels). For example, if the modifier key control is pressed within 60 pixels of the edge a knock will be required, if its pressed outside this boarder no knock will be required.

  • The Mouse jump length field tells how many pixels the mouse pointer will jump away from the desktop edge on a mouse desktop change. Values between 0-999 are possible, but don’t set this value any higher than the resolution of your screen. A value of at least 10 is recommended to avoid unwanted double desktop changing and a value of around 60 or more if edge knocking is enable.
  • Enable mouse warping: If checked, the mouse will be moved to the opposite side of the screen when going over the edge. The effect of the Mouse jump field is the same.
  • Enable middle button desktop changing: If checked, clicking the middle mouse button on the desktop and moving the mouse will change desktops in the direction of the mouse movement. The size of the mouse movement required to change desktops is a quarter of the Mouse jump length.
  • Enable middle button window list activation: If checked, clicking the middle mouse button on the desktop will open a VirtuaWin window list (see Window List Contents section below). This menu can also be opened using a hotkey, see Enable window list hotkey.
  • Enable middle button window menu activation: If checked, clicking the middle mouse button on a window’s title bar will open a VirtuaWin control menu for the window. This menu can be used to dismiss the window and control which desktop it is placed on. This menu can also be opened using a hotkey, see UI: Open standard window menu.
  • Modules Tab

    The original installation of VirtuaWin includes only one module, WinList module. More info about modules is available on http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/. There you can also find more modules to download. There is currently a max limit of 10 modules that VirtuaWin will handle.

    • The list box will display the modules that are currently loaded.

  • Pressing the Configure button, or by double clicking, will bring up the setup dialog for the selected module, if the selected module has one.
  • Press the Reload button for unloading all modules and re-read the module directory.
  • Pressing the Enable/Disable button does exactly what it sounds like. Note that you need to restart VirtuaWin in order for enabled modules to become active again. Disabling modules works instantly.
  • Pressing the Get Modules button will open VirtuaWin's main modules download page in your preferred web browser.
  • Expert Tab

    Advanced Options

    Note: The dynamic taskbar feature is not currently supported in Windows 7.

  • On hidden window activation: A hidden window is one that currently belongs to a different desktop so it is being hidden; activation is some event that suggests to VirtuaWin that the owning application wants the window to be displayed (e.g. opening a url link may activate a hidden internet browser). Setting this option to Ignore the event which ensure that VirtuaWin will not allow the window to display. When set to Move window to the current desktop VirtuaWin will move the window to the current desktop and display the window. If set to Show window on current desktop the window will be display but it is not moved to the current desktop, instead the window will be returned to its original desktop when it is either dismissed (see the dismiss window hotkey) or on the next desktop change. When set to Move to window’s desktop VirtuaWin will do a desktop change to the window’s desktop, which will also display the window. This action can also be set differently for each window type using a window rule, see the Window Rule Dialog option.
  • Restore focus on desktop change: If checked, when switching desktops the focus will be returned to the window that last had the focus on the desktop. If disable the focus is removed - no window will have the focus.
  • Hide minimized windows on desktop change: If checked, minimized windows will be hidden on a desktop change. If not checked, their taskbar button will remain visible on all desktops; this can be used as an alternative method for changing a window's desktop (instead of dragging with mouse or using a hotkey).
  • Invert Up/Down: If checked, the up/down control keys and mouse behavior will be switched. This is nice to use when you have hot keys set on the numpad. For example on a 3x3 desktop setup, use hot keys 1-9 on the numpad and invert up/down. Then every desktop will be mapped to corresponding key number and the control keys/mouse will behave as expected. Hard to explain, try it out…
  • Hide system tray icon: If checked the system tray icon will be removed. To see the setup dialog just start VirtuaWin a second time and the setup dialog will appear.
  • Workarounds

    Options in this group should only be changed if VirtuaWin is not functioning correctly.

  • Enable Windows hook: If enabled, VirtuaWin installs a system shell hook which monitors activity events (such as flashing taskbar buttons) of all windows to ensure none are missed.
  • Note: If using this option before up-grading VirtuaWin it is recommended you exit VirtuaWin 10 minutes or more before up-grading, this will reduce the likelihood of having to reboot your system.

  • Enable window specific rules: If enabled, window specific rules created via the Window Rules Dialog will be applied, see help about the Window Rules Dialog for more information. This option should be enabled, if not some windows, most notably Explorer windows, may disappear.
  • Enable dynamic taskbar button removal: If checked and a Dynamic taskbar order is used VirtuaWin will use the taskbar button order returned by Explorer to remove unwanted buttons, these buttons are sometimes created by programs which create a single main window and taskbar buttons for each viewable file (e.g. Excel & Acrobat).
  • Note: The dynamic taskbar feature is not currently supported in Windows 7.

  • Force release of modifier keys on desktop change: If checked, when VirtuaWin changes desktop it will send messages to the new current application to force it to drop any currently pressed modifier key (Alt, Control, Shift & Windows keys). Some applications fail to 'drop' these modifier keys when a hotkey is used to change desktops.
  • Force refresh after desktop change: If checked, VirtuaWin will do a refresh after a switch to a new desktop, similar to pressing F5 with “desktop focus”. Useful if applications are leaving traces after them (I have only seen this problem with PhotoShop). Otherwise, uncheck it to get rid of the annoying flicker.
  • Only hide taskbar button of minimized windows: If checked, VirtuaWin uses the Toolwin flag method of hiding just the taskbar button for all minimized windows (assuming Hide minimized windows on desktop change is disabled), this preserves the Window's Thumbnail on Windows 7. This option has been introduced in case this change introduces unwanted side effects - if no issues are reported when this option is enabled the option will be removed in the next release.
  • Write events to the virtuawin.log: If checked VirtuaWin creates a log file detailing all VirtuaWin related events in your user configuration directory (to locate this file see Explore Config). This is very useful when attempting to reproduce issues and reporting problems to VirtuaWin.
  • Pressing the Log Windows button adds information about every window to the virtuawin.log file, this helps gather information required when a problem is encountered. The Write events to the virtuawin.log option must be enabled for this feature to have any effect.
  • Pressing the Explore Config button opens an explorer window displaying the contents of your VirtuaWin configuration directory; this can be used to find your configuration files.