Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
M17x - Remapping the Touchstrip Command Center button
Have you ever wanted to take control of the M17x Touchstrip's Command Center button and have it launch another application?
Perhaps turn off the LCD when pressed? How about launch your web browser and load your favorite website?
Well, now you can. The best part, you can still access Command Center by using the shortcut in your Start Menu.
This has been tested on Vista and shouldn't be different for Win 7.
*BE AWARE, WE WILL BE EDITING THE REGISTRY. IF YOU MAKE A MISTAKE OR CHANGE SOMETHING BY ACCIDENT, YOU CAN HOSE YOUR SYSTEM. BACK UP YOUR REGISTRY IF YOU FEEL THE NEED. IF YOU DO NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE, STOP NOW. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU MUCK UP YOUR OS INSTALLATION.*
ALSO: When the path is changed in the registry, right clicking on the AlienFXController icon in the task tray will not launch the LightFX Editor. You will need to first launch command center and click on FX from within the CommandCenter main screen. Not sure why this is, and I don't really have the free time @ the moment to research.
Restoring the original path in the Registry Key does fix this issue.
EDITING THE REGISTRY
Let’s get started:
The first step is to modify the registry entries that handle the Command Center button on the Touchstrip. Open REGEDIT via the RUN command (type REGEDIT). This will launch the REGISTRY EDITOR.
Find the following keys...
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Alienware\Command Center\S1_KEY
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Alienware\Command Center\S1_KEY
Each of the Registry entries has a default value of:
C:\Program Files\Alienware\Command Center\CommandCenter.exe
In order to remap it to launch another application, just edit the path to whatever application you want. So, for example:
To map it to launch Windows Media Center, you would change the path to:
C:\Windows\ehome\ehshell.exe
To map it to launch Internet Explorer, you would change the path to:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
You now have the process to change the mapping to any application you want. Just change the key's value to point to the application you want the button to launch.
*AFTER MODIFYING THE REGISTRY, YOU WILL NEED TO EXIT THE REGISTRY EDITOR AND REBOOT FOR YOUR CHANGES TO TAKE EFFECT.*
OTHER FUNCTIONS
Turn Off LCD
1. Download TurnOffLCDv101.zip. This is a small 85kb Freeware application. BIG Thanks to Taimur Asad for writing this AWESOME little application.
2. Extract the file you downloaded and move it to the root level of your C: Drive. To keep things neat and tidy, rename the application to 'TurnOffLCD'.
3. It's now time to change the registry entries. As before, change the path to: C:\TurnOffLCD.exe
4. Close REGEDIT and reboot your system.
After your reboot is complete, depressing the Command Center button on the Touchstrip will turn off the LCD by launching TurnOffLCD. TurnOffLCD will send the command to power off the LCD and then the app will close. Moving the mouse or pressing a keyboard key will power on the LCD.
LOCK YOUR LAPTOP
So, for Lock Workstation you would:
1. Right-click an empty space on your desktop, point at New, and then select Shortcut from the context menu
2. Type rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation in the location field and then press Next
3. Type the name of the shortcut in the name box (" LockWorkstation")
4. Click Finish to create the shortcut. To keep the desktop clean and free of clutter, move the newly created shortcut to the root level of your C: drive.
5. Now, in the Application Path of the registry edit process, change it to point to your LockWorkstation shortcut: C:\LockWorkstation
6. Close regedit and reboot your system
After your reboot is complete, depressing the Command Center button on the Touchstrip will now lock your laptop. Granted it’s probably just as fast to use the keyboard shortcut (Windows Key+L), but some people may find this useful.
POWER OFF LCD AND LOCK WORKSTATION
How about locking and turning off the LCD by just pushing the button?
*You will need to create the 'Lock Workstation' shortcut from LOCK YOUR LAPTOP above for this to work. This also requires the TurnOffLCD app and all must be placed in the top level of the C:\ drive.*
1. We need to create a batch file. This is very simple to do. Open NotePad and type the following:
2. Save the file as TurnOffLCDandLock.bat - BE SURE TO CHANGE THE FILE TYPE to: All Files or it wont save properly. Save the file to the root level of the C: drive.
3. Be sure that The TurnOffLCD application is named TURNOFFLCD and that its located at the root level of the C: drive.
4. Edit your registry entries (as explained above) to point to the TurnOffLCDandLock.bat file you created in Step 1. ( C:\TurnOffLCDandLock.bat)
5. Once you have changed the registry values, Reboot and depress the Command Center button on the Touchstrip - your laptop should lock then 6 seconds later the LCD will power off.
SHUTDOWN
1. As before, create a new shortcut, but instead use the following to create a "SHUTDOWN shortcut" which will force all open applications to close and the system to shutdown when the button is pressed:
or to give the system 30 seconds, use this:
SLEEP/SUSPEND
1. For SLEEP/SUSPEND, create a new shortcut and use:
HIBERNATE
1. For HIBERNATE, create a new shortcut and use:
WEBSITES, DOCUMENTS and BEYOND
For Website or Document shortcuts just follow the same procedure. Right Click on the desktop and create your shortcut pointing to the document or WEB URL you want to use. You could even link to a .wav or .mp3. Anything is possible.
Remember, once you have identified the shortcut/application/file you want to link the Command Center button to, just go into the registry as before and change the entries. Be sure to reboot after making your changes.
Kind of cool, huh? Currently, I have my rig set to power off the LCD when the Command Center button is depressed. I have a Command Center shortcut in the Quick Launch bar for when I need to access CC (which is like never).
Well, that's about it for remapping the Alienware M17x Command Center Touchstrip button. Enjoy!
-
I know this will come up sooner or later...
Q: Can we remap the Stealth button as well?
A: Not sure - I'm still looking into this. For now, Command Center ONLY.
-
nice job ... finally i can get rid of the useless command center
-
Very nice. Now if we could only remap some of the other touch buttons to do nothing.
-
-
[GUIDE] M17x - Remapping the Touchstrip Command Center button
Discussion in 'Alienware' started by BatBoy, Oct 19, 2009.
