Overview

To run Intuiface Player in "kiosk mode" means to prevent visitors from killing or switching away from a running experience in Player. It does this by preventing access to File Explorer, the taskbar, the desktop, the Action Center or any other part of the Windows operating system. Your PC will look and act like its sole purpose in life is to run your experience.

This article suggests methods for creating a kiosk mode. As you'll see, these methods are provided by the Windows OS itself, not by Intuiface. Intuiface has no built-in capability for creating a kiosk mode.

Windows 7 and Windows 8.1

The following procedure - tested to work on both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 - enables you to configure a Windows account so that logging into that account immediately runs an Intuiface experience within Player rather than running Windows Explorer. What you're doing is changing the Windows "shell".

NOTE:

• Follow these directions at your own risk as this is an IT task independent of the use of Intuiface. We are not responsible for any issues that might occur in your efforts to apply the steps below. If you are even remotely hesitant about following these directions, don't do it. Find the nearest IT administrator to help you.
• This article does not address the use of Windows Embedded. Doing so is also supported but beyond the scope of this Knowledge Base. Please work with your IT Administrator if you wish to adopt Windows Embedded. For reference, lockdown features are discussed here.
• Intuiface Player cannot be used with the Windows 8.1 assigned access feature. Only "modern" apps - i.e. apps using the Metro style and available in the Windows Store - are compatible with assigned access.

Here are the steps for creating a Windows user account that logs directly into a running instance of Intuiface Player:

1. Set up a second Windows account on the target PC named something like "Kiosk User". This would be an account other than the Administrator account. this second account must have a password.

2. Login to the “Kiosk User” account.

3. Set the shell to Intuiface Player using the following steps:

   • Run regedit
     • open the Start menu and type regedit in the search bar at the bottom.
   • In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following key (this will only change the shell for the “Kiosk User" account):
     HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
   • Right-click in the right-hand panel and select New -> String Value
     
   • Name it "Shell"
   • Double-click on the Shell key and paste the following value (with quotation marks): "C:\Program Files\Intuilab\Intuiface\Player\IntuifacePlayerApp.exe" /playLastExperience
   • Alternatively you could instrad indicate the experience you want to play (not recommend if you plan to update or deploy experiences through the Management Console) : "C:\Program Files\Intuilab\Intuiface\Player\IntuifacePlayerApp.exe" "c:\full\path to\ your experience.ifx"
   • Refer to Command line options to see all available command line options of Intuiface Player.
   • Close regedit

4. To force the autologin on the kiosk account when windows reboot:

   • in a cmd.exe execute "control userpasswords2"
   • select the Kiosk User" for Autologin
   • Uncheck the Check-Box: "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer"
   • click "Apply"

5. Log out and log back into the “Kiosk User” account. Intuiface Player should start with the given experience.

If you press the Escape key (either on a physical or virtual keyboard), Player will exit and Windows will display an empty black screen. You will have to log out/login again or start Windows Explorer to restart the Player.

• To log out of this Kiosk User session, press <Ctrl-Shift-Delete> and select "Log off".

If you need to return to the original shell configuration or display Windows Explorer, press <Ctrl-Shift-Esc> to start the Task Manager. Select the File menu, choose New Task (Run...) and type the name of what you want to run. For example:

• regedit to delete or update the registry key we added earlier
• explorer to open Windows Explorer (this won't bring up the Start menu or taskbar)

Windows 10

The end result of this approach is similar to the method used for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. It's the approach itself that's different.

NOTE: Exclusive to Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Education, you can use the shell launcher feature as an alternative to the method described below. It is powerful but requires a good technical understanding of Windows.

1. On the PC where Intuiface Player is installed, create a user named "KIOSK" with non-admin rights. This account MUST have a password. (You could use any name you'd like but for clarity, we recommend "KIOSK".)
2. Optionally set the KIOSK account as the autologin account for your PC. With this setting, as soon as the PC reboots, it will open a Windows session for the user "KIOSK"
   See for article https://www.cnet.com/how-to/automatically-log-in-to-your-windows-10-pc/ for how autologin directions.
3. Log into to the KIOSK windows session. Then type the Windows+R on the keyboard. It will open the Run window. In the text area type shell:Startup and click Ok.
   
4. A folder will open in File Explorer. ​​In this folder, create a .bat file named something like killexplorer.bat (be sure the file extension is actually .bat).
   In this .bat file, enter the following command: Taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe
This will kill the default Windows shell about 10 seconds after the KIOSK session is opened.
5. Open the Player View in the Share and Deploy Console. For the Player on your PC, activate Automatic Player Launch and, for Player Launch Preferences, select the "Run the last opened experience" option.
6. You may now log out of of the KIOSK account if you desire.

The next time you connect to the KIOSK windows session (or even reboot the PC) the player will be automatically launched and, after a few seconds, the Windows desktop will disappear. Without a keyboard your users won't be ale to switch to any other application.

To log out of the KIOSK account, either

• Reboot the PC if you haven't specified KIOSK as an autologin account.
  OR
• Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC on a keyboard to open Task Manager. If visible, click the "More Details" button in the bottom left corner.
• Select the menu item File -> Run New Task
• Type explorer in the Create New Task window then click Ok.
  
• Now you will be able to log out of the KIOSK session.

NOTE:

• Follow these directions at your own risk as this is an IT task independent of the use of Intuiface. We are not responsible for any issues that might occur in your efforts to apply these steps. If you are even remotely hesitant about following these directions, don't do it. Find the nearest IT administrator to help you.
• The guidance above for Windows 10 does not address the use of Windows 10 IoT Enterprise. Doing so is also supported but beyond the scope of this Knowledge Base. Please work with your IT Administrator if you wish to adopt Windows 10 IoT Enterprise.
• If you want to change windows 10 boot screen, just follow Microsoft procedure described in Customize the boot screen.