I searched far and wide combing the forums of MediaPortal and MAME setups to find out all the details of how to set up MediaPortal as the shell for windows, and to hide everything Windows-related for the streamlined, speedy experience. One of my last steps was to hide the mouse cursor at logon, and after being confused by the guides here and elsewhere, I came across this in a post on arcadecontrols.com:
Instant Sheller allows you to do many of the things needed to streamline the viewer experience during Windows startup without all the hassle of editing the registry, creating custom cursors, etc.
* Launch any application as a shell instead of Windows Explorer.
* Change the Boot Screen to an image of your choice (use a 640x480 bitmap with 16 colors).
* Replace Cursor with Dots
* Turn Off Windows Event Sounds
* Hide Startup, Login, Shutdown Screens, and Set Auto Login.
* Set Background and Wallpaper to Black
I already added this to the Wiki but after using it with ease I felt the need to share. Enjoy!
Instant Sheller allows you to do many of the things needed to streamline the viewer experience during Windows startup without all the hassle of editing the registry, creating custom cursors, etc.
* Launch any application as a shell instead of Windows Explorer.
* Change the Boot Screen to an image of your choice (use a 640x480 bitmap with 16 colors).
* Replace Cursor with Dots
* Turn Off Windows Event Sounds
* Hide Startup, Login, Shutdown Screens, and Set Auto Login.
* Set Background and Wallpaper to Black
I already added this to the Wiki but after using it with ease I felt the need to share. Enjoy!