Minimize Process from powershell/python using Process ID (PID)

Question

I'm writing a python script for an app lock. For this, I'm executing the Get-Process -Name "notepad++" PowerShell command using python subprocess to get the process id.

Now, using psutil I'm able to kill the process. But my objective is to minimize the windows in a while loop either using powershell/python. So, the program becomes unusable until the user enters the password.

Answer 1

With Powershell, you could do it with the use of the UIAutomationClient methods without having to rely on native calls.

Here is a small example to demonstrate how to check the window state and minimize the window if not.

Add-Type -AssemblyName UIAutomationClient

$MyProcess = Get-Process -Name "notepad++"

$ae = [System.Windows.Automation.AutomationElement]::FromHandle($MyProcess.MainWindowHandle)
$wp = $ae.GetCurrentPattern([System.Windows.Automation.WindowPatternIdentifiers]::Pattern)


# Your loop to make sure the window stay minimized would be here
# While...
$IsMinimized = $wp.Current.WindowVisualState -eq 'Minimized'
if (! $IsMinimized) { $wp.SetWindowVisualState('Minimized') } 
# End While

Reference

How to switch minimized application to normal state