+- Unofficial Hotscreen Community (https://hotscreen.dominated.dev)
+-- Forum: GENERAL (https://hotscreen.dominated.dev/forumdisplay.php?fid=3)
+--- Forum: Discuss (https://hotscreen.dominated.dev/forumdisplay.php?fid=4)
+--- Thread: How to prevent Hotscreen from being closed (/showthread.php?tid=76)
How to prevent Hotscreen from being closed - welpwarrior - 04-24-2026
Hi Everyone,
On the itch forums, someone recently posed a question about ways to prevent HS from being closed. Since the default built-in lock doesn't prevent a user from simply killing the process in Task Manager, I decided to look deeper into the subject after seeing some initial community suggestions.
The Problem & The Approach
Since the application doesn't have native anti-tamper mechanisms, the only real way to handle this is to make closing it as hard and annoying as possible—especially considering most users have administrator access on their PCs.
What I've developed is a result of this restriction. It consists of two .exe files: "alpha" and "beta".
How to Use
First launch: Run alpha.exe
If after restart it doesn't work: check antivirus for removed threats, allow it again, then run alpha.exe again
Source Code: I am providing the Python source code below because Windows (and most antivirus software) will likely treat these files as a Trojan/Virus.
Why is it flagged as a Virus?
It’s quite simple: to make closing HS difficult, I’ve placed the process in non-obvious locations and introduced watchdog mechanisms. These scripts watch for changes and relaunch the app if it’s terminated. This exact behavior—monitoring processes and self-replicating/restarting—is very similar to how actual malware behaves.
Note on Antivirus: If you want to run these, you will need to add exclusions every time your antivirus neutralizes the threat. If the app doesn't launch properly after a PC restart, check your "Neutralized Threats," allow the files, and relaunch alpha.exe.
Technical Details
If you don't want to spoil how the "magic" works under the hood, don't look at the code. For those who are curious or concerned about security, feel free to analyze the source or run it through an AI for a breakdown. The code was compiled into .exe using python -m nuitka --onefile --windows-console-mode=disable ...
Additional info
I have no idea at the moment, how to launch HS with custom parameters, that would allow for automatic locking or configuring fps, screen, etc, so if someone knows I would appreciate information