How to: Install and Register a Custom Today Screen Item

To install a custom Today item, you need to copy the DLL file for the Today component and register the component. For information about writing a custom DLL, see Writing a Custom Today Screen Item.

To register a "My Today Item" component implemented in a file called Sample.dll

1. Create a new key called "My Today Item" in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Today\Items.
2. Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Today\Items\My Today Item, add the values listed in the following table.

   Value name	Type	Data	Comments
   Type	DWORD	4	All custom items use a Type of 4.
   Enabled	DWORD	1	0 or 1; indicates whether the item is displayed on the Today screen. If Enabled=0, the user can cause the Today item to appear by selecting the box in the list of items on the Items tab of the Today applet in Settings.
   Options	DWORD	1	0 or 1; indicates whether the item has an Options dialog.
   DLL	String	"\Windows\Sample.DLL"	The full path and name of the DLL.

You would most likely use a .cab file created by CabWiz to install your Today items, and the following example shows how the registry information would look in the .inf file:

[Reg.All]
HKLM,Software\Microsoft\Today\Items\My Today Item,Type,0x00010001,4
HKLM,Software\Microsoft\Today\Items\My Today Item,Enabled,0x00010001,1
HKLM,Software\Microsoft\Today\Items\My Today Item,Options,0x00010001,1
HKLM,Software\Microsoft\Today\Items\My Today Item,DLL,0x00000000,"\Windows\Sample.DLL"

For an example of how to create a Today screen item, refer to the Win32 sample MemWatcher.

See Also

Today Screen API References

Writing a Custom Today Screen Item

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