Window Capture Application

This application captures information about open windows on a Windows system at regular intervals. It runs in the background with a system tray icon and saves the captured data to CSV files.

Disclaimer

This code was generated using a large language model (LLM). I take no responsibility for the code quality, security vulnerabilities, or any other issues that may arise from using this code. Use at your own risk.

Features

• Captures information about all visible windows, including:
  • Window title
  • Process name
  • Active (foreground) status
  • Window order (z-order)
• Runs silently in the system tray
• Captures window information every minute
• Creates a new CSV file for each session
• Logs operations and errors for easy troubleshooting

Requirements

• Windows operating system
• Python 3.6+
• Required Python packages (see requirements.txt for versions):
  • pywin32
  • psutil
  • schedule
  • pystray
  • Pillow

Installation

1. Clone this repository or download the source code.
2. Create a virtual environment:

   python -m venv window_capture_env
   

3. Activate the virtual environment:

   window_capture_env\Scripts\activate
   

4. Install the required packages using the requirements.txt file:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

Usage

1. Ensure your virtual environment is activated.
2. Run the run_window_capture.bat file to start the application.
3. The application will run in the background with an icon in the system tray.
4. To stop the application, right-click the system tray icon and select "Quit".

Setting Up Autostart

To make the Window Capture Application start automatically when you log into Windows:

1. Right-click on run_window_capture.bat and select "Create shortcut".
2. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog.
3. Type shell:startup and press Enter. This opens the Startup folder.
4. Move the shortcut you created in step 1 into this Startup folder.

Now, the application will start automatically each time you log into your Windows account.

File Structure

• window_capture.py: The main Python script that captures window information.
• run_window_capture.bat: A batch file to run the script with the correct Python environment.
• requirements.txt: A list of Python package dependencies.
• captures/: Directory where CSV files with captured data are stored.
• logs/: Directory containing the log file (window_capture.log).

CSV File Format

Each capture session creates a new CSV file with the following columns:

• id: Timestamp of the capture (Unix timestamp)
• timestamp: ISO format timestamp of when each window was captured
• title: Window title
• process: Name of the process that owns the window
• is_active: Boolean indicating if the window was active (in the foreground)
• order: Z-order of the window (1 being topmost)

Logging

The application logs its operations and any errors to logs/window_capture.log. Check this file if you encounter any issues or want to monitor the application's activity.