DONE: make a window always stay on top

[yacht_boy]

I often want to make a window stay always on top, for instance when I'm copying un-OCR'd text from a scanned PDF document to a word processing document by hand.

I used to use a nifty little freeware program called GIPO windows manager (http://www.gibinsoft...s/deskutil/index.htm) that did this along with a couple of other features I don't use.  I recently did a fresh reinstall of XP and when I went to reinstall GIPO, I got a warning from AVG Antivirus saying that there is a trojan horse (Generic2.ewv) in the file.  This is surprising, since the publisher seems to be pretty reputable and sells many other commercial products, but it looks like this is a real trojan from my googling around so I don't want to reinstall it.

I can't seem to find any other true freeware utilities that will keep a window always-on-top, although there are plenty of expensive shareware options.  Anyone want to step up?  I've got a few donation credits left...

Thanks,

Jason

[cnewtonne]

did not use it, but this looks nice http://dm2.sourceforge.net

[yacht_boy]

Thanks, didn't see that when I was searching.  It does look very nice.  Problem is, I installed it, but I can only seem to make it work on firefox.  It doesn't do what it says it will on my other open applications--in fact, doesn't seem to work at all, except on firefox.  Not sure what's going on, and don't really want to spend hours trying to figure it out, since this is a program that's supposed to make my life marginally easier, not harder!

Also, it's way more complex than I need.  Really just want to keep a window on top, preferably with one click or hotkey.  I'm pretty sure other people out there want to do this, too, judging by the number of pricey shareware apps out there.

I found heldup (http://www.johnmacintyre.ca/HeldUp.asp), but even though it's free it has mandatory registration after 20 days and a strict EULA that is not very friendly.  It does what I want, but with those terms I can't say that it's really freeware.  A competitor to this would be perfect.

Jason

[paulobrabo]

I use and recommend Winroll. To keep a window on top just middle-click the [X] (Close) button.

http://www.palma.com.au/winroll/

[jgpaiva]

[warning: self-promotion ]
I always use my gridmove to keep windows on top.
[end of self-promotion]

But if you'd like to keep it absolutelly simple, just use the following code:

[Select]

F10::
WinSet,AlwaysOnTop,Toggle,A
return

Just copy it to notepad, save as something.ahk, download and install autohotkey and run the script
(btw.. the only thing that script does is toggling the OnTop state of a window when you press F10)

[brotherS]

I often want to make a window stay always on top, for instance when I'm copying un-OCR'd text from a scanned PDF document to a word processing document by hand.

-yacht_boy (March 01, 2007, 08:52 AM)

Hi!

This has been answered here previously, I don't have time to search for the URL, but I'll paste the AHK code below. Win+a is the keyboard combination to enable/disable it. Very simple and helpful when needed.

Also check out https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=1167.0 if you didn't yet.

[Select]

; Always on Top toggle for active window - originally by wr975 / DonationCoder.com
; --------------------------------------
#a::
WinGet, ExStyle, ExStyle, A
if (ExStyle & 0x8)
{
WinSet,AlwaysOnTop,off,A
        TrayTip, AlwaysOnTop, Disabled
}
else
{
WinSet,AlwaysOnTop,on,A
        TrayTip, AlwaysOnTop, Enabled
}
sleep 2000
TrayTip
return

[yacht_boy]

Thanks all!  Don't know how this stuff didn't turn up when I searched the forums. 

I'm trying winroll now, seems easy enough, if that doesn't work I'll do the AHK thing and/or try gridroll.

Jason

[yacht_boy]

Finally got the hang of winroll, it looks pretty useful. 

I like gridmove, and I could see the utility if I had dual monitors or even one decent sized monitor, but on my little 17" jobbie it's not quite as useful.   Just another reason for me to get a couple of 22" widescreen LCDs when I win the lottery!

Will have to check out AHK, hadn't used it before. 

Thanks again, all!

[hamradio]

Surprised no one has mentioned this one but...

There is also FileBox eXtender which went free because it is not supported under Windows Vista. So if you need it for XP or Older machines, then it should work. 

[rjbull]

Quoting TinyApps Misc page:

Showin 2.0 [9k] Enable windows that have been disabled, unhide hidden windows and force windows to stay on top or be placed below others. Perhaps one of the most popular uses of this program is to display hidden password editbox fields (text behind the asterisks *****).
http://www.foundston...?filename=showin.zip

PushPin 1.0 [22k] Keep any window on top of all other windows. 
http://rosafamily.org/software/pushpin/

Nail It! v1.10 [25k] + Make windows"sticky" so that they remain above
other windows.
http://www.pier7.net/dojo/Nail-It.htm

PowerMenu 1.5.1 [49k] + Adds "Always On Top", "Minimize To Tray", "Priority" and "Transparency" (W2K/XP only) sub menus to all top level system menus.
http://www.veridicus...ogramming/powermenu/

[Edit to add an afterthought:]
PowerPro can also make windows stay on top, and can be set to watch for a particular windows' appearance and "pin" it automatically (same with AHK I think).  You might find this even more useful than a program that always needs to be set manually.

I should add that the problem I have with "pinning" windows is that doing so usually stops Kleptomania (text scraper) working.  It seems to be unable to "see" the window if it's been pinned.