ccaagent.exe on custom Windows shell, not explorer.exe

[gordonf4c]

I have to install the Agent 4.1.8.0 on Windows XP SP2 and SP3 PCs that do not run the Windows Explorer shell. They're point of sale terminals. If explorer.exe is not running, launching CCAAgent reports, 'Failed to add Clean Access Agent icon to system taskbar status area'.

Because there's no notification area / systray, CCAAgent can't create an icon there. And the agent will exit right after clicking OK, failing to authenticate against the NAC. If I use Task manager to launch explorer.exe and then launch the agent, it runs.

No, I don't want the explorer shell running.

Is there a way to run the agent with a window, invisible, or something that doesn't depend on explorer.exe running? Is there an alternate executable I could use? Command line parameter?

[gordonf4c]

I found a Systray replacement program that accomodates the CCAAgent, something called "TrayModule." If this runs before the Agent does, the Agent can run without using explorer.exe as the shell

This is a pretty ugly solution though, as I have to make sure the TrayModule fully launches before having the Agent launch. I had to do a batch file launching TrayModule followed by a short pause and then launching the Agent. If I could remove the dependency on the systray, it'd be a lot more elegant.