Windows BATCH: How to disable QuickEdit Mode for i

Question

QuickEdit mode can be useful if you wish to quickly highlight and copy text directly from the command prompt instead of redirecting output to a file. However, it has its drawbacks. If you have a batch script running, selecting text in the console will pause the script execution until the text is deselected. This can be a problem if the script is expected to continue without pause.

How can one disable QuickEdit mode for certain BATCH scripts?

Answer 1

Unfortunately, there is no way to edit the QuickEdit setting of the current CMD Console instance from command line. We can, however, temporarily disable the global QuickEdit setting and start a new console instance. There are a couple ways to do this, each with its own perks (pros) and drawbacks (cons). Both of the following solutions require the ability to modify the registry.

1. REGEDIT

   • PRO: Compatible with any common Windows system

   • CON: Requires the creation of temporary REG files

   • Code (goes at the beginning of your script):

     if exist "%TEMP%\consoleSettingsBackup.reg" regedit /S "%TEMP%\consoleSettingsBackup.reg"&DEL /F /Q "%TEMP%\consoleSettingsBackup.reg"&goto :mainstart
     regedit /S /e "%TEMP%\consoleSettingsBackup.reg" "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Console"
     echo REGEDIT4>"%TEMP%\disablequickedit.reg"
     echo [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Console]>>"%TEMP%\disablequickedit.reg"
     (echo "QuickEdit"=dword:00000000)>>"%TEMP%\disablequickedit.reg"
     regedit /S "%TEMP%\disablequickedit.reg"
     DEL /F /Q "%TEMP%\disablequickedit.reg"
     start "" "cmd" /c "%~dpnx0"&exit
     
     :mainstart
     

2. REG

   • PRO: Does not require creation of temp files
   • CON: Not available on Windows 2000 and earlier without Resource Kit

   • CON: Different versions have different syntax (accounted for in code below)

   • Code (goes at the beginning of your script):

     set reg50=::&set reg51=::&(reg /?>nul 2>&1 && set reg51=)
     if %errorlevel%==5005 set reg50=
     set qkey=HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Console&set qprop=QuickEdit
     %reg51%if defined qedit_val (echo y|reg add "%qkey%" /v "%qprop%" /t REG_DWORD /d %qedit_val%&goto :mainstart)
     %reg50%if defined qedit_val (reg update "%qkey%\%qprop%"=%qedit_val%&goto :mainstart)
     %reg51%for /f "tokens=3*" %%i in ('reg query "%qkey%" /v "%qprop%" ^| FINDSTR /I "%qprop%"') DO set qedit_val=%%i
     %reg50%for /f "tokens=3*" %%i in ('reg query "%qkey%\%qprop%"') DO set qedit_val=%%i
     if "%qedit_val%"=="0" goto :mainstart
     if "%qedit_val%"=="0x0" goto :mainstart
     %reg51%echo y|reg add "%qkey%" /v "%qprop%" /t REG_DWORD /d 0
     %reg50%if "%qedit_val%"=="" reg add "%qkey%\%qprop%"=0 REG_DWORD
     %reg50%if "%qedit_val%"=="1" reg update "%qkey%\%qprop%"=0
     start "" "cmd" /c set qedit_val=%qedit_val% ^& call "%~dpnx0"&exit
     
     :mainstart
     

If you have another solution, feel free to post.

Answer 2

A way that will affect the current command prompt session.

Here's quickEdit.bat . It is a self-compiled .net script so it requires .net installed (not installed by default on Winsows XP/2003).

Usage:

Enable:

 quickEdit  1

Disable:

 quickEdit  2

Get State:

 quickEdit  3