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I am looking for a tool to capture user's screen in form of videos (not screenshots), but I don't want the user to find it out that I'm recording the screen. Something like BB FlashBack, but not displaying the program's icon in tray.

  • I want to install it on Windows Server 2016.
  • I prefer freemiums or something allowing for purchasing an academic license (I want the software for an academic project), but if the price is reasonable, I guess I can manage that.

  • The two features I'm looking for are:

    1. Being able to be passed on to the background. I don't want it to appear even in tray since that would cause problems in my research settings.

    2. I need it to record videos. I'm not looking for capturing screenshots.

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    Hope you have legal reasons to do so, recording without the users consent would be illegal in many countries, especially if you collect personal information.
    – martinstoeckli
    Commented Feb 22, 2018 at 8:36
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    My MA thesis project is an action/empirical research. I want to film the participant's behavior when working remotely. All the participants will be notified of participating in an action research after data collection and the data of those who disagree to inclusion in the research would be excluded from our work. My plan was to use BB FlashBack, but in the pilot test I found out that there's a chance that the curious participants would pay attention to its tray icon.
    – m2004
    Commented Feb 22, 2018 at 10:38
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    Couldn't you just hide the icon (windows taskbar settings) or arrange it so it is placed in the popup area (if enough other symbols use up the space)? If the participants agreed to the observation, it should be no problem that they can discover the icon, it could only be a problem that it influences their behaviour if visible. Or is it a taskbar icon instead of a tray icon?
    – martinstoeckli
    Commented Feb 22, 2018 at 11:01
  • As I just mentioned, Martin, it's an action research, so basically, they should not be aware of participating in it in advance; they will be informed of that only after the test.
    – m2004
    Commented Feb 22, 2018 at 11:28

2 Answers 2

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Get OBS and hide the tray icon by a) Windows way as mentioned in comments or b) Hiding trough OBS settings.

OBS is compatible with lots of things, so I heavily recommend it, tough I can't test if it works with Windows Server 2016.

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  • I tried it but couldn't make it run in background. On the other hand quality of the files it create is low.
    – onurcano
    Commented Jun 25, 2018 at 14:28
  • You can also try hiding with AHK
    – Kristofer Vesi
    Commented Jun 27, 2018 at 1:32
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    If you can get something recording, then download autohotkey.com install it and create a hidemyrecorder.ahk (text file), edit it with the first line ' WinHide, MyAwesomeRecorderProgramTitle ' (title is the thing what is shown at a top of a window (in onurcano22's answer there is screenshot with 2 windows: create task and edit action)
    – Kristofer Vesi
    Commented Jun 27, 2018 at 1:36
  • Then another file for ' WinShow, AwesomeTitle ' hate how enter means post comment in android app.. sorry for multiple comments. You can also assign a hotkey to the command with ^+r::WinHide, AwesomeTitle (^Control, +Shift, !Alt, #WinKey then key, in that case r and :: is like then execute following)
    – Kristofer Vesi
    Commented Jun 27, 2018 at 1:39
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You might try Bandicam. But I must say you can't disable splash screen (as far as I know). Here you will find more information about starting and stopping the program Bandicam timer recording information

Bandicam, Auto Start Recording, Timer recording screenshot

The page tells you to run "bdcam.exe" but I think using "bdcam_nonadmin.exe" would be better.

I guess starting the program without icon could be done with a vbscript file. If you plan to use it we would help.

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