Bits from Bill

Technology thoughts leaking from the brain of "Bill Pytlovany"

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

WinPatrol 25.6.2012 License Agreement Explained

While I was tempted to follow the trend of others and call our new version WinPatrol 2013, I know how to read a calendar and no matter what others say it’s still 2012!

The new version of WinPatrol doesn’t have any major new features but thanks to detailed reports from loyal users I’ve tracked down a number of annoying bugs.

As part of the new setup, I’ve included a short yet important description of the WinPatrol license agreement. In the past, it wasn’t always clear what benefits and restrictions were part of our WinPatrol license agreement. Details on the FREE and PLUS licenses are now spelled out during installation. Following the description here I’ve included details on what’s new and a link to download WinPatrol 25.6.

WinPatrol FREE License
The Free Edition of WinPatrol is available for permanent use and is not just a trial version. This program is a powerful tool that alerts you to system changes, allows you to prevent selected programs from running, allows you to safely explore what programs might be slowing you down and more. The WinPatrol Free Edition license is limited to personal use but may be installed on multiple computers. You agree to use WinPatrol at your own risk.

WinPatrol PLUS       Single User Personal License
Upgrading to WinPatrol PLUS is a one-time investment, not a yearly subscription. You'll never be asked to pay again but you may not share your PLUS activation code with others. Once you receive a PLUS code you may use it to activate PLUS features on any computer you own and you personally use. It does not include computers used by family members if you only provide support & maintenance. WinPatrol PLUS may be purchased for a business environment but is still limited to individual  users. This license is fully transferable to any new computers you purchase or new versions of WinPatrol software.

Using a PLUS activation code not obtained from BillP Studios, WinPatrol.com or one of our partners is discouraged and could result in your PLUS features being disabled without warning. Obtaining a PLUS code from an illegal "keygen" download site may be the source of a malware infection. When using an illegal code your IP address may be reported to organizations currently working to reduce the use of pirated software.


WinPatrol PLUS        Family Pack License

A single WinPatrol Family Pack code may be used by all members of your immediate family within your household. Immediate family includes a common-law spouse or a domestic partnership as well as any offspring living within your home.  It also includes children who are away at school.
Like the standard license, you may continue to use your activation code on all future versions of WinPatrol without any additional fee.

Small and Large businesses should contact support@WinPatrol.com for special offers to support environments with 10 or more WinPatrol users..


WinPatrol PLUS       Single Machine License
As a special marketing test, WinPatrol PLUS  was available for a limited time at a unique price of 99 cents. Just like our Single User License this purchase provides a  fully transferable, lifetime of WinPatrol PLUS. Each 99 cent order however is good for a single physical computer. A single activation code will be provide per individual and may be used on multiple computers.  Each computer is associated with each payment of 99 cents. A single physical computer includes the use of one WinPatrol PLUS license on multiple virtual machines.

setup

Version 25.6.2012.0                                   September 19th, 2012

Based on user feedback and especially the extra effort from loyal WinPatrol fans we've improved reliability with WinPatrol 25.6. WinPatrol features work better than ever and we've removed the possibility of confusing messages that may have given incorrect alert messages.

* Fixed Multiple Alerts When Startup Removed
One of the newest features of WinPatrol 25 is letting users know if a Startup program had been removed without their knowledge. Unfortunately, occasionally a bug appeared that once the initial warning appeared, WinPatrol continued to warn about the removal of other programs which still existed in the list of Startup Programs.

* Windows 7 Performance Boost
WinPatrol has always worked well with all versions of Windows including Windows 7, this version takes better advantage of performance ability available to Windows 7 users.

* Multiple Add/Remove Uninstall Entries
When checking the Uninstall list using the Add/Remove or Uninstall applet, WinPatrol may have retained previous versions. This version will remove past entries that exist.

* License Agreement Info
In the past the license agreement for various WinPatrol versions were not clearly stated and easy to find on our website. The new setup program includes a description of the Free, PLUS, Family Pack and special licenses. Users will now see how unique WinPatrol is and what few restrictions exist.

* Scotty Barking at Random
This has been a long time unexplainable quirk that never made sense. Reports of Scotty barking with no alert should be a thing of the past.

* IE Helper Enhanced
Some IE Helpers may have been missed on some machines. They will all now be properly displayed.

* Uninstall Enhancements
While we now have a stand alone WinPatrolRemove program, this version includes an Uninstaller that works much better than our past embarrassments. Improvements to the WinPatrol Uninstall program will now removed registry entries that gave incorrect screen positions when multiple monitors were used. We'll also remove any language packs which you may have installed in error.

* Explorer Menu Integration
While some users may still not have the full privileges, most users will be able to look up PLUS Info for EXE's and DLL's directly from the right-click menu on Explorer file lists.

downloadClick Here for WinPatrol Download Page

 


Update September 20th : Released compatibility issue with 32 bit Windows XP. The use of the function RegDeleteKeyEx, is not support by 32 bit versions of XP, slipped by our original release. This function was required to support 64 bit Windows.  I was able to patch this error by using dynamic library linking so after testing the new code on each platform I was able to release 25.6.2012.1 just after midnight EST.  If you’re not using Windows XP you don’t need to rush to download this patch if you have already downloaded 25.6.  Special thanks to our XP users who were quick to help even taking the time to send screen shots.


By popular demand I will post the code I used to show programmers not only how to support 64 bit systems but how to take advantage of new Windows functions yet still support versions of Windows no longer supported by Microsoft.

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3 Comments:

Blogger DCStrain said...

Hey Bill...

That was quite a feat solving the "Scotty Barking at Random" problem. You could make a fortune licensing your technique to dog trainers!

Any code for stopping my cats from scratching on my couch?

DCStrain ;-)

3:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I for one would be very interested in an article detailing what the random barking problem was. Being that it was such an elusive bug, it seems that it should have an interesting story (at least to programmers).

I hope you're able to post such an article t some point.

11:17 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I will probably publish something about the barking unless it's too embarrassing. :)
Unfortunately, what I had expected would fix the problem didn't do the trick. There is single entry point to the function that calls Windows PlaySound API and I've moved all the calls directly into the alert dialogs so it should only be called when one of the change dialogs is successfully displayed.
I've also captured a number of logs from users while they experience the problem. I still am missing something because I still get reports of random barking.
I have experienced the sysmptoms myself but of course, as soon as I copy a new version with debugging it stops.
I'd like to blame optimization in Visual Studio but that would be a cop-out.
My hope now is that I'll find a solution at least before Scotty retires. ;)

Bill

Thanks!

11:38 AM  

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