jv16 PowerTools 2007 Beta1 is now released, you can download it from:

http://www.macecraft.com/downloads/betas/jv16pt_setup_2007_Beta1.exe

(if the link doesn't work, it means the beta testing for this version has already ended)


Warning

Do not install it over any previous version of jv16 PowerTools, always install beta versions to a new directory. This product version is not an official release, it will contain bugs and can cause harm to your computer. Do not use it unless you are willing to take the risk and understand what beta testing means.



Release notes

* The program starts by default in the new Debug Mode. It means the program works very slowly and saves a log file to your Desktop.

* Do not start to translate the English.lng yet, the language interface will still change.

* All the features are implemented and should be working. Exception to this is only the Disk Defragger tool, it works but not yet as well as it should (i.e. running the defrag will not fully defrag the hard disk in most cases).

* This version still lacks a few new icons (for example to the new One Click Cleaner).

* This version does not run under any Win9x system, such as Windows 95, 98, 98 SE nor ME. The program doesn't start due to a missing NT-only DLL file.


Changes

The main emphasis has been on making the program easier to use and on fixing bugs, these two design goals were voted to be most critical by our users in our previous user questionnaire. The only real new feature is the Disk Defragmenter. The main screen also contain another new icon - the One Click Cleaner. It doesn't contain any new features per se, but allows you to perform many cleanup operations easier than before.


The History Manager and Cookie Manager features were removed because they never reached much popularity among users, and the quality of the features weren't as good as possible.


The policy of disabled Start button has now been changed - now all the Start buttons of all the main features are enabled by default, and the program prompts you tell you if you haven't filled in all the required input data.


On Beta Testing

All beta testers who submit valuable feedback, such as bug reports, will receive a free personal license for the product after it has been officially released. Simply testing the application doesn't mean that you would receive a free license, free licenses are issued only to those who submit valuable feedback.


We are expecting the RC1 (Release Candidate 1) version to be released after 3-5 beta versions, the final version should be ready after 1-3 RC's.


Please send all your feedback and bug reports to this thread (use the "Post Reply" button). Thank you.

Great Job as usual! One bug i found already is when you create a desktop icon for some of the tools such as the startup manager and directory tool, it only opens the powertools interface. Also there is no easy option to disable the tips once installed. At least I havent found it yet.

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First of all.. Thx for this latest version Jouni :).


At first glance it looks very nice.


I Had one problem using the 'Software Manager'.

When i selected some stuff and pressed the 'Uninstall' button the main PT Window came on-top and the msg box disapeared.


The defrag looks cool.

Only i just have 5 Paritions, and the space allocated under all the drives can be used by the tabs at the bottom.

Would be nice if the tabs at the bottom can get more space to the top.

Or let the user change its height by a divider or something.


Also, after defraging a partition, it would be nice to have it analysed again or something. So you can see the difference of a before and after.


The rest at a quick view looks very nice and working.

I like the new 'One Click Clean' Tool.


Well Jouni, i think you did it again.

A nother nice update/upgrade to PowerTools.


Will post some more findings when i got the time.

I have MainSettings.dat pointing to a different directory for Settings (see below), but the install doesn't honor that path (installs at C:\Program Files\jv16 PowerTools 2007\Versions\jv16 PowerTools 2007-1.7.0.356\Settings) instead. Workaround is to cut and paste the History Cleaner subdirectory from where it gets installed to where I wish it to be.


The Installation tab in the Settings tool does get filled in properly.


MainSettings.dat contents:


  • Data=C:\Program Files\jv16 PowerTools 2007\Settings (dt1)\

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

The message box feature is a nice addition ...


Note: will be running with debug off -- for speed. Will turn on for difficult problems ...

PT 2007 1.7.0.356 History/MRU Cleaner


I like the PT 2007 results list better than that of PT 2006, mainly because of the status bar and the more flexible list format.


Suggestions:


1. Add a column showing the registry key where the entries live. This means some items would show with separate counts on more than one line since they may come from different keys.

2. Add a line context menu with a jump to regedit.


Question:


Since the History Cleaner *.xdat definitions are compiled or encrypted, will you be providing a new way to define MRU items not included in the install? See PT 2006 screenshot below for some examples.


Minor count discrepancies:


PT 2006 and PT 2007 show different counts for these items (see screen shots below):

  • 1. Windows Open/Save dialog (PT 2006 script references three keys (one in HKCU and two in HKUS)).

    2. Windows run MRU (PT 2006 script references just one key).

    3. Windows Explorer Stream MRU (PT 2006 script references just one key).

Minor bug:


I have "Don't show the status indicator" checked in Settings, but it shows anyway.


= = = = = = = = = Screen shots = = = = = = = = = = = = =>> scripts for (*) items in the PT 2006 window were recoded either to fix errors or to add newly identified MRU items.

...

Ow also, what i forgot to tell in my last post.

In the 'Registry Manager' The last 3 tabs arn't filled with the right contents.


They are switched or something.

For what it's worth concerning this beta and Vista RTM:


On initial run of the beta, 1560 items were found using Aggressive mode and removed.


Ran beta again without reboot and this time 1561 items were found. None were removed - rebooted instead.


After reboot, 1561 still found and were again removed.


Finally, ran beta again and still found 1561 items.

PT 2007 1.7.0.356 Registry Compactor


Ran Registry Compactor with no significant problems.


The message box feature is a nice addition ... better than a progress bar IMHO.


Minor bug:


I have "Don't show the status indicator" checked in Settings, but it shows anyway.


Suggestion/request:


Please put a status bar back on the Registry Compactor window (it was there during early PT 2006 Betas). Some reasons:

  • it is possible for more than eleven hives to appear in the window (perhaps when using "Run as ... I forget exactly what I did when that happened ...)


    one may choose to select only some of the hives


    one shouldn't have to count the lines to see how many hives are listed and selected


    ...

GUI problem ...


Ran my first PT 2007 Registry Cleaner scan (normal plus MRU) -- the results window looked something like this:




It picked up parts of other windows dragged across it and perhaps parts from those behind it also.


The Main Window, tool window, and results window could not be "X'ed" away and close from the task bar had no effect. When I clicked minimize on the results window, it appeared with normal grid lines, filled in one line, then disappeared along with the other two PT windows (all that "Xing" you know). And jv16pt.exe dropped from the task manager process list.


Reran the Registry Cleaner several more times (same settings) -- results were normal -- all three window kept their integrity.

BlackDex wrote
Ow also, what i forgot to tell in my last post.

In the 'Registry Manager' The last 3 tabs arn't filled with the right contents.


They are switched or something.

Yes. I make it that all of the tabs show wrong content.

  • Add/Remove tab shows startup tasks


    Filetypes tab shows the Add/Remove items


    New file tab shows Filetypes items


    Shell extensions tab shows New file items


    IE context menu tab shows Shell extentions items


    Open with menu shows IE context menu items


    Search menu tab shows Open with menu items


    Search menu items show on none of the tabs

The starting point needs to shift one position to the right ...


Another consequence of the bug: the Age/Comment system for all the tabs is also off ...

The Startup Manager does not list disabled items.

Registry Finder appears so far to work just as in PT 2006 -- no problems at all ...


Preference saving: I copied all my saved preferences from PT 2006 to PT 2007 ... so far (Registry Cleaner, Registry Finder, File Finder, + ) -- all I have used -- work just as in PT 2006.

File Finder ... minor confusion in the list GUI when removing ...?


The situation:

  • 1. Ran Registry Compactor which compacted 6 hives and created 6 *.bak_jv16pt files.


    2. Used File Finder to locate and attempt removal of the 6 *.bak_jv16pt files.


    3. All 6 failed with an "Unable to access" message in the message box. Expected -- probable cause is a windows bug (or shortcoming :) ) which I suspect leaves open handles on the files. Note: "Unable to access" is not really a reason code ...


    4. After a shutdown/startup, the files could be removed and backed up with File Finder/Remove.

Behavior in the File Finder window:

  • 1. One of the six lines dropped from the list almost immediately -- four others dropped after perhaps 30 seconds -- one stayed on the list for over a minute.


    2. The message box contained only the two directory scan complete messages.


    3. The variable delay is likely due to background backup processing which of course can take a while for a big file (such as the software hive).

Suggestion:


Based on file size or elapsed time, put a progress message in the message box identifying the file being backed up so impatient users (like me :) ) don't think the tool is hung up ...

PT 2007 1.7.0.356 History/MRU Cleaner -- duplication bug ...


Please reference prior post for PT 2007 1.7.0.356 History/MRU Cleaner.


As it turned out, the line for "Microsoft Windows 6" was merely the entries under (picking on Adobe? : ).


After I removed those 6 items, the count for "Microsoft Windows Open/Save dialog 65" dropped to 59. So those 6 items were very likely counted in more than one place.


That might explain part (only part) of the count difference.


Suggestion/request:


Please add a top panel to this tool (like that in Registry Cleaner, Registry Finder, File Finder ...) so detail from a clicked line can be copied.

PT 2007 1.7.0.356 History/MRU Cleaner -- RUN MRUlist entry ...


Please reference prior post for PT 2007 1.7.0.356 History/MRU Cleaner.


The count for the "Microsoft Windows run MRU 4" line includes the MRUlist entry in addition to the actual MRU entries. When you clear this line, the MRUlist entry is also removed (and backed up).


I don't know if this very minor bug has any impact. For other keys with an MRUlist entry that I checked, the MRUlist entry was not removed.

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Dick defragmenter ... zero effect ...


I ran Disk Defragmenter to an apparently successful conclusion:

  • Analyze took one minute

    Image generation took one minute

    Defrag took 7 minutes (when the decrementing progress bar got down to about 45%, it just disappeared -- apparently the defrag was done ...)

    However, absolutely nothing changed (see screenshots)

    I guess this result fits under jv's warning: "running the defrag will not fully defrag the hard disk in most cases"

After Analyze:


...


After Defrag:


...

Dick defragmenter ... a status refresh bug ...?


Yesterday, I ran Disk Defragmenter against a partition -- in line with JV's caveat, it didn't appear to have much (if any -- didn't make notes) effect. It didn't take long, just minutes.


So today, I ran it for the same partition. Indeed, the ending stats showed zero change. Without leaving the tool, I clicked Analyze again for the same partition -- it hung on the "generating image" progress bar for 40 minutes. Bar had no color. The tool did honor the "Close" button.


Then I clicked the DF icon again in the main window and picked another partition. Result was the same generating image hang, so I clicked "Close", exited PT, restarted PT, launched DF, and got the apparently successful result described previously.

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