jv16 PowerTools 2011 Beta4 released

jv16

Here is the Beta4 version of jv16 PowerTools 2011:

http://www.macecraft.com/downloads/betas/jv16PT2011_beta4c.exe (latest build: 2.0.0.996)

Please read the following before downloading

Remember that this is beta level software. This means that this version has been made available only for testing purposes. This version contains bugs and can potentially damage your computer and mind.

As always, we will give out free licenses to the best beta testers. If a beta tester already owns a license we can also issue VIP and Platinum VIP packages for free, or other such prizes.

However, you are not entitled for any kind of free license by simply downloading these beta versions. Free licenses are given out only to beta testers who give us valuable feedback, such as bug reports or improvement ideas. We will publish the list of users who won a free license after the final version of the product has been released, not before. All free licenses are decided on case-by-case, sometimes it takes just one message with two lines to earn a license (e.g. if you found a really good bug that no one else reported), sometimes it takes much more.

How to send your feedback

* Please use the Post Reply button of this thread for all feedback.

* If you are reporting a bug, please give as much information as possible in regards what steps are required to reproduce the problem. Also let us know what version of Windows you are using. There is no need to post the hardware configuration of your computer, unless asked.

* If you wish to report that you have tested all the features of the program, please include to your post the Debug Report as generated by the Program Debug Tool (under the Debug menu of the Main Window).

* You can send attachments, including screenshots, to the thread from the Post Reply > Upload attachment tab (below the main text area).

* If you are reporting a bug that is not obvious, please include the Debug Log to your report. Note: the Debug Log contains information about your computer, if you do not wish other users to see all this information, you can use the Private Messages feature to send the Debug Log to us.

* If you are reporting a False Positive by the Registry Cleaner (or by "Clean and fix my computer" tool), there is no need to send a Debug Log, this version does not have debug log enabled for the Registry Cleaner to show its true performance. To report a False Positive, simply send a Screenshot of the False Positive, and say what settings of the Registry Cleaner you are using.

* You can also send you general feedback, how you feel the program works for you or if there is something you don't understand, or if some feature doesn't work the way you expected. Feedback like this is sometimes even more valuable than bug reports.

How to create a Debug Log

* If the problem doesn't cause PowerTools to crash: Go to the Main Window, open Debug menu and select "Save Debug Log". The Debug Log is saved to your Desktop.

* If the problem causes PowerTools to crash: Go to the installation directory of the program (c:\program files\jv16 PowerTools 2011 BetaX\ by default) and create an empty file called "DebugMode.dat" there. Then start the program and re-create the problem. The Debug Log is being automatically saved to your desktop as you use the program.

Release Notes:

* The new Software Uninstaller's Uninstall button doesn't actually uninstall anything. This is to allow beta testers to better test the feature to see what would be removed.

* The Action History feature doesn't yet allow user to see whether a backup exists of a given action.

* The user interface of the Software Uninstaller is not yet final, for debug purposes it shows a lot of information in its main list. This makes the list a bit difficult to read, this will be addressed before the final version.

* Remove on reboot feature doesn't yet have its own icon in File Tool, but it's available under the More Functions menu.

* Do not start to translate this version to your language yet, there will still be major changes.

* Do not install this version over any existing version of PowerTools.

Change Log (Changes since Beta3)

Bug fix: Unit Test Tool leaves a registry key behind (HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*PT_UNIT_TEST) Bug fix: Startup Manager produces red abort messages on files that exist to the Debug Log. Bug fix: File Tool can sometimes be in some kind of GUI refresh loop even after a small list is fully visible. Bug fix: File Tools -> File Recovery -> Only one File Recovery user action can be done in the same File Recovery session. Bug fix: In Software Uninstaller: Click "Uninstall", Two different message windows appear and keep running a progress bar Bug fix: Unit Test Tool can show duplicate error messages. Bug fix: Unit Test Tool can report error TestTBackupManager : 22 SubID = 1 Par1 Bug fix: Backup Tool command line parameter brings up the main window, not the Backup Tool Bug fix: Startup Manager can show a filename reference as the command line in the top panel. Bug fix: Startup Manager can miss a task (seen by msconfig) when the command line executable does not have a file extension in the string. Bug fix: Column width changes in the different Registry Manager list windows are not remembered. Bug fix: The delete button Directory Tool actually moves the data to the recycle bin. Bug fix: Custom Restore: very often, maybe every time, the Registry entries window comes up empty until you click Files, then click Registry entries. Bug fix: Move to recycle bin in Directory Tool sometimes fails. Bug fix: Clicking the list of the History Cleaner causes the screen to flicker. Bug fix: Running the History Cleaner many times in a row can cause it to show duplicate data. Bug fix: If you in BackupTool resize the columns and then click a column caption to sort the list, the columns revert to their former size. Bug fix: Start Menu Tool can fail to detect some empty folders. Bug fix: Enabling an item with the Startup Manager can clear the entire \Run run key! Note: This nasty bug does not exist in PowerTools 2010. Bug fix: The button Delete translations in the Maintenance Tool cannot be used twice (Click Delete translations, Click NO, again Delete translations and nothing happens). Bug fix: Even though it is default settings, exclamation mark shows over the Options tab in the Directory Finder. Bug fix: In File Finder the Exclamation mark don´t show over the Options tab by checking any options. Improvement: Startup Manager now loads up its list faster. Improvement: Improved the way File Recovery tool reports its progress. Improvement: Added "Show backup" feature to the Right-Click menu of the Action History tool. Improvement: Reduced the amount of flickering of the list component. Improvement: Clean and Fix My Computer now also runs the Start Menu Tool. Improvement: When the program is started for the first time it automatically creates a backup of a critical parts of the registry, these backups can be restored from the Tools menu of the Backup Tool. Starting with this build, a backup of all the \Run keys is also automatically created.

Here is the Change Log (compared to the original Beta4 release):

Bug fix: Running the Start Menu Fixer many times in a row causes duplicate items to show up in the list of results. Bug fix: "Never Show Again" does not work on empty folders in Clean and Fix. It does not store these in SuperEasyFixIgnoreList.dat; thereby, they are always detected. Bug fix: Using Enable and Disable many times in a row in Startup Manager produces "Internal error ERM-1" Bug fix: Backups created during Initial Setup only backup the 32 bit view of the registry. Bug fix: In Startup Manager, if a program is a pure 64-bit program loading from C:\Program Files, jv16 does not show that the program is running. Bug fix: Items disabled with the Startup Manager do not always show up in Msconfig. Bug fix: In File Tool and Directory Tool, after the build-up of the list was finished, the screen shows flickering once every 5 seconds. Bug fix: Clean and Fix My Computer "All done!" count can be wrong when removing empty directories. Bug fix: Backup Tool does not remember resizing of columns done by double clicking. It does remember resizing done by dragging. Some other tool lists are also affected. Improvement: Improved the safety of Start Menu Fixer in regard of detecting empty folders. Improvement: Backups created during the Initial Setup now also backup HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Known Issues (No need to report)

* The new Software Uninstaller's Uninstall button doesn't actually uninstall anything. This is to allow beta testers to better test the feature to see what would be removed.

What's New (compared to PowerTools 2010)

1. Tag System - allows you to tag individual lines.

2. The Software Uninstaller has been fully rewritten. Both its ability to find software from the computer, and its ability to uninstall software have been greatly improved.

3. User Action History feature - allows you to see exactly what you have removed with the program in the past.

4. Clean and Fix My Computer now also scans for broken shortcuts and for unneeded empty folders from the Start Menu and Desktop.

5. The Registry Cleaner now shows detailed information specific pieces of registry data was listed as error.

6. The Startup Manager is now fully compatible with msconfig. This means that you can use jv16 PowerTools to enable items disabled with msconfig, and vice versa.

7. Remove on reboot - feature in the File Tool allows you to delete protected or locked files during the next system startup (assuming the protection is not yet active).

8. Settings window now uses scroll bars in order to display all the settings with smaller window sizes.

9. Accuracy and safety improvements to the Registry Cleaner engine.

And remember, please send all your feedback regarding this beta version to this thread! Thank you!

jv16

The main purpose of this release is to verify that the issues of the Startup Manager and the File Tool have been now fixed. I have worked with Tullik and I'm 99% sure the flickering problems of the File Tool are now fixed, but I want to make sure.

tullik

Prior Beta issues I reported for x64 Windows 7

Beta 4 findings for these issues will be posted right here via edit.

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Beta 1 issues probably resolved in Beta 2

A list of these issues can be viewed here: http://www.macecraft.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=26914#p26914

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Prior Beta issues probably resolved in Beta 3

A list of these issues can be viewed here: http://www.macecraft.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=27020#p27020

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Prior Beta issues probably resolved in Beta 4 (v.2.0.0.993, v.2.0.0.995, and v.2.0.0.996)

In Directory Finder (for example), the path in the list's top panel is active for CTRL-point-click invocation of Explorer. However, 1. The path is not green and 2. The Explorer window comes up behind the list window. Still happens in v.2.0.0.992. 1. By design. 2. Reason unknown.

File Recovery Undelete does not work a second time from the run's results list. Fixed in v.2.0.0.992.

When disabling a task, Startup Manager can create a different HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\MSConfig\startupreg\... key than would msconfig. Closed; per trial-and-error, msconfig doesn't care.

Startup Manager: can miss a task (seen by msconfig) when the command line executable does not have a file extension in the string. Still happens in v.2.0.0.990. Fixed in v.2.0.0.292.

Startup Manager: can show a filename reference as the command line in the top panel. Still happens in v.2.0.0.992. Fixed in v.2.0.0.993.

Backup Tool command line parameter brings up the main window, not the Backup Tool. Still happens in v.2.0.0.992. Fixed in v.2.0.0.993.

Column width changes in the different Registry Manager list windows are not remembered. Still happens in v.2.0.0.992. Fixed in v.2.0.0.993 (sort of: it remembers drag resizing, but not double click resizing).

Custom Restore: very often, maybe every time, the Registry entries window comes up empty until you click Files, then click Registry entries. Still happens in v.2.0.0.992. Fixed in v.2.0.0.993.

Startup Manager: the entire HKLM Wow6432Node Run key disappeared when I clicked Enable for a selected disabled task. Still happens in v.2.0.0.992. Fixed in v.2.0.0.993.

Startup Manager: the entire content of the HKCU Run key disappeared when I clicked Enable for a selected HKCU disabled task. Still happens in v.2.0.0.992. Fixed in v.2.0.0.993.

Directory Finder does not delete some empty folders after repeated attempts. Explorer deletes them without incident. Still happens in v.2.0.0.992. Fixed in v.2.0.0.993.

Initial Setup does not back up HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Fixed in v.2.0.0.995.

Initial Setup does not back up HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Fixed in v.2.0.0.995.

Startup Manager: when disabling a task, the ...\MSConfig\startupreg\... key created is missing a necessary entry name and value. Still happens in v.2.0.0.993. Fixed in v.2.0.0.995.

Startup Manager: Enable for a selected disabled task gets an "Internal error ERM-1" pop-up. Only happens if Startup Manager did the disable. Does not happen if disable was done by msconfig before starting the Startup Manager. Fixed in v.2.0.0.995.

C&FMC "All done!" count can be wrong when removing empty directories. Fixed in v.2.0.0.995.

Backup Tool list: you lose your column width changes when you sort a column. This also happens sometimes in the lists of some other tools. Still happens in v.2.0.0.992. May be fixed in Beta 4. Still happens in v.2.0.0.993 for columns resized by double clicking). Fixed in v.2.0.0.995.

Backup Tool does not remember resizing of columns done by double clicking. It does remember resizing done by dragging. Some other tool lists are also affected. Almost fixed in v.2.0.0.995.

Action History: "Show backup" seems always to load the Registry data window first, then the Files window, even when the action item clearly is about files. By design.

Software Uninstaller got several access violations when I did this: 1. I selected Java(TM) Platform SE 6 U18 and clicked Uninstall. ... One AV gone in v.2.0.0.989. Still happens in v.2.0.0.990. Closed in v.2.0.0.995. Remaining bug to be reported separately.

Startup Manager "Open in RegEdit" does not work for HKLM Run items. It works for HKLM Wow6432Node Run and HKCU Run items. Still happens in v.2.0.0.995. Fixed in v.2.0.0.996.

Action History: "Show backup" on a time stamp grouping line doesn't do anything. Fixed in v.2.0.0.996.

Action History: while it is loading its list, and also if the list is complete, when you minimize then restore the window with task bar clicks, the load process starts over from the beginning. It doesn't do that if the upper right corner buttons are used to do the minimize/restore. The bug also occurs wih other tools. Fixed in v.2.0.0.996.

Software Uninstaller lists Math Input Panel Accessory which is not a product, per se. Fixed in v.2.0.0.996.

Software Uninstaller Uninstall window can list 100s of registry items and files irrelevant for Software=Math Input Panel Accessory. Fixed in v.2.0.0.996 (by excluding the software item).

Backup Tool: double click column resizing often does not work if the first column (Description) is quite narrow. Fixed in v.2.0.0.996.

Software Uninstaller main list: double click column resizing does not work very well. Better in v.2.0.0.996? Closed, to be restated more specifically.

Action History: the action code "TempFileRemoval" is on C&FMC lines showing empty directories detected via the Start Menu Tool functionality. Fixed in v.2.0.0.996.

Save list as ... in the Uninstall Software Files window can save the registry data instead. Fixed in v.2.0.0.996.

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Prior Beta issues pending tests in next build.

Startup Manager lines have duplicate generated Tag System hash identifiers when the Description column is not unique. This mainly occurs when the Description is "N/A." The next two items are symptoms of this bug. To be fixed in the next build.

In Startup Manager, Tag Editor places unwanted tags on lines not selected. Still happens in v.2.0.0.996. To be fixed in the next build.

Startup Manager: an "Old" tag is placed on all 21 lines of a list. However, "TagSystem.dat" only has 17 line tags after the operation. Still happens in v.2.0.0.996. To be fixed in the next build.

A C&FMC warning pop-up is not appropriate since it only mentions registry data. To be fixed in the next build.

Software Uninstaller can show more than one line for the same executable, and the lines may have different installation dates. Still happens in v.2.0.0.996. To be fixed in the next build.

Registry Manager Add/Remove menu list has several apparent duplicate lines. They are not "real" duplicates since each one comes from a different key. Note: this bug confuses the Tag System since tagging just one of these lines also places the tag in its apparent duplicates. To be fixed in the next build.

Startup Manager: for some Winsock DLLs, a binary path in the registry needs to be converted to text, or not listed. To be fixed in the next build.

The top pane of Clean and Fix My Computer no longer shows the Description column's content. To be fixed in the next build.

Software Uninstaller gets an access violation every time after "Yes" to the backup dialog when you click "Delete" in the Uninstall Software, Advanced Settings window. Still happens in v.2.0.0.996. To be fixed in the next build.

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Issues still present in Beta 4 (v.2.0.0.996).

Startup Manager line tags do not show when you start the tool again. Still happens in v.2.0.0.996. Work underway to fix.

When run from the Automation Tool, an aborted System Cleaner task gets an incorrect message. Still happens in v.2.0.0.996. Awaiting developer response.

Backup Tool: the menu bar icons show in the list area while the list loads. Happens every time during initial load. Low priority; to be fixed in a future build.

System Cleaner Flush and Empty gets an internal error message loop after "No" to a "Can be dangerous" message. By design in Debug Mode for safety. (Therefore should not loop in a future beta when Debug Mode is not always active?).

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New issues noticed in Beta 4 (v.2.0.0.996).

Software Uninstaller & Backup Tool (and others): if a column starts out much too wide for the text, double click resizing narrows the column correctly for an instant, then it jumps back to the too wide width. Awaiting developer response.

tullik

jv16 wrote
Improvement: When the program is started for the first time it automatically creates a backup of a critical parts of the registry, these backups can be restored from the Tools menu of the Backup Tool. Starting with this build, a backup of all the \Run keys is also automatically created.

__SystemRecovery3__ backs up this:

But not this:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

It should back up both.

Edit: It should also back up HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.

leonardo

XP-SP3 with jv16PT-2011-beta4

Run the 'Start Menu Tool'

-> execute 'Fix' with backup for the found Broken Shortcuts,

-> 'Fix' execution does not fix/remove anything (o items),

-> 'Close Start Menu Tool',

-> 're-Open Start Menu Tool',

-> now a number of double lines are shown.

-> Stop/Start of jv16PT resets jv16PT beta4.

See attached .zip file for the 3 screenshots

siliconman01

Windows 7 x64 and x86 Professional. Unit Test Tool get the error shown in the pic below. On closing, the Unit Test Tool crashes. Debugs attached from Windows 7 x64 Professional.

leonardo

XP-SP3 with jv16PT-2011-beta4:

Items disabled using 'Startup Manager' do not show in the 'msconfig' displayed list, while 'msconfig' shows one(1) item not shown by 'Startup Manager'

XP_Beta4_StartUpMgr_disabled item no show msconfig.jpg

tullik

Version 2.0.0.993 with x64 Windows 7

Backup Tool does not remember resizing of the Description and Type columns. The other columns are OK.

Edit: additional testing shows the bug is really this:

Backup Tool does not remember resizing of columns done by double clicking. It does remember resizing done by dragging. Some other tool lists are also affected.

tullik

Leonardo wrote
XP-SP3 with jv16PT-2011-beta4:

Item disabled using 'Startup Manager' does not show in 'msconfig' displayed list, while 'msconfig' shows an item not shown by 'Startup Manager'

...

It's probably this bug:

Startup Manager: when disabling a task, the ...\MSConfig\startupreg\... key created is missing a necessary entry name and value. Still happens in v.2.0.0.992. Awaiting developer response.

Details are here: http://www.macecraft.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4296&p=27126&hilit=startupreg#p27126

siliconman01

I am pleased to see the Startup Manager loads much, much quicker on both Win 7 x64 and x86. There is, however, a bug in the Startup Manager on 64-bit systems. The Startup Manager finds the RUN keys correctly. But if the started program is a pure 64-bit program loading from C:\Program Files, jv16 does not show that the program is running. See the pic enclosed.

leonardo

tullik wrote
Leonardo wroteXP-SP3 with jv16PT-2011-beta4:

Item disabled using 'Startup Manager' does not show in 'msconfig' displayed list, while 'msconfig' shows an item not shown by 'Startup Manager'

...

It's probably this bug: http://www.macecraft.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4296&p=27126&hilit=startupreg#p27126

Thank you tullik, I agree!

siliconman01

I can see a significant problem brewing with the new logic in Clean and Fix as far as deleting empty folders. It centers around deleting empty folders that are used for backups, etc., by various programs. If these folders are cleaned out via such programs as CCleaner, jv16 is going to highlight them as empty and want to delete them. So, let's assume a user lets jv16 delete them. Then the next time jv16 registry cleaner is run, it finds a settings registry key for Program X's backup destination folder...which now no longer exists. So jv16 now wants to remove the registry key pointing to the backup folder for Program X. The normal user reaction will be "Okay...delete the key".

Now the next time the user runs Program X, if Program X is suppose to create a backup, its setting in the registy is gone that points to the location of backup folder. Viola...the program aborts because it cannot find the backup folder. This just happened to me. :

I suspect the problem is going to occur with Cache folders as well.

Bug: - "Never Show Again" does not work on empty folders in Clean and Fix. It does not store these in SuperEasyFixIgnoreList.dat; thereby, they are always detected.

leonardo

XP-SP3 with jv16PT-2011-Beta4:

'Unit Testing Tool' runs into application error "List index out of bounds (0)", after several "Internal Errors: BT-RK".

See the attached .zip file for Bugreport.txt + Debug log.html.[

XP_Beta4_Unit Test Tool_Internal error.jpg

tullik

siliconman01 wrote
I can see a significant problem brewing with the new logic in Clean and Fix as far as deleting empty folders. . . .

There can be other issues.

For example, I have certain sets of test data and some directory structure templates where I want the broken shortcuts and empty directories to be retained. I used these Ignore words to suppress the listing of those things:

\Users\Owner\Documents

\Users\Owner\Desktop

x-skip

That worked, so the example is no longer an issue for me.

leonardo

XP-SP3 with jv16PT-2011-Beta4:

A search with 'File Finder' produced a small list of only 20 items.

During the build-up of this short list some intense flickering occured for less than a second.

After the build-up of the list was finished, the screen keeps showing 'flickering' once every 5 seconds, up till the closing of 'File Finder''. (I closed after ~12 minutes!)

It seems that, after build up of the list, a task is still running with a frequency of once every 5 seconds.

EDITED:

I ran a search with 'File Finder' to produce a large list of 904 entries.

After the build-up of this large list was finished, surprisingly the screen did not show 'flickering' once every 5 seconds, as it does for the small 20 item list.

I tested this a few times with the same results!

The same is true for 'Directory Finder'!

jv16

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tullik

C&FMC "All done!" count can be wrong when removing empty directories.

For example, seven were removed but the count showed only five:

: All done! 0 registry errors were fixed, 0 B of data was removed (0 files, 5 directories, 0 registry entries and 0 registry keys).


Dirs=7


1=C:\Users\Owner\Start Menu\Programs\jv16 PowerTools 2010\
2=C:\Users\Owner\Tracing\WPPMedia\
3=C:\Users\Owner\Videos\Miro\Incomplete Downloads\
4=C:\Users\Public\Documents\microsoft\IdentityCRL\
5=C:\Users\Public\Documents\microsoft\IdentityCRL\Production\
6=C:\Users\Public\Documents\microsoft\

7=C:\Users\Public\Recorded TV\TempRec\TempSBE\

jv16

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tullik

Version 2.0.0.993 with x64 Windows 7

Startup Manager "Open in RegEdit" does not work for HKLM Run items.

tullik

Version 2.0.0.993 with x64 Windows 7

Startup Manager: the entire HKLM Wow6432Node Run key disappeared when I clicked Enable for a selected disabled task. Still happens in v.2.0.0.992. Fixed in v.2.0.0.993.

Enable no longer wipes out the entire HKLM Wow6432Node Run key. Now it gets an "Internal error ERM-1" pop-up.

Startup Manager: the entire content of the HKCU Run key disappeared when I clicked Enable for a selected HKCU disabled task. Still happens in v.2.0.0.992. Fixed in v.2.0.0.993.

This Enable gets the same pop-up.

In both cases, only the selected task is removed from the applicable RUN key. However, msconfig does not know what the Startup Manager did.

That is due to this bug:

Startup Manager: when disabling a task, the ...\MSConfig\startupreg\... key created is missing a necessary entry name and value. Still happens in v.2.0.0.993. Awaiting developer response.

Details are here: http://www.macecraft.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4296&p=27126&hilit=startupreg#p27126