New jv16 Powertools build 5.0.0.484

jv16

New jv16 PowerTools build is now live.

Change Log since Build 468

1) Bug fix: Running the System Cleaner can make the program to either freeze or automatically close. This only happens in approximately 1 system per 45.

2) Bug fix: The Internet Optimizer scan can freeze and stay on the screen forever. Also a rare issue, under 1 system per 45.

3) Bug fix: The Initial Setup or running of the scans may cause the program to display Not Responding in its window caption.

4) Bug fix: Running the application cache cleaning feature of the System Cleaner can clean PowerDVD 19's unused playlists.

5) Bug fix: The font size inside the circular progress view in the scan progress screens can be set incorrectly, usually resulting a too large font size to be used.

6) Bug fix: The Check For Updates screen may not always display a button to download the new version (if any is available).

7) Bug fix: It's not possible to translate the Restart PowerTools and Close PowerTools buttons in the user interface.

8) Bug fix: If you change the program's language but do not click either Restart PowerTools or Close PowerTools buttons, the program will wait forever. (It should automatically click the Restart PowerTools button as the UI says, but never actually does.)

9) Bug fix: Uninstalling certain software can cause the program to get stuck and the uninstallation does not complete.

10) Bug fix: Software Uninstaller does not always warn you if you are about to uninstall software without unininstalling a relating software. In these cases, there should be an extra confirmation message but it is not always shown.

11) Bug fix: Command line parameters do not work. Even if you start the main executable as jv16pt.exe -uninstaller, it will only start the program normally with its main screen, not the Software Uninstaller.

12) Bug fix: The Trans_Missing.txt file may contain items which do, in fact, exist in the current translation file.

13) Bug fix: Uninstalling software with the Software Uninstaller can terminate the Windows explorer.exe process.

14) Bug fix: Software Uninstaller can list Steam games or apps incorrectly under the Leftover Software category.

15) Bug fix: The scans can start with the text "Starting" not correctly entered on the scan progress screen.

16) Bug fix: Uninstalling Filezilla by Software Uninstaller makes the computer to reboot due to the Software Uninstaller failing to check the Reboot Later radio button.

17) Bug fix: The System Cleaner and Software Uninstaller result lists can display large black boxes visual artefacts when scrolling the lists for the first time.

18) Bug fix: Enabling the automatic error fixing mode from Settings causes the System Cleaner to fail with a blank white screen.

Improvements:

1) Improved the overall performance of the program, from starting the first time and also the scan speed.

2) Installing the software over any older version will now automatically uninstall the old version before installation. The previous version could only detect this and show an error message asking user to manually uninstall the old version before installing the new. Now it's automatic.

3) The Clean And Fix Everything button of System Cleaner is now bigger to make it easier to see.

4) Changed the button caption of the System Cleaner report screen from "Close" to "View Results" to make it clearer that clicking this button will show you the scan results.

5) The My Account data (the license owner name and email address) is now also saved to the Windows registry if an uninstallation key for jv16 PowerTools already exists there. This way, if you delete all of PowerTools files, the My Account data is still remembered and stored in the registry. This data is removed if you choose to uninstall the program. Also, the registry is not used unless you choose to add PowerTools to the Windows Control Panel during the installation.

6) The circular scan progress indicator's size is now better adjusted for the size of the window and the screen.

7) Comes with updated translation files, such as updated Dutch.

8) Improved the format of the Trans_Missing.txt to take into account the name of the translation in question.

9) Improved the accuracy of Steam game and app detection of the Software Uninstaller.

10) Greatly improved Software Uninstaller's ability to detect software installation directories and software main executable paths.

11) Reduced the frequency the program creates System Restore Points. For example, if you install the app and it creates a System Restore Point, there is no need to create one if you five minutes later run the System Cleaner or Software Uninstaller.

12) Improved the overall smoothness of the scan progress screen. Less elements jumping around and resizing during the scan.

13) The default action button of each tool is now highlighted and larger.

14) Added a loading spinner also to the Settings screen. Now the Backups, Settings and My Accounts all start with the same way.

jv16

The original version contained mainly small issues, such as the program not showing "Not Responding" on some systems (this was a cosmetic issue, the program would resume normally if user waited for a moment). There was also a more serious bug of the program freezing or terminating itself automatically. While these issues did not cause any harm to the user, they could make it difficult or impossible for the user to use the program.

Since there were no critical bugs, we took our time and tried to fix a wide array of issues and also apply more performance and accuracy improvements for this build. We also did a lot of testing. We did a total of 15 private builds and tested them, before this new official version. This version went through a total of 12412 testing cycles before release. A testing cycle means one major operation done with the program, such as running the Initial Setup, or running the System Cleaner. Our Automated Quality Control system collects the internal log files from each test cycle and analyses the data to confirm there are no major problems under the hood.

The new version is also faster than the previous one. Data from our testing systems:

Build 484

Initial Setup average runtime: 60 seconds

Internet Optimizer average runtime: 56 seconds

System Cleaner average runtime: 85 seconds

Software Uninstaller average runtime: 36 seconds

Build 468

Initial Setup average runtime: 74 seconds

Internet Optimizer average runtime: 64 seconds

System Cleaner average runtime: 97 seconds

Software Uninstaller average runtime: 39 seconds

Unfortunately, we have had to do changes to the user interface which makes most of the translated versions now needing of updating. We are working on updating the translations that we are providing. Also, we will soon offer our translators also a helper app for easier updating of translations. Similar what we used to offer before with the classic PowerTools.

There are still some issues remaining in our ToDo list, such as adding the IPv6 support to the Internet Optimizer and improving its working on certain user systems (it seems to fail on some systems, we are still investigating).

If you have reported an issue and it was not yet fixed: please have patience, we are working on fixing the issues and making improvements slowly but with high quality. Every single change to the program must pass numerous levels of testing before it gets to the official version.

redseujac

jv16 wrote

There are still some issues remaining in our ToDo list, such as adding the IPv6 support to the Internet Optimizer and improving its working on certain user systems (it seems to fail on some systems, we are still investigating).

Internet Optimizer doesn't even work on my system for IPv4 server. Look at this:

IPv4_issue.jpg

catketch

Installed .468 as soon as it showed up and set it to auto-update and install. .484 is here, but it hasn't updated yet. When should I expect it?

Also - you gotta fix the white text on pale gray background - contrast way too low for easy reading, especially the small-font onscreen reporting of cleaning. Make this a user-set option, please? Running on Win 7 - still!jv16-01-800.png

- catketch

richard_nl

I have version 5.0.0.468 installed and check update says there is a new version 5.0.0.484. I have auto download and install activated but it seems it does not download or install the new version. I waited a few minutes, closed the program and started it again but it does not update automatically.

Update: solved, after a few times starting/stopping the program it automatically updated.

cautery

Version 5.0.0.484 just installed right over the top of 5.0.0.468 without sensing or uninstalling the previous version.... or even offering me the courtesy of doing it myself. That would appear to be contrary to the quoted "improvement" below.

cautery

OK... assuming my last response gets "approved".

Since x.484 installed over the previous 5.0 build without uninstalling or warning, I restarted, uninstalled jv16 and restarted again.

NOW, I am testing the software uninstall by removing Adobe ARM.... the only thing on my system I wish to remove at the moment.

So, I get the warning that NO BACKUP (Default settings) will be created, so I go create a System Restore Point...

THEN, I went in to look to MAKE SURE the MANUAL system restore point was created.... There should be a NUMBER of System Restores there...

There was not... ALL of my System Restore points are GONE.... The ones I created BEFORE installing z.468, ALL of the ones I created to protect me WHILE x.468 was installed, and every other one EXCEPT the auto-created one on x.484 install and the one I just created for Test-ARM.

NOT cool!

So... I went to check my jv16 BACKUPS....

ALL of my jv16 Backups are GONE.... Apparently, the UNINSTALL of x.484, after it installed without prior version warning, caused it to delete ALL of my previous jv16 backups... Also NOT cool. AT LEAST, the program should warn that all previous backups will be deleted, and IDEALLY, it should offer the option of KEEPING them.

Will post back after I complete the current test.

cautery

OK.... I actually forget where I was exactly, but here are my notes from testing:

Conditions:

a) Set ALL Browser options in the "C:\Program Files (x86)\jv16 PowerTools\SettingsSystemCleaner.dat" file to FALSE by manually editing the file in Notepad on the Desktop and copying it back to the directory.... EXCEPT for the SINGLE one I was testing and ONLY for Firefox.

b) EACH test was run on a FRESH COLD REBOOT of the machine before and after .dat file edits.

c) A lot of other picky stuff I do to make sure nothing is different between tests. ALL tests were run under as close to the same conditions as possible.

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

Testing:

Cookies: Checked Firefox Cookies... approximate total close to 900-1000. On first run, jv16PT said there were 945 cookies to clean. Ran System Clean. Closed PT and cold rebooted. Opened PT and ran it again. It said NO COOKIES found to clean. Opened FF and checked cookies.... Not a SINGLE number under the cookies per domain had changed in the first 10 pages... not one. I got bored checking.

By the way.... No other default setting from install was changed EXCEPT the Browser settings. And in all of the testing, it never once found or cleaned the Recycle Bin.

Cache: Edited .dat to only have FF True... Cold Reboot. Ran SysClean.... Found NOTHING Browser related, though there is PLENTY of cached stuff... see pic.

History: This is the one I paid the closest attention to, because I knew for SURE it was going to break my bookmarks.... again. I saved a .json backup as a second backup to the bookmarkbackups directory that I ALSO copied off-machine.

# Set .dat to Firefox TRUE ONLY for "History".

# Checked FF to verify bookmarks ALL still there AND populated with information.

#Cold Reboot

#Opened PT and verified settings from within program.

#Ran test.... It says it found 6757 items to clean in the Browser "HISTORY".

#Clicked on "Fix" and let it finish

#Cold Reboot

#Opened FireFox and checked Bookmarks.... ALMOST ALL OF THEM WERE EMPTY. Headings were there with generic icon, but NO information in them.

#Went to FF Options and checked Cookies and Site Data.... It appears that the actual browsing history and cache were entirely untouched. Opened Show All Bookmarks from Menu Bar.... ALL browsing history is STILL there. ALMOST ALL Bookmarks are empty. See pics.

#It DID however blow away some/all of my active logins... I had to RE-login here, and the password data did NOT auto-populate...

#BUT it did NOT blow away the login credentials themselves.

Another "By the way..." The File System scanner does NOT see the Temp folder in AppData\Local at all. It DOES see Windows\Temp folder Verified there was "stuff" in both folders.

Below... see the screen grabs I made with associated comments BELOW each image:

This is a shot of my "Last 7 Days" of browsing history. It is untouched, as is ALL of my browsing history. from today to last May!

Here is a pic of SOME of my bookmarks... Note that ONLY the ones with a last visit date survived.

Another folder of Bookmarks gone, save the ONE with a recent visit date.

Firefox "Cookies and Site Data" area from Options... Note that there is still 341 MEGABYTES of storage consumed.... AFTER CLEANING the cache, cookies, AND history.

"Manage Data" button clicked.... Look at all those cookies.... And look at the slider.... hundreds of domains, most with cookies. The Storage amount doesn't match at all to the 341MB, but I went and looked in the file system.... There is in fact way more cache storage consumed than reflected in the image. And there should NOT be ANY, as no pages were loaded after running these tests.

Bookmarks .json file used to restore Bookmarks... It restores the information, but the icons are gone until I go visit them all again.

Second folder from above restored...

I got them all back... again. But this should NOT be happening.

Bookmarks are NOT History!!!

Cache Untouched

ACTUAL History BARELY touched at all,
and NOT AT ALL RE: Browsing History.

It's NOT doing what it says it is doing. It's doing crap that it shouldn't be doing...

And a FINAL "By the way...

Throughout ALL of this testing, the app keeps finding the SAME 65 registry errors (mostly firewall rules) and one lonely remaining "incorrect metadata" entry... They pop up over and over, and I selected them 10 times in a row, with a reboot between each... They are STILL there.

Y'all broke my most used tool. EVERY client I have, I make buy a license. But I can't recommend it anymore until y'all fix this mess.

Hell, I'm not comfortable using it on my own machine right now.... I just have NO CONFIDENCE that it isn't going to hose my system up beyond repair on one of these runs... And I don't have time to be a Beta tester. And right now, I feel like I am an unpaid, off-site ALPHA Tester.

I am sooooo disappointed in this version thusfar.

Y'all need to open an FTP server where license holding folks can go back and get a version in the 4-series that actually works.

This "CLEAN LOOK" version may be alright for newbs and folks that just want to hit a button, but folks like me.... We want the tools.... together, great, but also individually and with advanced config availability.... for sure without needing to manually edit settings files in Notepad.

AND WE WANT THEM TO WORK PROPERLY. I've been using one version or another of jv16 Power Tools for, hell I think 15, maybe even 20 years... This is the WORST release version I have EVER seen.

Not sure what y'all call "critical issues" or "critical bugs", but by my definition, y'all got plenty of 'em!

Someone tell me where to find the version 4x archives!

thomas-k

My Account-page

Is it possible to minimize the buttons on this page?

Buttons.png

thomas-k

@Jouni, can you please read my Bug-reports of jv16 PowerTools 5.0.0.468? I've found and listed a lot of issues.

New jv16 Powertools build 5.0.0.468

I've sent you also a debug-file per pm last week.

redseujac

catketch wrote

Installed .468 as soon as it showed up and set it to auto-update and install. .484 is here, but it hasn't updated yet. When should I expect it?

Also - you gotta fix the white text on pale gray background - contrast way too low for easy reading, especially the small-font onscreen reporting of cleaning. Make this a user-set option, please? Running on Win 7 - still!jv16-01-800.png

- catketch

Normally there's no pale gray background.

jv16PT484.jpg

thomas-k

The following "One time message" aren't been showned on some systems.

Windows 10 Professional Build 1809 x64

Windows 10 Professional Build 1903 x64

Unbenannt.png

There is a "Software Uninstaller" problem. In a special case, the following "Warning" message is called 3 times.

Warning.png

thomas-k

Following strings are still missing in the language files (English.txt):

kYeAEvAUvkME=TT.MM.JJJJ CHZahRL6CHZL=MM.TT.JJJJ DVNgV4gv4DhV=Error: This installed software does not have a registry uninstall key. pUZFp4FV4pWZ=Error: This item does not have a file path. LmwTC2TA2Lnm=Error: This item does not have a registry key. EArYr8Ya8EUr=Cannot open registry key: {1} The key does not exist! VKMaU16vVKM6=Cannot open file for viewing: {1} The file does not exist! wSRvqGRvGwkq=Cannot open directory for viewing: {1} The directory does not exist! anQKQDKTDabn=Notice YuVAnD4iYuV4=Download ... XDoPCfPSfXoD=Are you sure you wish to DELETE backup "{1}"? L8M5o3vG3L5o=You are currently using jv16 PowerTools in the aggressive scan mode. Please notice this is not recommended. We recommend you to go to the Settings window and enable all the safety settings. An aggressive scan means it will find more errors to fix and junk files to clean, but it also means there is a higher risk of something going wrong afterwards. This scan mode is included to the program only for testing purposes and only for users who know how to restore their system in case something happens. Do you know what you are doing and wish to continue? a1whvthqta11=Windows Store apps orSnqAnhAoBr=This software has now been added to the Ignore List and will not be listed again in the future. You can edit the Ignore List from the Settings window. MkwWPCWfCMck=You are currently using the latest version of jv16 PowerTools.
H2mMbWMJWHpb=no issues found

And the text "The list is empty" from the result list. (Not listed in Trans_Missing.txt)

Empty_List.png

Update:

If you get this "empty" page, you cannot return to home! You have to close the whole tool.

thomas-k

System Cleaner

There is a big time difference between the start window and the repair window. The start window is shown much longer.

Start.png

jv16

catketch wrote

Installed .468 as soon as it showed up and set it to auto-update and install. .484 is here, but it hasn't updated yet. When should I expect it?

There are few steps in the automatic update process, all of which add some delay to avoid traffic spikes to our server but normally the automatic updates should be delivered within 24 hours.

catketch wrote

Also - you gotta fix the white text on pale gray background - contrast way too low for easy reading, especially the small-font onscreen reporting of cleaning. Make this a user-set option, please? Running on Win 7 - still!jv16-01-800.png

Noted and fixed. This fix will be in the next released version. Note: This issue only occurs if you are using a non standard Windows theme (e.g. the "classic theme" or the "high contrast" theme), it does not occur when using the normal Windows theme. That is why we had not noticed this.

jv16

cautery wrote

Version 5.0.0.484 just installed right over the top of 5.0.0.468 without sensing or uninstalling the previous version.... or even offering me the courtesy of doing it myself. That would appear to be contrary to the quoted "improvement" below.

2) Installing the software over any older version will now automatically uninstall the old version before installation. The previous version could only detect this and show an error message asking user to manually uninstall the old version before installing the new. Now it's automatic.

The mentioned quotation is referring to installing the new jv16 PowerTools over the classic versions of jv16 PowerTools, i.e. very old versions. All the new jv16 PowerTools versions can be installed over the old versions and no uninstallation is required nor recommended.

jv16

cautery wrote

OK... assuming my last response gets "approved".

Since x.484 installed over the previous 5.0 build without uninstalling or warning, I restarted, uninstalled jv16 and restarted again.

NOW, I am testing the software uninstall by removing Adobe ARM.... the only thing on my system I wish to remove at the moment.

So, I get the warning that NO BACKUP (Default settings) will be created, so I go create a System Restore Point...

THEN, I went in to look to MAKE SURE the MANUAL system restore point was created.... There should be a NUMBER of System Restores there...

There was not... ALL of my System Restore points are GONE.... The ones I created BEFORE installing z.468, ALL of the ones I created to protect me WHILE x.468 was installed, and every other one EXCEPT the auto-created one on x.484 install and the one I just created for Test-ARM.

NOT cool!

jv16 PowerTools does not delete any System Restore Points. You should ensure from your Windows settings that your System Restore is enabled and there is enough disk space allocated for it.

cautery wrote

So... I went to check my jv16 BACKUPS....

ALL of my jv16 Backups are GONE.... Apparently, the UNINSTALL of x.484, after it installed without prior version warning, caused it to delete ALL of my previous jv16 backups... Also NOT cool. AT LEAST, the program should warn that all previous backups will be deleted, and IDEALLY, it should offer the option of KEEPING them.

This is by design. Uninstalling the program will also remove its backups. But, there is no uninstallation required nor recommended when updating. (Uninstallation was only required when upgrading from the very old PowerTools version, but it is not required nor recommended when updating from any later versions.)

jv16

thomas-k wrote

@Jouni, can you please read my Bug-reports of jv16 PowerTools 5.0.0.468? I've found and listed a lot of issues.

New jv16 Powertools build 5.0.0.468

I've sent you also a debug-file per pm last week.

Will do, thank you!

jv16

thomas-k wrote

The following "One time message" aren't been showned on some systems.

This is by design. The "about number of found errors" message is shown only if there is another system cleaning or registry cleaning product detected in the user's computer. In this case, we show this message to advice user in case user is wishing to do comparison of different products.

The "software uninstallation" message is shown if user is attempting to uninstall one software but not another, when these two software are relating to each other.

jv16

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