CNET 'Reviews' Process Lasso

On Dec 22nd 2009, one of CNET's download.com 'editors' reviewed Process Lasso v3.70.6. There was some good and bad in the review, but the end conclusion was great.

Unfortunately, the graph legend apparently was not shown on to the reviewer due to the initial window size. They must have been using a small laptop, netbook, or virtual machine. Sure, they could have resized the graph or main window to have the legend shown, but they didn't know that. This caused them to be confused about what the graph metrics meant.

They also neglected to ever mention ProBalance, arguably the primary function of Process Lasso. They did, however, highly praise the many of the other features, such as Default Priorities, Default CPU Affinities, High Performance Power Scheme processes, and Gaming processes.

The reviewer correctly asserted the software was too technical, and he or she had to refer to the documentation multiple times. This is something I'm working on improving.

They concluded that the product really did make a difference in their PC's performance, and ended up recommending the software.

Overall, good news. Their rating was 3.5 stars. Average user rating is currently 4 stars. I honestly think it deserved at least 4 stars, especially since they rated a much older version with 4 stars (see article update below). It all depends on which reviewer checks your software I guess. For this reviewer, I think it being so technical threw them off. Still, I can't complain that they concluded it did make a difference - unlike so much other optimization software.

They concluded that the product really did make a difference in their PC's performance, and ended up recommending the software.

UPDATE: I noticed that Download.com still lists the old Process Supervisor (the original name of Process Lasso). Ironically, they reviewed it and gave it 4 stars years ago, lol. The original reviewer focused on its out-of-control process restraint (now ProBalance). Its only gotten better since then. I think I will request a re-review by v4, as its not good that the primary feature wasn't even mentioned in CNet's newer review.

[ Link to Process Lasso x32 on CNET ]

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The hazards of reading user reviews

Every once in a while, I go to check user reviews on popular download sites. I want to see how users are reacting to my software. In some ways, this is a necessary evil. I need feedback. For instance, I know my GUI is apparently very ugly, and that's my top priority now - as you can see in v3.80 (and more changes planned for v3.90).

Fortunately, 95% of Process Lasso reviews are VERY POSITIVE. That's great, and wonderfully inspiring.

However, checking user reviews isn't without its hazards. I take the few negative comments personally, and I've created enemies, somehow. I suspect its because I've negatively reviewed software in the past, under my own name. Who knows though.. For whatever reason, I do have people who come and negatively review every almost every release of my software. They either hate me, hate life, or like being trolls -- or maybe they just are convinced of their position and just aggressively asserting their belief. I don't know. UPDATE: I am happy to report that one of these people changed his tune, giving me renewed faith in humanity ;)

The other problem is negative reviews based on misunderstandings. I can't tell you how often I read a review where the person says something along the lines of "I didn't download this, but you can do that with the Windows task manager. What a rip off!". Yes, they obviously missed the point of Process Lasso, and assumed its just another task manager. That is an easy mistake to make, especially if you just take a quick glance at the name and screenshot without reading further. Most people just don't have the attention span to read a paragraph that explains the software's purpose. That's understandable.. there's a lot of text on the net.

Given that I tend to take negative reviews to heart, I have to limit my checking of reviews. I did so this week, so I won't again for at least 6 months. In the meantime, I'll be trying my best to deliver quality software. It sometimes frustrates me that I have to work so hard to create a prettier GUI because I'm not using .NET or some other RAD (Rapid Application Development) language, but its worth it in the long run (less RAM use) -- my core user base appreciates me coding in native C++, at least I think they do ;).

Anyway, to any other software developers out there. Here's my advice (as obvious at may be):

• NEVER post a negative review of someone else's software under your own name. Even if their software is a total gimmick (i.e. snake oil), and you feel compelled to reveal that fact. Don't do it. They will come back and negatively review your stuff ten times worse.
• NEVER create fake profiles (I never have). Also make sure any resellers don't do this. Sure, its tempting to correct misunderstandings, but its just not worth it. It calls into question all the legitimate positive reviews.
• NEVER respond to negative comments, it feeds trolls and makes it look like you are inflating your own rating. I find it hard to follow this advice, hence I don't even look at the reviews but once in a blue moon.
• NEVER listen to anyone complaining because your software isn't more free than it already is.
• NEVER let them get you down. Its easy to be a critic. Don't let the cynics and critics kill your inspiration. Again, I find it hard to follow this advice. I am out of patience for all the critics of the world, who complain about this and that - never creating anything themselves. I am NOT talking about people who make suggestions or CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, that's a different story. We all know the type of person I'm speaking of. As with anything in life, there are negative people out there, and either you tune them out, or they infect you with their negativity.

For whatever its worth... These things seem obvious, but I've had to learn the hard way.

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Running Process Lasso with Highest Rights - new beta improvements

I'm approaching final for v3.80. I've accomplished all but a few items remaining on my list, then I'll enter the testing (and regression testing) stage.

Slowly over the course of the next few days, I'll introduce a few of the new features in v3.80. Today's feature is better automatic startup of Process Lasso with Highest Rights for Vista+ systems with UAC turned on.

As many of us know, Windows Defender blocks automatic startup of all applications that want to run with Highest Rights. You can't even create an ignore list. I reckon this is a good thing, from a big picture perspective.

If you are running Windows XP or below, this article doesn't apply to you. So, you can stop reading now unless you are curious.

Since many people need to run Process Lasso with Highest Rights, even though it is not normally recommended, we have further accommodated that capability. Remember, Highest Rights is the mode that allows any single instance of Process Lasso to view and manage the processes of all users (including system processes). In some cases, this is certainly desired. In most cases, its not.

Originally, I had planned to work around Windows Defender by adding Process Lasso to the Windows Task Scheduler's list of application to launch when a user logs in. However, I changed my mind and tried a different approach. I call it the 'proxied launch'.

While Windows Defender doesn't allow launching of High Rights processes, it does allow launching of low-rights processes, who can then launch a High Rights process. Of course, when done this way, the UAC elevation dialog is shown to the user. In current beta, its actually shown twice - once for the GUI and once for the core engine. I plan to lower that to once before final.

Whether or not this is the way I stay with, I don't know. As a side note, the user has the choice of using the proxied launch or not. Still, the official recommendation is to just let Process Lasso run with normal rights. The only exclusions to this rule are single-user systems where a system service needs managing, or servers where the processes of multiple users need managing by a single instance of Process Lasso running as a service.

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WARNING: Beware of pirated copies of Process Lasso Pro

Some users may be tempted to save money by downloading illegal copies of Process Lasso Pro. I highly recommend against doing that. Illegal copies of Process Lasso downloaded from the internet could be harboring malware, or be modified in such a way that they cause other problems. I am not going to claim that every illegally hosted copy of Process Lasso Pro has malware in it, but do you really want to take that chance? As a general rule, NEVER install software that you don't get from a trusted source (such as Bitsum Technologies).

Process Lasso Pro is very affordable. Why not just buy a license and be safe? If you truly can not afford one, email me and I'll work with you.

I work tirelessly on Process Lasso. I know we all have come to expect free software, but nothing in this world is free. The reason so many free projects are forced to turn into commercial projects is simply because the world doesn't work on charity. That's our society, and its beyond our control. If someone would feed and house my family, I would happily give all my software away for free. Until that day, please understand why I charge for Process Lasso Pro, and why I encourage you to purchase a license if you are able to afford one.

Thank you for your patronage.

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New low cost license experiment

I've long thought software costs too much. It seems that every time I go to buy software, I get depressed. It is just so darn expense. That is why I've always tried to provide affordable licenses for my software, and I think I've done a good job of that.

However, as an experiment in further decreasing the cost of my software, I am now offering 1 and 3 month update subscriptions for $7.95 and $9.95, respectively. Want to buy one? Click here . Of course, given the extremely active development on our software, we must admit that a better value is to get a yearly or lifetime update subscription.

We also have a new official policy regarding subscription renewals. For Process Lasso, we had not clearly articulated it before, though it had been articulated for PECompact. Subscription renewals will cost only 50% of whatever the original cost of the license was. The renewal will be for the term you originally purchased (i.e. 12 months). So, if you purchased a yearly license for $16.95, at the end of 12 months you could renew the update subscription for $8.47. This renewal option is provided in our Support area.

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The many instances of Chrome

As many readers of this blog may know, Google Chrome is different from other Windows web browsers. It isolates each of its tabs into an individual process, instead of containing them all in a single multi-threaded process. Google Chrome essentially forks itself each time you create a new tab. This can easily result in 10-20 chrome.exe processes running on your system. But, don't worry -- that doesn't mean more memory or CPU use. Read on.

Fork? That's when a process creates a new running copy of itself, identical to the first. As always (fork or not), the virtual memory between process instances is mostly shared. Therefore, additional RAM usage is negligible. From a RAM use perspective, there is no big difference between forking a process and spawning a new thread.

How does memory/RAM get shared between processes? Well, that's a different subject, but its really simple - its all in the virtual to physical mapping. Physical memory is the actual RAM, where-as virtual memory is an abstraction of that RAM that can exist in RAM, on disk (i.e. a page file), or anywhere else.

As a sharing example, a page of memory may exist at location X in physical RAM. Well, if two processes reference that same physical page of memory, they both can have different virtual pointers to it. If one process writes to that shared memory, Windows will apply a principle known as copy-on-write. This is where the process that wrote to the memory gets its very own copy of the shared page, because its now uniquely modified for that process. Read more on virtual memory if you want to know more.. back to Google Chrome.

Forking is very common for *nix environments, where applications fork themselves all the time. Windows applications traditionally spawn new threads instead of forking the entire process. Google decided to take a different approach, using forks. Note that the technical aspects of the Chrome fork may differ from a traditional *nix fork, but its conceptually the same.

The biggest advantage of isolating each tab into its own process space is that a crash in any one tab can't (or shouldn't) bring down the entire application (all the tabs). Again, since identical virtual memory is shared between processes, there isn't much extra memory overhead associated with all these Chrome processes. Each process will only allocate memory exclusively applicable to the tab it owns. Further, since the Windows CPU scheduler only sees threads, this forking design doesn't affect how Chrome performs during periods of high CPU contention.

One interesting performance note is that Chrome dynamically lowers the priority class of processes hosting background tabs, similar to what Process Lasso's ProBalance does. So, when you switch tabs, Google Chrome lowers the priority class of the old tab's process and raises the priority class of the new tab's process (to below normal and normal, respectively). I would hope that traditional single-process browsers do the same with individual thread priorities, but I wouldn't bet on it.

This lets the Windows CPU scheduler know which process's threads are most important during periods where there is heavy contention for CPU time slices. Of course, the most important threads will be those in the process thats holding the tab you're currently using. The others are important as well, but don't need quite the same level of real-time responsiveness as the foreground process's threads will. Although Windows has built in mechanisms to boost foreground thread performance, giving the Windows CPU scheduler 'hints' as to what should take precedence is always a good idea - after all, its not psychic.

That's what Process Lasso aims to do -- help give the Windows CPU scheduler a few more hints as to what should get precedence, and to rescue the user in the case of catastrophic CPU monopolization (as demonstrated by our CPU Eater demo). If more applications cared as much about their impact on the rest of the system as Chrome does, then perhaps there wouldn't be as much of a need for Process Lasso's ProBalance.

Well, I've spent enough time rambling on.. back to real work. I hope this helps explain to anyone who is concerned by the 20 different instances of chrome.exe they may see running on their PC ;).

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New 'Active Processes' tab with bar graphs

Lately I've been working on some user interface improvements. One of these is the addition of a new upper tab, 'Active processes'. In this view the user sees only processes that are actively using the system CPU(s). Basic information about each process is shown in a listview, and a nifty bar graph is used to depict the CPU utilization of each process. These bar graphs make it easy to quickly visualize how available CPU time is being allocated.

Processes in this new listview have the same context menu as those in the traditional 'All processes' view. Multi-select is also supported. Furthermore, double clicking a process in the 'Active processes' listview will automatically select and display the corresponding process the the 'All processes' listview.

How many CPU cycles does this new capability eat? Not as many as you'd expect. First, if the view isn't open, no additional CPU cycles are used. When it is open, it really performs quite well. In most cases, you'll not see ProcessLasso.exe's CPU utilization increase any perceptible amount. When the code has been fully optimized, you'll see even less of an impact on CPU utilization.

As I write this, I'm releasing an early alpha build, v3.79.1. Please keep in mind that this is an early alpha version, so bugs may exist. I am still working out kinks and may change the implementation method before all is said and done. That said, this new feature should work fine for most people, and the rest of the product should be as stable as ever. Enjoy ;).

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Process Lasso v3.70.2 released

I've released the second minor update to v3.70. This update includes a few optimizations and a couple minor cosmetic fixes. More importantly, I've replaced the old update mechanism with a simplified rendition. Although I have plans to eventually automate the entire update process, this is a good improvement for now. Given below is a brief list of the characteristics of this new update checker.

1. During install it will ask the user if he or she wants to enable periodic update checks. This is asked only ONCE, not asked again on updates/reinstall.
2. The periodic update checks setting applies to all users. It is stored in the HKLM hive. In previous version, it was stored in the configuration file and therefore tended to be per-user. The old INI setting has been deprecated.
3. The update check enabled setting can be toggled from the GUI, just like the old one. On UAC enabled systems the user will be prompted for appropriate rights elevation when he or she toggles it.
4. The update check can be invoked from the GUI, just as before. However, its a one click action now. The check will be instant and it will report back to you via a simple message box.
5. If periodic update checks are enabled, the GUI will check once every 7 days. If it finds an update it will notify the user via a message box. If it doesn't, the user will see nothing.

Next on the agenda is optional automatic updates that utilize the silent (/S) switch of the installer. Process Lasso will self-download, self-install, and all the user will see is a brief recycle of the system tray icon. Imagine.. not having to ever manually run the Process Lasso installer again ;). This feature is not far off at all...

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Tightening the Governor

Most users of Process Lasso are familiar with its core engine, ProcessGovernor.exe. It is the silent background process that applies all process rules, including ProBalance dynamic priority adjustments. It is implemented as a stand-alone process to allow users to completely close the GUI, further reducing resource consumption and hiding Process Lasso from the user.

This Governor is already highly optimal. Since it has no interaction with the user, it doesn't have to waste memory with pretty icons, and doesn't have to waste CPU cycles refreshing a window. The size of its working set (memory in use) is largely dependent on the number of processes it has discovered on the system. For Windows XP and Windows 2000, it is often 1MB or less. For Windows Vista and Windows 7, its usually close to 2MB.

The number of CPU cycles used is also dependent on the number of processes running on the system, and (most importantly) the refresh rate setting. The refresh rate can be High, Normal, or Low. At High, the Governor acts quickly, but uses double the CPU cycles of the Normal refresh rate. Similarly, a Low refresh rate uses half the CPU cycles of the Normal refresh rate. No matter what, the Governor never uses enough CPU cycles for anyone to really notice. In any configuration, even on the slowest systems, it rarely approaches 0.1% utilization of available CPU cycles in a 1 second interval.

So now we know it uses almost no CPU cycles. That's great, so why bother continuing to work on it? Well, the faster we can get the governor's loop, the quicker it will respond during extreme high load situations.

From now on, when I make new optimizations, I'll write about some of them. I probably won't ever get around to documenting all the important optimizations I've made in the past. So, let's get to it..

For v3.70.2, I've removed occurrences of WaitForSingleObject from the Governor's primary thread. Previously, I was waiting on an 'exit me' event, using the timeout of WaitForSingleObject as the sleep mechanism between iterations.

Additionally, I was also invoking WaitForSingleObject to check if a change notification event was fired for the configuration file. This is, of course, to reload the configuration file when changes are detected.

There's absolutely nothing abnormal or wrong about using WaitForSingleObject (or WaitForMultipleObjects). That API is the mechanism the Windows kernel provides to put a thread to sleep until certain events have fired or a timeout has been reached. It is also the typical way of checking the state of an event object.

However, it turns out that WaitForSingleObject is excessively expensive, inducing an entrance into kernel mode even if there is no contention, and even if its used with a zero timeout to simply check the state of an event object. For a little more insight into the overhead of WaitForSingleObject see this link.

Being so expensive, I decided to remove it from the primary loop of the Governor. First, I switched to a Sleep to pause the primary thread, instead of relying on the timeout of a WaitForSingleObject call. Next, I simply created a new helper thread that does nothing but WaitForMultipleObjects on the events I'm watching (exit and config change). When one gets signaled, I set a global boolean to let the primary thread know the event signalled it next wakes up from its sleep.

Of course, I did have to add a new synchronization object for the code blocks working with the configuration file change boolean. However, that's no problem since a simple critical section with a non-blocking (optional) entrance in the primary thread works great and is highly efficient.

Yep, a simple 2 minute change and a 30 minute article ;p.

The end result is that the primary thread of the Governor no longer invokes WaitForSingleObject. This means no more expensive entrances into the kernel. Now, if only the CPU utilization wasn't already so low that the impact of this change is imperceptible ... ;)

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Process Lasso v3.70.1 released

The first minor update of v3.70 is now available. This update does a lot of polishing, mostly cosmetic. As always, the change log is listed at the end of the v3.70 revisions. There is an area for 'post release updates'. Link

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Process Lasso v3.70 launched

I was so busy yesterday that I neglected to post a blog entry about the long awaited release of Process Lasso v3.70. As readers of this blog may know, this version is the first COM-less and 100% UNICODE build. It also offers several new features and a reduction in memory and CPU utilization (yes, its even leaner than before).

The magnitude of the changes required I keep it in beta for quite some time. In fact, its been 2 months since the last major final release! Needless to say, I'm quite happy to have this version out.

In the coming days I'll periodically update the v3.70 build to include refreshed translations. Enjoy this new version and please feel free to email me with any feedback.

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ProcessGovernor improvements

Amongst many other chores, I've been working on the final changes to the Process Lasso core engine (ProcessGovernor) the last couple days. I've made numerous improvements. These changes include:

• Completed High Performance power scheme feature that allows the user to designate processes that should induce the High Performance power scheme on the system.
• A newly assigned ProBalance exclusion of a process actively in restraint will now cause the process to immediately go out of restraint (returned to its previous state).
• Rewritten automatic gaming mode implementation so that configuration changes take effect immediately - no more waiting until the next time you start a game for it to engage gaming mode.

Note that these changes are still unreleased. They will be in the next build uploaded (coming later today).

Importantly, I made sure that these changes were done optimally. I could have thrown them in quickly, not caring about how many CPU cycles they add to the primary loop of ProcessGovernor, but that's not how we do things here at Bitsum ;).

I had hoped to have to final v3.70 out yesterday, but I'm obviously behind schedule. I now believe that the new final version will be available within the next 24-72 hours, depending on how regression testing and debugging goes.

As always, I thank all those who have supported my software.

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New final coming soon

I'm nearly done with this current beta series. Yesterday I did an extensive code review of all changes made (there were a lot). I found a few minor bugs and corrections that needed making (only applicable to this beta). While some of this errata would have been revealed during product testing, I probably would have missed some minor bugs that didn't manifest under all circumstances. Code review is essential to any project. While its tedious and time consuming, its well worth it.

In addition to polishing and fixing the new code yesterday, I also made a lot of other progress. I added a new menu option to set the current Power Scheme. However, this capability is currently only available for Vista+. The Power APIs were redesigned in Windows Vista, and I simply haven't written code to work with the older 2K/XP APIs yet. Whether or not I ever will, I don't know. It depends on user demand.

I also finished rewrites of a few portions of the GUI that further improve performance. Sure, I'm nit-picking the code here, but I want every new version to be leaner and meaner than the last ;).

Needless to say, I am eager to get this new final version out. The new svchost.exe instance differentiation, less resource use, and full UNICODE support will make this a great new version. The one thing I don't want to do is rush it before its ready though. I sometimes release betas a little too early, but I am committed to not making that mistake for final builds of the software. Process Lasso has too many users to be anything but extremely cautious when such large changes are made.

At present, I plan the final build to be released early next week. Due to the large number of changes, I'm considering incrementing the version number to v3.70.

P.S. I recommend all translators begin their updates now. I believe I have completed most string changes at this point.

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Is Process Lasso Windows 7 ready? - Yes, it is!

Recently I've had a couple users ask me if Process Lasso is compatible with Windows 7. The answer is YES, Process Lasso works wonderfully in Windows 7 (both 32-bit and 64-bit).

Earlier this year, when I first started playing with Windows 7, I discovered that Process Lasso already worked very well with it. There were no substantial changes to the NT native APIs and data structures, and no major architectural changes that would affect Process Lasso. In fact, the only 'problem' was the new 'Did this program install correctly?' prompt. A couple tweaks later, that prompt was no more. I did also make a couple UI tweaks to better adhere to the new Windows 7 UI standards, but no major changes.

I've now been running Windows 7 for quite some time. Every build of Process Lasso is fully tested on it. You can be sure that Process Lasso and Windows 7 is a wonderful combination.

As a side note, I think that Windows 7 is the best thing Microsoft has done in a long time. The the usability and appearance of Windows has improved substantially. I honestly did not think Microsoft had it in them. Of course, the hard architectural work was all accomplished with Vista. Now they've polished those changes, and brought forth a mighty new contender in the OS wars.

If you missed your chance to freely install Windows 7 RC1 in Microsoft's public beta program, the OS will hit store shelves on Oct. 22. If your PC runs Vista, it should be able to run Windows 7 even better. Those users who are running Windows 7 RC1 have until early next year to upgrade to the final build. Just be sure to reinstall Process Lasso after your upgrade ;).

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Process Lasso v3.65.7 beta released

I'm marching towards the eventual end of this beta series, though its still several versions off. This latest beta continues improvements to the product and advances our position on the product road map. Here's a couple of the improvements:

Tooltips on the process listview were added. I still have much more information to add to the tooltips, but I've got them implemented.



I revamped the InstallHelper startup config dialog and added tooltips to both install configuration dialogs.

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Process Lasso v3.65.3 beta released

I've released the first new beta that is 100% UNICODE. I've regression tested almost all the software, though there may still be some minor flaws here and there. The transition took some time, as there were more complications than I had hoped there would be. Regardless, everything is done now. All of the software, including the log and configuration files, are UNICODE.

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Two new features and UNICODE

New Features

Yesterday I released v3.65.2 beta. Amongst continued optimization of the new no-COM code base, I've added a couple new features. Well, ok, one new feature with the other coming in the next build. These are in the new 'When Running' process context menu:

(when running)
• Prevent PC sleep
• Enter High Performance power scheme

Both do just what they say. The Prevent PC Sleep feature prevents the PC and display from sleeping while a process is running. The Enter High Performance power scheme feature switches the PC to the High Performance power scheme when the process is running.

This last feature (Enter High Perf..) is not yet fully completed in the core engine, so I disabled it in this build. It will come in the next. I expect it to be highly useful to many people. Imagine, when you're playing your favorite game your laptop will instantly go into the High Performance power scheme, possibly eking out a little more performance. When you close your game, it returns to the original power scheme.

UNICODE users rejoice!

I'm also happy to announce that the next beta will be the first 100% UNICODE build. Prior to this, I had kept the project multi-byte (ANSI), but transformed select pieces of code to wide characters (UNICODE). Although I wrote almost all the code to easily support either character set by using TCHARs, this transition still requires full regression testing. I figured since I was going to have to do full regression testing anyway, now was the time to finally make the switch.

Silent update to v3.64.3

Lastly, for anyone who cares, I performed a silent update of v3.64.3 final. This build has no real changes. It simply re-enables the warning about the French translation being incomplete. It was also built in a newly created virtual development environment, but that's hardly something that matters to end users. Of course, I did make sure to run it through the usual final build tests since I had utilized the new build environment.

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No more COM

Years ago I wrote my process enumeration and management module. It primarily uses the NT Native API, giving it extended capabilities over the standard PSAPI or ToolHelp Windows libraries. When I designed this component, I exposed it as a COM interface. This was because I had originally planned to resell it to other developers.

Years later, I never did resell it, and have no plans to do so. Only Process Lasso uses it. Now, because its a COM control there are occasionally problems with registry cleaners or users who don't have administrative rights to install the component. Who knows why registry cleaners sometime mistakenly target its COM registration. I suspect malfunction on their part.

For a long time now I've wanted to do away with this COM interface, but the risk of an accidental mistake deterred me. I mean, after conversion full regression and memory leak testing of every functional part is required.

Well, I've finally bit the bullet and got rid of the COM interface. Technically speaking, it is a very simple transition. COM interfaces are modelled on C++ classes, making them very easy to turn back into C++ classes. In fact, they can theoretically be referenced as C++ classes as-is. However, practically speaking, some work was necessary, especially with regards to object instantiation and data-type optimization.

Yes, this means I have a lot of regression testing to do. I plan to leave this beta series in beta for some time, back-porting minor updates to the last final build as needed (parallel development, as always).

So, what end effect does this have? Well, there is a substantial reduction in memory use by both the GUI and core engine. There's also a slight reduction in CPU use. Lastly, this opens the door for Process Lasso Portable Edition.

UPDATE: To give a more specific measurement, core engine memory usage has decreased by about 1.5MB on the average computer! This means its often using less than 1MB of RAM.

Enjoy ;)

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Managing specific service groups running under svchost.exe instances

I have released version 3.65.0 beta. This version allows for differentiation between instances of svchost.exe by giving them a friendly service group name. Full enumeration of services running within each svchost.exe process is coming soon. For now, they can already be acted upon individually (as service groups) by the GUI and core engine.

Note: Final format may differ from screenshot

In order to expedite the first beta release, I've deferred introduction of some other new features under development. I'll be continuing releases in this beta series for some time.

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Process Lasso v3.64.3 released

Late yesterday I released Process Lasso v3.64.3. This version performs minor maintenance to the product. I had planned to include the display of the private working set size for processes, but this was removed at the last minute due to performance problems with the algorithm I'm using to calculate this metric. The calculation was simply taking too many CPU cycles. While it wouldn't have mattered to someone with a quad core system, I always design Process Lasso to work on the most minimal of hardware. Once I improve the performance of the calculation, I will include it in the product.

In this new version you'll notice the solicitation dialog is a bit prettier - at least I hope. The buy now button has also been replaced with a very simple rendition of 'Buy Now'. My artistic capabilities are very, very poor so I'm hoping these changes are a move in the right direction.

Now its time to focus on generating some sales, as they've been dismal the last month. I do not know why, but there was a sudden decline in sales. I suspect that with all the distractions I did not make as many updates as usual, there-by reducing the market exposure. I also had a typo in the word 'monopolizing' on the Process Lasso page that was quite prominently positioned. Such a minor error can affect the image of the company and product quite a bit. Needless to say, I was not happy to discover this mistake. However, my perfectionism aside, its much more likely that it was the lack of updates that has caused this rut ;o.

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CPU Eater further improved

I further improved the CPU Eater by making the SFX installer silent and transparent. It extracts a user temporary folder, runs the CPU Eater, then deletes it when finished. In my previous SFX release, I allowed the user to choose where to extract to -- and defaulted to the program files folder. Unfortunately, this of course caused UAC permission errors, which likely confused some users. Sometimes it is so easy to forget UAC, primarily because I keep it turned off on my systems (not something I'd recommend to other users, I do believe its a good technology).

I also issued a silent update to Process Lasso v3.62.4 a couple days ago. I removed those '(*)'s put by priority class names to indicate if Window's dynamic thread boosting was enabled for that process. They still exist in the beta version, and may in future versions. I just can't decide how ugly I think they are ;). Perhaps a new column is a more appropriate way to indicate this. My concern about indicating it to the user is because recent experimentation has shown this is very important factor in determining the responsiveness of a process, or its inclination to interfere with other processes.

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CPU Eater continues to be polished, and now in SFX format

The CPU Eater ProBalance demo app continues to advance. Since many users weren't extracting all files in the CPU Eater zip archives before running CPUEater.exe, causing "DLL not found" errors, I decided to put the CPU Eater in a RAR self-extracting archive. The SFX archive will extract the CPU Eater files to a folder of your choosing, then automatically run the CPU Eater control application.

I'm now about ready to truly unveil this demo app to the world. Of course, I've been mentioning it (for better or worse) on my site ever since its release. However, I now plan for wider dissemination.

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Process Lasso v3.62.2 released

I've released another update to v3.62. This version makes a few cosmetic and textual improvements, fixes a couple minor issues, and further improves the new CPU Eater app. The full change log is here ([.2] items): Change log

Enjoy ;)

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More work on the CPU Eater Demo app

I've done a bit more work on the CPU Eater demo app. I've improved its accuracy and reliability on various system. I've also added a vertical progress bar to indicate the system responsiveness, as a percentage.

There's still more polishing to be done, but it is coming along nicely..

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New graphical CPU Eater test application

For some time now I've planned writing a graphical version of TestLasso, so that users can more easily see the benefits of Process Lasso's ProBalance. Finally, I've completed that task.

This new graphical CPU Eater is much easier to operate and doesn't require the user to click to a different window before Process Lasso acts upon it (it actually launches TestLasso in the background). I'm sure many users were previously confused with having to click to another window after launching TestLasso, so no more of that ;).

I haven't prettied it up much yet, its just the bare bones. It does have a nice progress bar that helps to see the effects of the test on system responsiveness.

It is integrated with Process Lasso's primary resources, so is available for translation. Of course, initially only the English version is available.

I'll first be distributing this in a stand-alone package, then include it in the next build of Process Lasso.

Download 32-bit CPU Eater
Download 64-bit CPU Eater (for Windows x64 OS only)

Remember, if you don't install Process Lasso the test will simply show the deficiencies in the CPU scheduler. You must install Process Lasso to see the benefits of ProBalance.

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Process Lasso v3.62 released

I released Process Lasso v3.62 a few days ago. This version adds:

• A 'keep running' capability to ensure a critical process is restarted if it crashes
• Full command line support for processes
• A fourth throttle level, 'lowest'
  
• Italian translation
  
• Other maintenance and changes
  

The full change log is located in the usual place. Enjoy ;)

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Process Lasso v3.62 coming very soon

I have decided to proceed with the release of Process Lasso v3.62 final. This new version offers the new 'keep process running' capability, as well as proper display and handling of process command lines.

There are also many other minor additions and adjustments. I am proceeding with the release simply because my testing and code review of this build has all went well, and I have some major feature additions coming down the pipe-line. The sooner I get this new final version out, the sooner I can get to work on the next beta.

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v3.61.4 beta: Command lines of processes now shown

I've extended my NT Native API process 'engine' to include many new capabilities. One of these is proper determination of process command lines. This, surprisingly, isn't something made available to normal, documented Windows APIs.

It wasn't very difficult to add support, though I did have to update a couple of my undocumented NT Native data structures. This is just one of many things that I never have gotten around to.. well, until now.

In v3.61.4 beta, Process Lasso lists command lines of processes. In the next build I release, I'll have integrated this new command line support into other features of the product.

Enjoy ;). I have many more improvements coming in this beta series.. including restoration of the handles tab.

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Modules tab restored

I've decided to restore the Modules tab to Process Lasso. It was removed over a year ago as part of a streamlining effort. Now that Process Lasso is increasingly being used as a primary task manager, the decision has been made to restore the Modules tab. This view, for those who don't know, displays modules loaded by the selected process.

This will be found in v3.61.2 beta

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Auto-restart (keep running) feature added

I've added to v3.61.1 beta a feature to keep selected process(es) running, meaning it will restart them if they terminate (or are otherwise not found to be running). There is still some work remaining before this feature is completed, but the core functionality is in place and ready for casual use and testing.

I personally needed this feature for a problematic process on my HP econo-laptop. The process that facilitates the Synaptics touchpad, SynTPEnh.exe, kept silently crashing, causing the scroll bar on the touchpad to cease working. Now, with Process Lasso v3.61 beta, this touchpad helper process is automatically restarted if it crashes.

I have much more planned for this new beta series. There will likely be near daily builds released as my progress continues. Please do not feel compelled to try to keep up with these updates. Remember, if Process Lasso is working well for you there's no reason to upgrade unless you need the newer features.

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Nag screen changes

Hi my loyal Process Lasso users and friends. Yes, that's right, I've made many new friends during this project ;)

I just wanted to let you know that I made what may be an unpopular change to v3.60.6. In this build, I disabled the quick exit from the nag window. So, the user now has to wait for the countdown to finish. However, they can still just drag that nag window out of the way and start using the software immediately. The nag starts after 15 days of product use, and is only 3 seconds at that time. The timer rises to maximum of 10 seconds at 40 days.

I hope this might encourage a few more people to purchase the software. The time I'm spending on Process Lasso is time taken away from PECompact, which generates more revenue because of its high priced commercial licenses. I like working on Process Lasso, so want to increase the customer conversion rate so that working on it is justified by revenue generation. If this change doesn't work, I'll undo it. I'll also still allow the quick exit from the nag dialog on all beta versions, starting with v3.61.1 beta.

The massive overhaul of the product licensing system is still pending. I haven't yet had the confidence to make such massive changes to a system that works well enough for now. I want to have this new system planned very precisely, and confident with every aspect of it, before I go to make the transition.

As always, I am dedicated to allowing FREE use of Process Lasso. Tolerating this occasional nag is the price you may pay for free use of the software. That's why I classify it as Shareware now, to avoid any accusations of dishonesty.

If anyone simply can not afford the software, or has trouble purchasing, email me. I'll give up to 10 free licenses a month, choosing who seems to need them the most. If you can afford a license, please purchase one.

Thanks to my loyal and supportive users, many of whom have taken the time to personally email me about the success they've had with Process Lasso. Others have taken the time to make feature requests or bug reports. Without our users, I wouldn't be motivated to continue developing. For me, it has never been about profits, and always been about doing something positive for the world.

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Process Lasso v3.60.3 released

This minor maintenance release polishes v3.60 and updates the Traditional Chinese translation. Sadly, that is the only language that has been updated. I suspect some translators may simply be busy. Remember, ANYONE can come and easily update a translation, so if you want to see your language updated just follow the instructions here .

I have many plans for the future, but have lately been a bit overwhelmed. I have a bad habit of saying I'll do everything that is ever requested of me. I always try to please as many of my users as I can, but now I have the problem of having too many users to be able to please them all ;o. If you don't see your feature request implemented right away (or at all), please understand that I'm not able to get to everything I would like.

I still haven't made the planned licensing system overhaul, which would remove the often hated nags. The reason for this is because I am scared to make this change. I think the planned new licensing system would be effective, but I just can't be sure of that.. so just keep deferring the change. Furthermore, the nags aren't that bad (are they?). They let people continue freely using the software, and encourage purchases. When I'm sure that removing them won't kill all chance I have of paying my rent, I'll remove them.

Also I should note that the plans to remove the nags all involve removing features from the free version.. so I don't know that this will make users any happier. It will likely just upset a different set of users. It is impossible to please everyone ;(.

Anyway.. back to work. There is always so much to do, it is overwhelming. Thankfully, my automated systems take most of the support load in stride.. but I've still not created any bots to do the product development for me ;).

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Process Lasso v3.60 is released

After spending 2 months in beta development, our new version of Process Lasso is finally ready. This version is another major leap forward. In addition to general polishing and enhancements throughout the product, there are several completely new features. These include, but are not limited to:

• Per-process CPU history on graph: We now show the CPU utilization history of selected process(es) on the graph. This lets you see exactly how much of the CPU individual processes were consuming. When multiple processes are selected their cumulative CPU utilization history is drawn on the graph. As a side note, CTRL-A now properly selects all processes.
  
  

• CPU Throttling: After resisting addition of this featur for fear of abuse, we finally decided to implement it. This new feature enforces a hard limit on the number of CPU cycles a process can consume. CPU throttling is not, in any way, meant to replace our ProBalance (Process Balance) algorithm that dynamically lowers the priorities of background processes. Instead, this feature is intended for cases where the user wants to truly slow down a process. This is sometimes useful for things like distributed computing clients, or other background processes that may consume system resources even when set to an Idle priority class. Under normal situations, at an Idle priority class, any other normal priority thread that would need the CPU would take procedence. This is why it usually suffices to simply lower the priority class of overly active background processes, as our ProBalance algorithm does. Still, users wanted this capability.. so here it is. It is available in both persistent (each time run) and temporary modes. It is NOT recommended for most people to use.. and we added plenty of warnings to this effect.
  
  
• Foreground boost exclusions: Some applications don't handle foreground boosts very well. This is why we leave foreground boosting disabled by default. With this feature you can now exclude incompatible processes from foreground boosting, allowing you to enable the feature.
  
  
• Quicker response time: We tweaked our software to react quicker to system changes. For instance, termination of disallowed processes and ProBalance actions occur quicker now.
  
  
• Designated game processes (auto gaming mode): Process Lasso now allows for specification of which processes are games. These processes, when run, then cause gaming mode to be automatically invoked. When the game(s) are closed, gaming mode is automatically disabled.
  
  
• Improved logging: Our logging system has been greatly improved. Amongst other things, we added milliseconds to log times and enhanced handling of large logs.
  
  
• New process information: We added several new process information columns, including handle and thread counts. Also, these new fields can now easily be toggled on or off by right-clicking on the process listview header or the Processes tab.
  
  
• New threads tab: A threads tab will allow for enumeration of the threads of currently selected process. We'll add more thread management features as time progresses.
  
  
• Nags reduced by 25%: Although previous experiments in lowering the amount of nags didn't go so well, we're trying it again.. the primary nag is now shown 25% less than before (at 75% of Process Lasso starts). We *still* are working on an alternate licensing system that pleases everyone and removes the necessity for purchase reminders.
  
  
• Status bar overhauled: The status bar now shows various metrics, including the process count, processor usage, responsiveness, and memory load.
  

• Much more.. See the revision history for a full list of changes.

So, give it a try. Let us know what you think. Enjoy!

About language updates ....

As of release time, only the English, Serbian, and Chinese Traditional languages are fully up to date. We hope other translators will submit their updates soon, and we'll get new builds uploaded as soon as we receive them. Even without the updates, the older translations are still probably 90% string complete.

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Back-ports, and Process Lasso in Japan

While we all await the new v3.60 final, I decided to back-port a few minor enhancements to the existing final build. For a complete list, see the revision history of v3.54.11 (new changes denoted by [.11]).

Of course, these fixes and enhancements are all minor. I therefore did not update the internal version number, so no update will be pushed out to end users.

---

I am also happy to announce that Process Lasso is beginning to enter the Japanese market. Our partner in that country has issued a press release and is beginning to interest other resellers. We do not yet know if this arrangement will be successful or profitable, but we certainly hope so.

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Beta development continues

I'm pleased to announce that I'm nearly done with the many feature additions and code improvements made in this latest beta series. It has been another very productive week of work. However, the beta will probably not go final for another week or two, as there is much code review and testing left to do.

I am still preparing for a new licensing model that I hope will help generate revenue without relying on any nags. In the meantime, I've introduced a temporary sale -$9.95 for one year of updates or $19.95 for lifetime of updates. I hope this will encourage more users to make the switch to the Pro version.

As a last OT note, the forum is temporary closed to new registrations (well, they require my manual approval). I've been battling with spammers attacking my forum. This started, coincidentally (?), right after I vehemently refused an offer by a company to bundle their browser extension adware with my software. I've also had other internet 'attacks' since then. I don't want to sound paranoid, but the timing is very suspicious.. There are some truly bad people out on the internet.

Well, that's all for now.

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Nag annoyance reduced

The battle to come up with a tolerable licensing system continues. I struggle with this, as I want my software to be completely free. However, that just isn't feasible.

Recently, I've received complaints from free build users who felt ambushed or betrayed by the new nags. This blog posting is for them.

After re-enabling almost all Pro features in the free edition of Process Lasso, I decided to compensate by making the nags more aggressive. The intent was to ensure that people still had some incentive to purchase Process Lasso Pro. It turns out that I made the nags too aggressive though, annoying some users of the free build.

To be fair, I've certainly seen *much* more aggressive nags in software. Still, many users found these new nags annoying. After some consideration, I agree with them. The new nags were too annoying. I made a mistake, and for that I sincerely apologize.

To help with this problem of nag annoyance, I made some quick adjustments to the latest final build, v3.54.8. The build number has not changed, but the build date in the about box will be April 22, 2009.

These adjustments are:

• The dialog appears after 30 days (in latest beta)
  
• The dialog nag timer is only 5 seconds now
  
• The dialog nag can be aborted early by closing the dialog. However, an extra message box will appear. This at least gives some option to instantly get rid of the dialog.
  
• The system tray nag no longer shown when the dialog nag starts appearing.
• My web site indicates that nags are present in the free build. There is no subterfuge.
• I always personally run the free version myself, to ensure that it isn't that bothersome or in any way crippled
  

I will be making further changes as I try to find the right balance between effective nags and a truly free edition of the software.

These changes will be ported to the next beta release as well, but that won't be until later today. Beta users will have to tolerate the existing nags for a little longer.

TIP: You can move it out of the way. Process Lasso does not wait for that dialog to close before you can use it.

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CPU throttling now available

Although I worry about its abuse, I have added to Process Lasso the ability to actually throttle processes by enforcing a hard limit on the amount of CPU time they can consume. The new technology is now available in the v3.55 alpha. It is not meant to supplement or compliment ProBalance, and should be used with extreme caution.

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New feature: Gaming mode

Process Lasso now has a new 'Gaming mode'. This mode is intended to maximize the difference in base priorities between foreground and background processes. This is typically useful when playing CPU intensive games while background processes may be active. The toggle was added to the system tray menu for easy accessibility. Enjoy ;)

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License changes

As of v3.54.2, I've restored all Pro features to the free build, with the notable exception of the ability to run the core engine as a service. This change came from my persistent desire to be as liberal as possible with Process Lasso licensing, and offset the 'nags' that were added.

I encourage users to defend the product when it is criticized for not being 100% free in the most strict sense of the word. I always endeavor to make Process Lasso as free as possible, because I love having people use my software. Unfortunately, I can't make it as free as some people would like.

As always, thanks to our wonderful users.

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Instance count limits coming back to free build

I am adding back support for instance count limits to the free build of Process Lasso. This will help offset the recent additions of more 'buy now' type messages. This will occur in the next release, which may be v3.54.1.

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v3.53.9 beta - release candidate

Whew! This has been the longest beta series in quite a while. The reason for this is because of the large number of important internal changes, and the stability of the current final build, v3.52. Many of the changes are to aid in localization, and others are much requested functional additions (i.e. selectable columns and silent install).

One of the more important changes was the transition to the full UNICODE build of NSIS. This has its advantages, as there will be no more annoying code page problems. However, it also has its disadvantages -- namely having to use an older build of NSIS.

The selectable columns feature was long overdue. Now users can turn off or on process columns. I intend to now add much more process information, since not all of it has to be shown by default.

For the enterprise market, silent install and password protection of the configuration file were added. There are many new command line parameters for the install, allowing full configuration of Process Lasso's basic start-up options via the installer command line. These new switches have been added to the documentation.

So.. enjoy ;). The new final is coming soon.

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New feature: Show/hide individual process columns

One of the most requested feature additions to Process Lasso has been the ability to select which process columns are shown.

The wait is over. Now users can easily hide process columns they aren't interested in. This will also give me the ability to add much more optional process information, leaving highly technical columns hidden by default.

Process Lasso v3.53 beta includes this new capability.

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Licensing changes ... Yes, I still call it Free. Do you?

Starting in Process Lasso v3.50, there have been a few minor changes to the licensing. The free build has these changes:

• ADDED a system tray balloon tip to ask users to please consider purchasing the Pro build. It disappears by itself in seconds, causing no interruption of work. It only appears once per run of Process Lasso. Since Process Lasso is resident (always running) software, most users will only see when they restart their computer, or when they upgrade Process Lasso.
• ADDED a new message box asking the user to consider purchasing the Pro build. This is shown after the product has been used for 60 days. It only appears once per run of Process Lasso. Again, since Process Lasso is resident (always running) software, most users will only see this message when they restart their computer, or when they upgrade Process Lasso.
• REMOVED the 'commercial users: must purchase...' periodic message from the graph. The others still remain, though they are less lengthy and so less obtrusive.
• REMOVED the installation query on whether Process Lasso is for Home or Commercial use.
• REMOVED the forced expiration of commercial use installs.
  

I've already received complaints about these minor nag(s). I don't personally find them very bothersome (I use the free build myself), but apparently some people do.

People say that it is not free if there is a nag. Now, I don't like nags any more than the next guy, but a little nag does not change the fact that you can continue freely using Process Lasso.

Users must understand that my situation has been dire for some time, and my choices are limited:

Options

1. Give up on Process Lasso
2. Make it a time limited trial, so you must purchase it to continue use
3. Keep putting in small nags or moving features to the Pro build until I get enough purchases.
   

I've tried very hard to make Process Lasso a fine product. It hasn't been easy to do everything from development, documentation, to quality assurance. Sometimes I even make mistakes, despite my best efforts of version control, testing, and code review. Such mistakes, no matter how minor, are devastating to me personally because I am trying so hard to make everything perfect. I say this only to let everyone know that I care about the quality of my software, in contrast to some developers that don't.

Unfortunately, I simply can't seem to profit enough from Process Lasso home sales, so I plan to focus more on the Enterprise. That will take considerable development time though. In the interim, I must continue to feed my family, therefore I must keep getting more aggressive with pestering users to purchase the Pro version.

If and when sales become consistent and sufficient, I will start moving the other direction (more free, less nag). Until then, I encourage those users who DO like Process Lasso to please defend it when you see users complain about it no longer being totally free.

It may be that part of the problem is simply that Process Lasso doesn't have enough exposure/marketing. Without capital, that is a difficult problem for me to solve. However, I'm always thinking of possible solutions. Perhaps if I ever generate enough revenue I can reinvest into advertising.

If more users would purchase, I could actually lower the price of Process Lasso. Heck, if I could get a 100% purchase rate, I'd happily sell licenses for a mere $1 . Unfortunately, the customer to user ratio is 1:1000, or greater. Yes, that high! To be clear, that means that for each 1,000 long-time users of Process Lasso, there is only one person who purchases it.

Lastly, I want be sure to also thank the many people who have purchased Process Lasso over the last few years. Many did so long before I added any real incentives to purchase. In fact, there were many users who made voluntary donations. These users have kept this project alive this long - thank you!

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