Windows 2000 and Windows XP pre-SP2: v4 support is returning

It turns out that VC 10's (Visual Studio 2010) common runtime libs use functions only available in XP with SP2. So, this was the core of the remaining incompatibility. I've fixed this now. I simply reverted the SDK used to VC9, while using Visual Studio 2010. The issue was the new DecodePointer and EncodePoitner APIs (if not others). These nearly useless security APIs were added to XP SP2 in attempt to protect pointer addresses from being 'known' at runtime. I guess it was a good idea, but they are not very useful with other things like ASLR now available.

So, I guess Microsoft quit caring about pre-SP2 XP and Windows 2000 ... but not us. I told you v4 would remain compatible, and compatibility should be restored in the next build. I'm sorry you Windows 2000 and XP pre-SP2 users have missed out so far. You will like what you see when you do catch up ;).

Of course, v3.84.7 (the last final) works FINE on both Windows 2000 and Windows XP SP0.

Read More

v3.99.32 beta - Fix that View menu, but don't update if you're Russian

Since the alternate ways to hide/show columns are somewhat "an insider's secret" (see below), I decided to issue an interim beta build to fix the View menu and also disable the Russian translation pending an update. It is the last translation still using a resource script and therefore more sensitive to changes than my languages.

So, there is v3.99.32 beta ;). All the cool new stuff I was working on got disabled for now, sorry. It was better to disable them than have them as-is, trust me. This build should be pretty good... it has tested well so far, but I do not do extensive tests of betas.

Tonight I'm focusing more on fixes, so if I haven't gotten to your bug report yet, I likely will. I hope everyone enjoys tomorrow, if I don't have a chance to say 'Good Morning' ;)

Read More

Selecting which columns are shown - 3 different ways

It was brought to my attention that, in the last beta build, I accidentally broke the 'View / Select columns to show' sub-menu. There are TWO other ways to get to the column selection menu that do work. One is to right-click on the tab, the other is to right-click on the listview header. Either will show a popup menu with all the possible columns -- then you can check/uncheck to hide/show those columns. This works for BOTH the 'All Processes' *and* 'Active Processes' listviews.

Some users have complained that their process column settings were lost in recent beta upgrades. This happens whenever I add or remove a column. Since such changes are rare, it is simply best to 'put up' with them being reset during some upgrades ;o. The complexity and development time of a system to try to preserve your listview settings even when those listviews have had substantial changes made just isn't worth it, I'm sorry.

Well, here I go, trying my best to get this done ... I do have more good news - The graph tooltips are on display in my internal build here. I'm not quite happy with them yet, but they are here. I'm also fixing little GUI quirks left and right.

Version 4 will be here before you know it.

Read More

Actual time spent in restraint also added to processes

At the suggestion of Scott Danesi, perhaps through an initial misinterpretation, I also added the time spent in restraint to the 'Time Restrained' column. There was extra space there anyway since the header text was so comparatively large.

NOTE: Screenshot actually of v3.99.32 internal, so may have cosmetic differences from v3.99.31.

As you can see, one of many benefits of Process Lasso is that it greatly improves system responsiveness during builds with Visual Studio (especially the heavy-weight Visual Studio 2010). The restrained processes are all helper processes VS2010 launches during the build process.

---
I also fixed an issue with system tray tooltip truncation in Vista/Win7 that popped up in the last beta (but no other build).

I am now completing my 'task list' and going for gold here...

v3.99.31 beta will be uploaded within minutes.

Read More

v3.99.30 - New process 'status' column shows restrained processes, times restrained, and more [coming]

I told you that inter-process communication rewrite would have plentiful benefits. One is that the new Status column added as a placeholder in v3.99.29 beta will show is a process is actively being restrained or not. It will show 'restrained' up until the point that the Probalance action has ended.

(remember: Not shown in v3.99.29 even though the Status column is there)

Notice the new 'Times Restrained' column too, an oft-requested feature.

I've also fixed truncated system tray tooltips in XP. This would have actually fixed itself, as the cause was the long version number resulting in a string that was too long, inducing a fail-safe system tray tooltip.

Several languages were updated, including French, Polish, and Italian... but that is true of nearly every build.
Publish Post
I continue to go through the known bugs and things todo list. I'll upload this new build in about 6 hours after I post this, with as much additional progress I've made at that time.

Oh, and for those that hate that new RAM Load graph I added - as of yesterday's public beta (v3.99.29) I've provided a way to hide it by pressing CTRL+R or using the View menu.

Read More

v3.99.28 beta - Better looks, cleaner resizing, etc..

New beta with continued polishing ....

Read More

v3.99.27 beta - cleaning things up

Beta builds are going to be coming 'rapid fire' until I'm done. I've only seen benefits from this, as users provide me immediately with feedback. This new beta cleans several things up, fixes a few reported bugs and anomalies, and has more coming.

Read More

Process Lasso v3.99.26 released

I've released a quick new beta, v3.99.26, as a quick fix for the excessive CPU use by the GUI (when it is opened and visible) in the last beta (v3.99.25). More work remains, so they'll quickly be a v3.99.27 with other areas improved. I'm really making rapid progress. Whether or not is a good idea to keep uploading builds so fast is questionable, but it is nice to quickly hear from users about any potential problems.

Read More

New build of v3.99.25 uploaded to address excessive repainting

In my eagerness I released v3.99.25 beta a little early. It still had some safety code in it that would cause excessive CPU use by the GUI *when* the GUI is open and visible. I uploaded a new build a few minutes ago to help with the situation, and am uploading v3.99.26 later tonight after I complete more work and polishing of the new painting code. v3.99.26 beta should completely address the issue and performance of the GUI will be the same as prior builds.

Note the problem isn't that excessive at all, and many developers wouldn't have even cared. However, I've *always* been concerned with making sure resource use by both the GUI and core engine is kept to a minimum, hence the immediate update to improve it.

Of course, this is a beta, and such things are to be expected. That is the risk that goes along with using a beta version. Please understand this. Trust me when I say I am working as hard as I can to get the code completely done, but it has been a challenge. The feature additions have been massive, the internal rewrites have been massive, and now the regression testing will be a massive effort.

I'm going to have to slow down to make sure things are done right, while at the same time speeding up to get more things done ;o.

Read More

v3.99.25 beta released with a new look

This new version makes an assortment of improvements, fixes, and adds a current memory load bar graph to the right of the main graph. I must say the painting and sizing code became highly frustrating at times. I ended up doing most of it manually as I couldn't get Windows to do it like I wanted. The good news is I ripped the guts out and the entirety of the window painting is done a little better now. It is times like these when I wish I used third-party libraries or free code to make my life easy ;o.

Sadly, I'll likely do another rewrite of this as I think I can make it much smoother and less CPU intensive. For those with slow machines, be sure to remember hiding the graphs will reduce CPU utilization by the GUI when visible.

Anyway, this is a big hurdle, even though it isn't perfect as I'd like (yet). The graph tooltips are all ready on the backend, but require another night of probably frustrating GUI work. I look forward to getting back to the core engine and finishing remaining chores there.

I hope to remain extremely productive and new builds coming quickly. I'm definitely accepting no new features are this point, other than the one remaining on my list. The rest is fixes and debugging of existing code and additions.

Read More

Work continues... nearly there

I am determined to 'just finish this' build and get it into 100% testing and polishing faze. It has taken longer than I thought, with a couple roadblocks that have been highly frustrating. Still, I'm nearly there -- and will be releasing the next beta build very soon. If this next build isn't a release candidate, the following one will be (I hope).

Read More

v3.99.24 - Continued massive internal changes

I am about to get to the final cosmetic changes, but v3.99.24 continues a trend of improving the licensing and protection systems on Process Lasso. Version 4 is an important release, as I've stated many times, and I'm going to great lengths to ensure that it is done right.

These things remain before v4 release candidate 1:

• New graph of memory load
• Graph tooltips over ProBalance events
• About 50 little things

So, we aren't far... I *intend* to have rc1 released this week. I am so tired of being in beta (as is everyone I'm sure).

Read More

v3.99.20 released - redesigned tray notifications

Version v3.99.20 beta is now available. This version includes the revamped system tray notification balloons, which I've further improved since my last posting. To show off the new capability, I've changed the default 'Show balloons' setting to TRUE for non-server editions of Process Lasso. I also renamed the pertinent configuration file setting.

This build also makes some good improvements to the process context menu. I personally thinks it puts the commonly used stuff where they are easy to find, and moves the less commonly used stuff off into submenus. Maybe after the 10th try I've nearly got it organized optimally ;).

I expect two more builds and there will be a release candidate. The graph tooltips will appear in the next build, for those who wonder. At least, that is plan now. They will come before final, no doubt about that - That is why I've been working so hard rewriting so much of the core of the software.

Some semi-large cosmetic improvements are also coming, and they may surprise you. It will really give you that new version 'feel'.

One thing is certain, with a change log this long nobody can say version 4 isn't a major upgrade, lol.

Read More

Improved system tray balloon tooltips

I've finished and extended the new system tray balloon tooltips in the as yet unreleased v3.99.20 beta. You'll see merged notifications, such as:

I've also added notifications for every type of event possible, and they are broadcast better (the new inter-process communication framework). Merging similar events that occur about the same time allows for much clearer representation of what is going on, and gives the user a chance to read them during 'rapid fire' ;). Even better, this is offloaded to another worker thread. Process Lasso is growing in threads every day it seems, lol. Fortunately, I've also improved the efficiency of the thread synchronization objects - so the overhead is lower than ever before.

I'm going to add more things to v3.99.20 before release, and do some testing -- but it is coming. After this, there will only be a couple more additions to make, then we'll just need to finish testing.

Read More

v3.99.19 beta released

v3.99.19 beta is released. All inter-process communication has now been consolidated into the new mechanism. The system tray balloon tips (off by default) have been rewritten and revamped. Much work remains, but we're getting there. An array of other improvements and beta2beta fixes were made as well.

Version 4 is my top priority until it is released. I will continue to work as hard as I can until it is finally ready.

Read More

Finally, v3.99.18 beta

I hit a 'block' last night, perhaps it was due to malnutrition, perhaps overwork, or perhaps stupidity. Nevertheless, it took about 5 minutes to fix the problem today when I took a fresh look.

v3.99.18 is being released. The most prominent change is something you won't see or notice -- that improved inter-process communication I've mentioned. Process Lasso will now function much better in more complicated multi-user environments and in cases where the Governor is running as a service. Yea, most companies wouldn't bother, and probably have released v4 weeks ago to maximize profits (ready or not). For me it's personal though, I want things right -- and I want to finish what I've promised. I'm about 95% there.

I do still have to finish integrating the old code with this new code. The systray balloon tooltips, for instance, will use this method, instead of their older method. This will greatly improve performance, particularly in high loads, and particularly on multi-threaded systems. Yes, you read right.... Process Lasso is becoming increasingly multi-threaded. It always has been, but now it is more than ever. I'm offloading work to threads left and right (while not going overboard). On multi-core systems, this will be a great advantage.

Read More

New inter-process communication rewrite opens doors and improves efficiency

Under development is a rewrite of the inter-process communication between the core engine and instances of the GUI in its entirety. This will allow improved handling of cases where there is a single instance of the core engine and multiple instances of the GUI. Further, it will improve efficiency of the governor and GUI, and create a robust framework for future additions.

The first thing the new framework will be used for is tooltips for highlighted portions of the graph. Sure, I could have done this all the 'simple' way, but I figured I'd go ahead and create a robust and efficient framework to allow for easy expansion later. It might be that this code is useful for other projects as well, who knows.

Read More