v4.09.33 beta released

It is now 5am and I'm too tired to say much except this: There are bugs reported that I *still* have not got to. I know I'm going to get a couple 'what about my bug report' emails.. to which I'm embarrassed to not have resolved yet. Of course, they are isolated events, but still I would like to get them done. All I can say is that once your product gets used by so many people, it becomes increasingly difficult to please everyone quickly.

Anyway, this build has several improvements, more coming QUICKLY now, though I have yet more accounting and tax work to do tomorrow (ugh).

Changes in this beta (since last beta):

• Addition.GUI/Core: Added support for lowering explicitly I/O priorities in Vista+ during ProBalance restraint events
• Addition.GUI: Added post-auto-update system tray balloon to let the user know the update succeeded
• Addition.GUI: Added EULA acceptance message prior to automated update
• Change.GUI: Changed and ammended warnings in places
• Change.GUI: More cosmetic adjustments and polishing
• Removal.Updater: Removed from new updater the version change history, this will have to wait as I must get this version done
• Change.GUI: Updated Serbian, Serbian Latin, and other languages
• Fix.GUI: (further work) Fix issue where Norton NIS 2011 SONAR would unnecessarily warn of blocked attempts to enumerate its threads by Process Lasso
• Fix.GUI: Server time limited trial edition would errantly say 'skip and continue free edition use' when trial expired, fixed

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One bit of bad news, one bit of good news

One disappointing thing is that I've decided to cancel the change history shown in the update dialog, at least for v4.1. I may add it in v4.10.01, I don't know. The support is mostly done, but I am knocking off certain things I don't have done to make room for more important chores. Especially with the one-click (or automated) update, this may not be that big of a deal. Please accept my apologies. As a priority, there is just too much ahead of this, and it isn't a small addition ;o.

One bit of good news is that the next beta has the ability for ProBalance to directly change the I/O priority, in the event you wish such.

I've also added some new warnings and messages, and I amended my previous fix for NIS SONAR interoperability, one that should do well. Anyway, you'll see all this soon enough.

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A new warning about foreground boosting snake-oil

Every so many months I issue a new warning about these programs out there that claim to boost performance by increasing the priority class of the foreground application (though they usually just say 'Increase PC performance by 100%' or whatever absurd claim they feel like).

Windows already does foreground boosting. At Bitsum we have extensively studied the Windows scheduler, and foreground boosting. Although Process Lasso offers optional foreground boosting, when you turn it on you get a warning about all this. The ProBalanace algorithm makes no use of it at all. Why not?

As I say elsewhere, foreground boosting can cause real problems. First, it has no effect of boosting the performance of anything since Windows already does a form of foreground boosting (longer time slices and slight elevation in priority). Second, many programs simply 'don't play nice with it'. Third, poor implementations of it are even worse, as they can interefere with application self-set priorities and such.

Although ProBalance does NOT use foreground boosting, also let me say that  it took me considerable time and user feedback to get Process Lasso's ProBalance 'right', even continuing to tweak it to this day! Hardware and software environments change, so it has to adapt with them. It takes true dedication. Process priorities aren't something that should be messed with irresponsibly.

Stay far away from any of these programs. They are continually renamed, re-branded, and coming out of some newly founded company. When one company's reputation sinks, they start another. The most recent one I saw permanently disables UAC when you install it, if you can believe that!! (with no notification, nor reversion/undo on uninstall).

Be careful when you are trying ANY new software, make sure you trust the company FIRST. Don't install their software to 'find out'. First, check them out. Read. Use your intuition. Do they seem good? Check multiple rating sites using places like URLVoid.com. While sometimes these rating sites make mistakes, you can see the reason for the rating and determine if it is a valid rating or not.

I don't want to mention the violators because it will attract them. My days as a crime fighter are over, I will leave that up to end users ;). I know you are smarter than this, make sure they know too!

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v4.1 summary - what is, and what will be

I figured I'd post a quick run-down on what will be new in v4.1. Much of this is already complete, or mostly complete in the current beta offering. Some of it still lacks a ways to go, and there are some yet to be implemented 'simple but big' features I didn't list.

1. Automated updater provides hands-free automatic updates of Process Lasso. Alternatively, it can facilitate one-click automatic updates, similar to the way Firefox would update itself.
2. I/O Priority support in allows for a slew of new features based upon I/O Priorities (Vista+ only)
3. New Default Power Schemes replaces High Performance mode (Vista+ only)
4. A new focus on multi-core optimization
5. Further performance improvement throughout (I can't help myself apparently)
6. Many small bug fixes and general improvements since v4.

So, we have something to look forward to. Version 4 was a good start, and version 4.1 will be 'the version to have'. Next will come version 5, but that road map is classified (and highly volatile anyway ;p).

I'd really love to do a poll someday of what OSes my users are using. I wonder what percentage are still with XP, and how that has changed over time. I've heard many cases like my own; they went to Windows 7 and still rely on Process Lasso just as much. It seems something about the concept is quite addictive ;). If nothing else, it is like the warm feeling of knowing 'security' is on guard should something go horribly wrong. Sadly, in our complicated software environments, things often do go wrong. Credits to Microsoft for improving upon Windows substantially in Windows 7, but with so many third-party applications and drivers, it is an almost impossible environment to fully control. Process Lasso's ProBalance steps in where Microsoft 'left off' for whatever reason. The graphical demo shows this fairly starkly. The rise of multi-core CPUs that has helped, but also come with more the overhead of having all those cores. From core thrashing to CPU monopolization, Process Lasso is going to be there to 'just do it'.

And, yes, I am writing a motivational speech to myself, if you were wondering ;).

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New 'Default Power Scheme' to replace 'High Performance mode'

One of the important changes to v4.1 is that High Performance Mode has been REPLACED with Default Power Schemes. Both are Vista+ features, so if you're in XP or 2K, you can quit reading now. Microsoft redesigned the entire power scheme architecture in Windows Vista, and at present only the newer system is supported. This is actually one of the few cases where Microsoft broke backwards compatibility. Anyway...

Quite simply, now instead of only having the option of 'High Performance' and whatever you usually use (e.g. Balanced), you can set any power scheme to be invoked any time a process is run. This will allow much more flexibility. This feature is already present in the beta.

The documentation and FAQ will need rewritten a bit, another chore on the list. However, I wanted to quickly introduce loyal users to this change in functionality. That way nobody is left wondering what happened to 'High Performance mode'?!?

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Portable Editon

Ah, thought in the midst of getting v4.1 done I forgot about the new portable edition? No way! I'm working it out too. I haven't decided if the current approach is best or not, nor whether I should care about U3. It seems very few users care about U3 support, or maybe I just haven't talked to the right people. I personally never adopted U3, but then again I never leave my home office so hardly have a need for portable apps ;p.

I intend to release this right along-side v4.1, perhaps trailing a day or two at most. So, that's the plan.

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New rounded corners for users of IE and Opera

Frustrated by IE9 not 'just working' with my CSS that uses rounded corners (as shown in Chrome or Firefox), I did a 2 second search and found the answer. Using new CSS3 properties (4 redundant ones), covers all browsers. Apparently whatever 'standard' is still being debated. Sigh.. Still, those who use IE or Opera should notice the site looking better ;)

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QA pre v4.1 stable/final

Although I wouldn't call the beta that buggy, there are little things that need corrected and some crashes that need tracked down. Thank you all for continuing to submit minidumps. I am getting my new post-release debug framework worked out and these are becoming more useful over time.

While v4.1 has unfortunately been delayed, it won't be long, and I'll continue to backport any semi-important fixes to the latest stable/final build.

The temptation to keep adding new features is there, but I know right now my priority is finishing v4.1 and getting a stable final build out. So, it is with this in mind I proceed as quickly as possible. Sadly, QA isn't something to be done 'quickly', so we are probably still looking at a couple weeks before release, at least.

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v4.00.34 final/stable minor update released

This backports some fixes made in the new beta series, which is taking longer than anticipated to finish. I figured it was worth the time to go ahead and issue and test a new minor update to the last final with these small corrections. While the corrections are small, some people might have been affected by them to a large point.

• Fix.InstallHelper: (backport from beta) Fixed issue where Vista+ startup configuration could become 'stuck' (not changable or properly detected). First appeared in v4, as part of our new startup mechanism in Vista+. The more rare occurrence of two instances of the governor running at startup was also due to this.
• Fix.GUI: (backport from beta) Fix for issue where graph highlight tooltips would fail to appear over time.
• Fix.GUI: (backport from beta) Fix for Norton Internet Security 2011 history warnings flood as the GUI 'looks at' the threads of Norton's process.
• Change.GUI: (backport from beta) Updated all languages.

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Process Lasso v4.09.31 beta released

After analyzing some crash dumps I saw a race condition in the governor. A helper thread referencing a global event was in a race condition with another thread that initialized the used handle at a later time (a minor code positioning change where the impact wasn't seen). At least I believe this to be the case. I'm still having some troubles getting my debug symbols archived and matched properly, something I'll figure out soon enough. The crash location and disassembly was pretty compelling though, and this would explain the seemingly random occurrences of this (mostly all reported under x32 platforms).

Otherwise I haven't added anything new, yet. I do have some last minute additions planned. Simple things that will make a big difference. First I want to get this QA out of the way.

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Reminder: Do not download 'cracked' copies of our software

I've seen various cracked copies of Process Lasso Pro floating around. People, do not download these. Even if you have the best anti-virus software in the world, you are putting yourself at grave risk. MANY if not MOST pirated software comes with an extra 'surprise' inside. They bundle the original application along with some malware. You never notice the malware got installed, and think it all went just fine.

In the end, trust of the SOURCE is 95% of what you have.

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New Win7 x64 SP1 fresh install

Well, I set back up my primary development physical machine in record time. I do development on it up until the point I reach final, then switch to the virtual machine (and continue beta development on the physical machine). Anyway, the installation of Windows 7 SP1 went foobar'd on this PC because I had installed a pre-release of it. Now, according to all documentation, this pre-release would clearly be listed on the installed Windows updates. It was not. Besides, the backup files it needs had long been deleted. Compounding my problems was trying to squeeze Windows 7 into a 50GB SSD. It works good at first, but trust me when I say that just isn't enough for the OS. I redirected about everything to my HDDs, but the usage kept growing. In the end, I didn't even have enough disk space to install any service pack anyway ;o.

SO, fresh new Windows install and I like it. Even with Windows 7, for whatever reason, a fresh install feels and runs so nice. I put that SSD to use as a page file. Honestly, that's all it is good for at this point. The Hybrid drives may be the future for the next while, SSDs just haven't the capacity yet (unless you are rich I suppose). Of course, the primary advantage of an SSD, for those who don't know, is that there is no seek time. It is like RAM, in that it can instantly read any address. Sadly, it can't write quite as fast because a write incurs a read/modify/erase cycle on an entire block. Also, sustained data transfer rate isn't as fast as you'd think. A defragmented HDD with no other I/O requests can serve you up a large file quicker than affordable SSDs. I say affordable because I got a cheap one, though it is second gen (I missed the first gen). They've since improved, and it was really only my free space issue that caused any performance problem.

I've already got the build environment set up and already rebuilt PL, so all is good to go. I noticed during my initial install that the BETA (only) was improperly telling people Terminal Services needed to be started in Vista+. So, one good thing did come from this.

I'm now going to dive straight into these minidumps, as this is bug fixes only. I have to get this release out ASAP, or issue a new final with some back-ports (minor adjustments and fixes... e.g. no more graph tooltips that quit working over time.. something fixed long ago in the beta).

Wish me luck in my continued endeavors ;)

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BETA: Quickly cornering final crashes/problems

I'm now VERY rapidly cornering the final crashes and other problems reported by users. If I had it to do over again, perhaps I wouldn't have went so code-crazy, but in the end I think the reworking of the governor a bit will pay off. Once I do my final benchmarks, then I'll know for certain, but it can really only improve things so long as nothing is broken.

I'll keep throwing out new builds and get out v4.1 final/stable done ASAP.

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BETA: New automated updater - How'd you like?

For users of the PREVIOUS betas (v4.09.28 or v4.09.29), you finally got to see what the automatic one-click updater can do when it works like it should. Pretty nice, eh ;). I'll get those no-click options on in, and we're good to go. There is some question as to whether I should re-display the EULA or not. Perhaps only if it has changed? Hmm... Well, even if I have to re-show it to be legally safe, it is a simple click.

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v4.09.30 BETA released

Welcome to v4.09.30 BETA, moving as fast as I can to v4.1. While other builds have focused on adding features, here I work on correcting problems. First I tackle known issues in v4, as they are the most important. Then continued reported issues I'll be tackling as they appear. This release really changed more than I had desired, but I want to do things as best I can do them - not half-ass them. If its 'ok', that doesn't mean I won't go make it 'better' ;). Yea, at times that has bitten me in the butt, if you are wondering, lol. However, in the long run, it is worth it. Also, I don't always do that, I do know when to leave well enough alone.

This release has work done in various locations, with the most prominent fix being to detection of the current Task Scheduler based automated startup configuration. It now properly enumerates and finds any task scheduler entry, so won't even be confused if you go and manually change it (just like the registry entries).

Work elsewhere has been throughout. The automated update system should do better and better, and I'm about to enable the toggle to allow to be used without your intervention. A few more little things need to be added first, most noteably the frequency option and a log of the update.

Enjoy, another likely coming soon afterwards here.

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BETA: Vista startup configuration

Ok, I've got this fully correct now I think. In some cases in previous builds you could end up with both registry and Task Scheduler startup entries, which is obviously neither intended nor desired. This was rare, and only if you changed configurations. However, it could happen.

I fixed the Task Scheduler (elevated rights) detection so it properly detects if the GUI and Core Engines are set to start with elevated rights they now correctly identify whether they are set to start with the current user or all users.

I've described this before, but wanted to elaborate. I *may* backport this simple fix. We'll see.

It MAY take one run to 'clean things up', so the first run may look funny, or be inaccurate, but from then on everything will be ok. For new installs, everything will be fine of course.

This change coming in v4.09.30 beta.

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News from Japan: Our Japanese reseller and his family are ok ;)

We are happy to report our Japanese reseller and his family are ok. They are a long trusted part of the global operations of Bitsum Technologies.

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BETA: Ok, trying to finish it again today

I worked all day yesterday on this, trying to finish it up, but kept having new issue and issue to resolve. I tried to stay up all night, took a caffeine pill, but then fell asleep ;o. I guess I am immune to caffeine now, lol.

Well, at least I'm rested and although my eyes are a bit dried out from sleeping with my contacts in, I can still see, still type, still think, and therefore... let's get this done. I want to see v4.1 final ASAP!!

At present I'm back in W2K, where I see compatibility is still broken ;o. Argh.

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BETA: Fixed W2K and WXP pre-SP2 (lack of) minidump support

A minor typo would let these 'just crash' under certain cases. I'm still evaluating for further new incompatibilities. You old Windows 2000 and XP pre-SP2 users be sure to buy a copy, lol ;). Seriously, I do work hard to ensure that every final build is compatible all the way back to Windows 2000. While you guys don't get Minidump support because the OS doesn't support it, you do get friendly crashes, if they do occur. I'm also tracking another W2K issue, so hang in there while I sort out this new beta. Every build it seems I have to go back and regression test under W2K, lol.

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Engaged at full speed

I'm getting it done as quickly as possible folks ;). I'm feeling good, no huge problems to deal with (other than the persistent ones), etc.. and am making quick work of things today. I definitely anticipate a new beta very soon. I am not going to say a specific time, but its coming.

I do apologize for a stall. As you know, I'd much rather be programming myself, lol ;). It takes A LOT to run a small business, even though there are no employees. That's no excuse though, and as *ALWAYS* my product development is my top priority. Yes, above marketing or advertising. I want to have the next version out, not be working on selling the last ;). Of course, purchasers of the current version will have access to the new version, so have no worries about that.

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Thank you for your continued crash dump submissions in the beta

Although it keeps me busy, thank you for your continued crash dump submissions in the beta. This helps me to track down bugs, so v4.1 is hopefully the ultimate build of Process Lasso. Well, until v5 that is. Yes, the next planned version is that of v5. After all, I'm nearly done with the v4.1 code, so the version 5 improvements (of which there are many) are next to start hacking away at ;).

Oh, and I am issuing a new beta soon as I can, trust me on that. I am more eager than any user, I would love to issue it right now if it were ready. It almost is.

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Sorry, fixing startup config issues in Vista+

I apologize for not releasing the new beta. Some users had emailed me, making me aware (or more aware perhaps) of certain bugs yet to be fixed, so I started work on them, and am now 'in the middle' of progress still. Don't worry, it will come very soon at this point. If I have to, I'll throw an intermediate build out there, but I'm preferring to wait until I get this one perfect.

Thanks for your patience.

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W2K Users: Latest beta has problems, am fixing

During QA of the latest BETA I discovered I broke W2K compatibility again, in that it would crash in W2K. I have fixed this up for the next build. Don't worry, I always make sure W2K works before release ;). I won't forget about you, even if the rest of the world may seem to at times ;o.

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New beta coming, next 12 hours or so

I'm glad to say I finally have a new beta coming, within 12 hours or so. I *may* also issue a new final build, but that is something I have not yet decided. v4.1 is so close it seems like a mute point.

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Code review and bug tracking continues

This is the tedious part of pre-release work ;o. I will release a new beta though, as soon as I possibly can. Although I've got new problems, I am just going to ignore them, despite their impact on business. It is all I can do. I know I run one of the cleanest and most ethical companies on the net, and have for over a decade. My users know that. The total story is quite long, but a 4th oopsie by SiteAdvisor on ProLasso.com has hurt sales because that is the domain I was using to send final purchasers to in previous builds (now changed, silently, so hundreds of thousands of copies still exist with that URL).

Meanwhile, as SA tries to fix its own internal algorithm problems, the reviewer that got banned from SiteAdvisor is using this as cannon fodder against both me and McAfee (he blames his ban on me for daring to point out that he 'hit' me with a defamatory remark amongst his 2 million site reviews.. but that had NOTHING to do with his ban that happened some 30 days later). He later recanted, twice -- because the first recant was so offensive. After his second recant, I had no issue with him. I just don't like being defamed, or having my integrity falsely attacked. I'm sure anyone can understand that.

Anyway, forget all that, working only here. I have no control, clearly ;). It doesn't matter how ethical I operate, a single false positive from years ago could be, and may be, the cause of these strange SA problems. We don't know because they make no accusations (same as prior 3 incidents they corrected), and their TrustedSource server is on the fritz. I have no more energy to fight.

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Back in the saddle, 'with it' again

If the script kiddies want to continue their attack, let them. We, as a community, will get it cleaned up sometime afterwards. Back to work ;).

At present most recent anonymous attacks have been here:
http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/processlasso.com

THANKS to all those users who have kept me GREEN/SAFE thus far, in spite of this ;).

This shows just how much love I have back from my users. I really do appreciate it, and will try to pay it back to ya in every way possible.

Ok, new beta ;). Lets get this on out. There a bunch more crash reports I need to go through, so bare with me. I wanted to get some bugs worked out of this one.

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Attack continues on ProcessLasso.com

Despite a sterling reputation for 10 years, I've been ANONYMOUSLY attacked here: http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/processlasso.com ... The only defense I have is my users. So, please take the time to rate my site whatever you believe I deserve. I am partly being blamed for the banning of a reviewer (bot with 2+ million reviews) at McAfee SiteAdvisor who had made highly defamatory remarks about my site by mistake (generic text). He then recanted, but his first recant was more offensive than the accusation even (as if he and his lists were infallible). So, he recanted a second time. I didn't mention him again, but SiteAdvisor later removed his account and now I'm being blamed. As soon as his account was banned, this attack happened. Coincidence I'm sure.

I had MyWOT fix the initial attack, which occurred right as this ever-so-ethical, self-appointed guardian reviewer was banned. However, then his friend stepped in and complicated matters by bringing up stuff he knew to be long resolved at SiteAdvisor (they dug up my butt for a long time before correcting their false positive). So, MyWOT then UNFIXED the problem, and now I'm left only with my users to defend me.

These rating systems have all the power in the world, and this is the most important domain (obviously). It is my only profit generating product! (small profit, mind you, lol).

I am glad to say that users have come to my defense and properly rated me GREEN/SAFE in every category at EVERY rating service. Thank you ;). It is good to see a community come together, and nice to know that I am appreciated ;)

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