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.

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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' ;)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

New beta with continued polishing ....

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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.

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