Public Betas 2 - StartRight

I've released a new beta (preview) version of StartRight v1.3.2 RC 1 under the Beta Testers section. What I need feedback on is if the auto-exclude works for problem program like a firewall or anti-malware program that interupts the install or restore operations of StartRight.

Public Betas

I've decided to start releasing betas of my software to the public under the Beta Testers section. The first release is currently a maintenance release for Rename Master.

These beta downloads will be separate from the other normal downloads so there will be no confusion as to which version you want to download.

As always, feedback is needed - especially if it's broken.

StartRight feedback

I'm working on some of the problems that the users have made me aware of with StartRight. If your problem is not covered below, please send me some feedback.

First, some programs will protect their runkey entries and this breaks the Restore feature. I've had reports of this with some anti-virus programs and firewall programs (Panda AV is one example). When these programs are set to Exclude, StartRight (and the Restore feature) work as expected. My goal is for StartRight to test each key before moving it so that no other program interupts writing or deleting of Runkey items. If any problem is found, StartRight will automatically Exclude the item. This problem was the largest complaint from most users.

The next problem is multi-user systems. StartRight doesn't fully support "Current User" items. My goal is for Current User items to restore back to only that a single user's profile. This means loading, editing, and unloading an offline registry hive (this requires higher than normal privileges). Startup folder items are currently placed back in their original position, but will default to 'All Users' if the restore fails.

Lastly, I think the Restore process needs to show the user what it does, show anything that fails, and save "failed" items so that they're not lost. With the new protection detection, this won't happens as often, but StartRight needs to be able to fail gracefully when something unexpected happens and give the user a chance to fix it.

Once again, if your problem isn't covered here, please send me some feedback.

StartRight 1.3.0 released

I've released a new version of StartRight.

The most notable features are the ability do an 'Internet Search' on an executable's name and a 'New Item' command for manually creating new Runkey items. The Edit window has also been updated to be a little bit easier to work with.

Up and Running

I'm back to norm, so I have now release the maintenance updates for ArsClip and Rename Master. No work was lost, so all changes listed are intact.