ShutOff 2000

Version History

01/01/2001 - ShutOff 2000 v2.40

Fixes/Additions:

  1. Major rewrite of registration key algorithm after discovering a key generator for ShutOff 2000 v2.20 on Astalavista.box.sk. The new version of ShutOff 2000 will verify the registration key automatically when starting. All registration keys prior to this version have therefore been scrapped. If you are a registered user, please send an e-mail to info@e-llusion.co.za to get a new key.
  2. Some minor bugs are expected in this release, since a lot of code has been rewritten. Please report any bugs to info@e-llusion.co.za. Please do not confuse workarounds with bugs though. A number of procedures have been written into the software to work around previous issues.
  3. Added a new dialog box for registration information. No existing values are displayed on this screen for security purposes. Combined with the abovementioned algorithm, this has made the compiled executable about 20% bigger (76KB).
  4. Modified wording on the About tab to indicate "[Registered]" or "[Unregistered]", and removed the registration key display.
  5. Fixed bug in Advanced tab with activating the timer incorrectly.
  6. Removed unnecessary OCX files from the distribution, substantially decreasing the size once more.
  7. Added the ShutOff 2000 icon to the Windows Startup program group. It was left out in version 2.30.
  8. Compiled executable is quicker after some tweaking.
  9. Time and date-stamped all related files correctly. This was overlooked in version 2.30.
  10. Added a piece of code to remove any old registry keys that may still have been around from version 2.0.
  11. Experimented briefly with the Microsoft Windows Installer, but this still requires more research before it will replace the standard Visual Basic packaging wizard.
  12. Thoroughly checked the documentation and version numbers to keep consistency.

28/11/2000 - ShutOff 2000 v2.30

Fixes/Additions:

  1. The interface has been modified once again, this time to allow an expansion set to the ShutOff 2000 applet in a future release.
  2. The About dialog box has been incorporated into the main window using a tab selector.
  3. An Advanced settings tab has also been added, which allows the user to set a delayed log off or shutdown. This option will automatically set the "Disable confirmation" option to on. By default, this setting will be saved as such when ShutOff is next opened.
  4. The username has been incorporated into the system tray menu, to maintain consistency with the main ShutOff 2000 display. The Log Off button has been fixed to display the username as advertised.
  5. Since the entire interface has been redesigned, and all separate windows incorporated into one, there may be bugs that have crept into the program. Some of the code has been streamlined.
  6. A registration key slipped into v2.20's help file by accident. That key has been disabled in this release.
  7. Removed the nag message from the About box, since the interface has merged. Now the delayed shutdown option is disabled unless the user registers the product.
  8. Identified and fixed documentation inconsistencies. All documentation including the help file has been converted into HTML format.
  9. Removed the Help file button from the main window, and added a hyperlink in the About box to open the Help file, due to a programming constraint.
  10. The "Power Off" button has been renamed to "Power Down".
  11. Fixed a bug where the duplicate instance check would not close the duplicate instance properly.

15/09/2000 - ShutOff 2000 v2.20

Fixes/Additions:

  1. Once again, the interface has been modified. This time, we have used frames to group the various objects together, which we think makes it look nicer. The same has been done to the About box.
  2. All message boxes throughout the program have been modified to be easier on the eye.
  3. Improved the registration key option in the About box. Now the key has to be in a certain format and length to be valid.
  4. Added a nag message when users click on OK button in About box if ShutOff 2000 is not registered. The "Register" button will also change its caption depending on the registered status.
  5. If the product is registered and the user clicks on "Register", a warning message box will ask whether the user is sure that he or she wants to change the registration information.
  6. The Force and Disable options have finally been incorporated into the system tray menu. It was not nearly as hard as we thought it would be.
  7. The Log Off User button has been modified to show the actual user logged on under Windows, up to a maximum of 8 characters.
  8. The Windows kernel version message has been modified, so that the actual Windows version is displayed, as well as the computer name, up to a maximum of 15 characters. The word "Running" was also removed to make space for a machine name of 15 characters.
  9. A lot of the internal workings have been looked at to decrease the amount of code (and therefore make the compiled executable smaller). However, with the new menu items (see #6 above), this is becoming increasingly difficult. On the good side though, this application is the same size it was on version 2.0, but with around 20 enhancements.
  10. In the About box, the URL for E-llusion Interactive's website can now be activated by a click.
  11. Updated label on system tray icon with new version number. It was still on version 2.1.

04/08/2000 - ShutOff 2000 v2.11

Fixes/Additions:

  1. Fixed a bug that crept in with the option to close or minimise ShutOff 2000 when closing it. Now this message box will only appear if the user clicks on the X to close it.
  2. Added a very simple interface to include a registration key, in the About box. This will be developed in a later version.

01/08/2000 - ShutOff 2000 v2.10 (also listed as v2.1)

Fixes/Additions:

  1. Fixed system tray Restore option. Now the user has to double- click the menu item to restore the window.
  2. Removed superfluous code and rewrote several functions, so the compiled executable is almost 15% smaller.
  3. Removed Windows 9x warning and related components. This product has been tested thoroughly on post 1995 Intel Windows platforms.
  4. ShutOff 2000 offers the user an option to minimise the main window to the system tray if s/he clicks on the X to close the program. This will be bypassed if "Disable confirmation" is enabled.
  5. The help file is accessible from a menu item the system tray, but due to a limitation in Visual Basic, the main window must be displayed for the help file to open.
  6. ShutOff 2000 closes when the shutdown or log off event has been sent. This is more of a cosmetic change than anything else.

03/07/2000 - ShutOff 2000 v2.0 Final Code

Fixes/Additions:

  1. Beta 5 has been promoted to final code. There may still be a few references to beta 5, but I think these have been removed.
  2. Attempting to start a second instance of ShutOff 2000 from the same program location or icon will bring up a message box that indicates that the application is still running. If ShutOff 2000 is minimised to the system tray, it will not be brought to focus, but the warning will still occur.
  3. Removed the Rich Text Format help file and replaced it with a standard Windows Help File format. This can be triggered from the application, using the F1 key, or opened from the Windows Explorer.
  4. A Microsoft Windows 2000 Installer distribution is on the cards and is undergoing testing.
  5. Rearranged the options so that the Windows 9x warning checkbox is at the bottom of the screen.
  6. Fixed a bug that was not implementing the settings before running the code to log off or shutdown. Now clicking on one of the four main buttons will save the settings in the registry before it is executed. I don't know how long this has been here.
  7. Fixed a bug under Windows 95 that did not transfer the Windows 9x setting to the main ShutOff window after clicking "Continue". This crept in after the settings were added to the main window.
  8. Fixed a bug under Windows 95 created by the previous bug fix, where pressing Cancel to close ShutOff on the Warning dialog would not actually quit the program. This means that the warning is no longer a modal window. Therefore this has now been changed so that it is now visible in the task bar.

25/06/2000 - ShutOff 2000 v2.0 beta 4

Fixes/Additions:

  1. Decided that the settings should be in the same window as the main program, since this is supposed to be an easy and quick to use program.
  2. Added "Clear" and "Save" buttons to allow the user to reset the registry settings for ShutOff and save new ones without having to close the program.
  3. If ShutOff 2000 is exited while minimised in the System Tray, it will open in the same way. In Beta 5, it will also only be made possible to open one session of ShutOff 2000 at any time. This will arise out of people not noticing the icon next to the clock.
  4. Updated documentation, website and version numbers.
  5. This is a BETA release, so it is not unlikely that it can and will change before the final release of version 2.0.

08/06/2000 - ShutOff 2000 v2.0 beta 3

Fixes/Additions:

  1. Having discovered how to save settings in the Windows Registry, I have moved the Force and Disable settings into their own window, along with two more settings - minimise ShutOff 2000 on startup, and disabling the Windows 9x warning message. This means that the compiled executable is now 44% bigger (52KB), but that doesn't mean it's any slower. And it now saves your settings!
  2. Reintroduced ShowInTaskbar option for the main window. A bug crept in that made the window disappear behind others with no way to get it back unless all windows were minimised. Now the window will be in the task list, and have a button on the task bar.
  3. The Settings window and About window will open as modal windows, hopefully preventing any of them from disappearing into nowhere.
  4. Added menu option for Settings in the system tray menu, as well as a separator bar to make it look nicer.
  5. The "Disable Windows 9x warning" setting is disabled in Windows NT and 2000 for obvious reasons.
  6. Updated documentation, website and version numbers.
  7. These changes will not affect ShutOff 2000 Lite in any way, so it has not been updated.
  8. This is a BETA release, so it is not unlikely that it can and will change before the final release of version 2.0.

30/05/2000 - ShutOff 2000 v2.0 beta 2

Fixes/Additions:

  1. Beta 2 introduces another major rewrite of the code, really earning the major version number now. Functions have replaced most of the duplicate code created when the "Disable confirmation" option was first included (among other things). The compiled executable is now even 10% smaller.
  2. The system tray icon should not display when the main window is open, but should appear when minimised. This has not been fully tested, but it should work well enough.
  3. Decided to release a FREE scaled-down version of ShutOff 2000. The free version (called ShutOff Lite) will not have the option to Force a shutdown, nor Disable the confirmation boxes. Version numbers will remain the same across the two.
  4. Updated all tooltips and version numbers to beta 2.
  5. This is a BETA release, so it is not unlikely that it can and will change before the final release of version 2.0.

24/05/2000 - ShutOff 2000 v2.0 beta 1

Fixes/Additions:

  1. Major version number, because there is a major addition! The system tray will show the ShutOff icon, and if a user right- clicks on this icon, he or she can now control ShutOff from the System Tray.
  2. A major version number means rewriting code. The System Tray functionality required a new module, and the menu options had to be added as well. You can now Log Off, Shutdown, Reboot or Power Off, right from the system tray. The same conditions apply regarding a forced log off as if you are running it from the main window though, so be extra careful. There will be a way to control forced log off from this menu in a later release.
  3. Reintroduced separate buttons for Reboot and Power Off. The radio buttons were annoying at the best of times.
  4. Resized the main window, buttons, etc., to make it harder to click on the wrong button.
  5. Reworded Windows 9x message box to indicate that ShutOff may not work properly.
  6. Added the Mimimize button on the main window.
  7. Changed documentation, website (http://shutoff.on.to) and the About box to reflect new additions.
  8. Realised that there are in fact eight ways to log off or shut down a PC with ShutOff 2000, so I have fixed that in the documentation
  9. This is a BETA release, so it is not unlikely that it can and will change before the final release of version 2.0. I have to admit that I should have done this with version 1.0, but we live and learn.

22/05/2000 - ShutOff 2000 v1.20 (not released to public)

Fixes/Additions:

  1. Added "Disable Confirmation" checkbox to allow power users to bypass the "Are you sure" message boxes that confirm a log off or shutdown. Resized main dialog to cater for this change.
  2. Rewrote subroutines because the "Disable Confirmation" dialog doubled the amount of code. The price of new functions! :)
  3. Resized the About dialog box and removed the extended message about international copyright. No one ever reads that anyway.
  4. Updated documentation and version numbers.

11/05/2000 - ShutOff 2000 v1.10

Fixes/Additions:

  1. Removed Force Log Off and Force Shutdown buttons and replaced them with a checkbox. Recoded Log Off and Shutdown buttons to show changes. Resized window and moved buttons around to make the whole application more compact.
  2. Added a button to clear Reboot and Power off options. These options will also be cleared when clicking on Log Off.
  3. Reintroduced Windows 9x support, but have not tested this. Message box will indicate that ShutOff 2000 is not compatible with Windows 95 or 98.
  4. "This computer is running Windows [version]" caption replaced by "Running Win[ver] kernel" to try and avoid confusion and to fit new compact applet window.
  5. Added tooltips for all options and buttons.
  6. Removed the "fixed in the middle of the screen" option. Main window can be moved around now.
  7. Tested application more thoroughly. Should be very difficult to break this on Windows NT 4.0 (see 3).
  8. Issues with Compaq and other namebrand PCs running non-standard versions of Windows 9x, NT or 2000 may arise when using this product. This will not be fixed in the foreseeable future.
  9. Updated documentation and website (http://on.to/shutoff). The screen capture now includes labels for all options.
  10. Added a more intuitive help file (RTF format) with screen captures. This will become a standard Windows help file in a later version.

03/05/2000 - ShutOff 2000 v1.01

Fixes/Additions:

  1. Fixed Reboot bug - was powering off instead of rebooting.
  2. Added About box.
  3. Removed Windows 9x functionality for later version. Program will now exit with a message box if not running Windows NT or 2000.
  4. Created a smaller distribution file without VB 6.0 runtimes.

26/04/2000 - ShutOff 2000 v1.0

First public release.


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