12/12/2011 4:14:23 PM
Topic:
New version 1.14 released
Coastie
Posts: 20
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I use Symenu as a start menu replacement, so I have many/many non portable apps within it. I like the clean and simple interface where I can keep a lot of data in a tight space. I do use a lot of what is on http://www.portablefreeware.com/ and http://portableapps.com/ though.
I don't use portable apps because they can be moved around, I use them when possible because they don't put junk all around my OS. My 200+ portable apps are all installed on my main HDD. Thanks for the great launcher to access them all 
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12/12/2011 8:41:43 AM
Topic:
New version 1.14 released
Gianluca
Administrator
Posts: 86
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Hello Coastie.
The reason for which the config files are zipped is not that they are big but that they are often read and written. In other words these files are accessed whenever you open the configuration form, when you change the SyMenu options and even when you starts applications because of the "recent" features.
I don't want to create delays in all these moments. Accessing a light file instead of one heavier affects performances in slower system such as pen drives.
The app icons are read only during startup because they are stored in memory during execution (it is one of the reasons for which SyMenu weight so much when you check it in Task Manager but it's the same reason because it is so fast in opening itself when you call the menu).
Zipping the app icons in one single file could be a good idea but it is necessary to do some benchmarks to verify the performance in different system (slow access pen drive, fast portable HD, local HD and so on) because the only benefit is that you do a single access and not multiple accesses (zipping an ico file that weight few bytes doesn't affect its dimensions so much).
I promise that I check this for future version and eventually I'll implement it.
P.s. What do you think about a thread in this forum or a new page on ugmfree web site where we post the list of our personal SyMenu program collection? Is it interesting for you?
My SyMenu contains 119 programs and I'm curious to discover new portable good programs and the list of SyMenu users could be useful to know it.
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12/11/2011 11:05:12 PM
Topic:
New version 1.14 released
Coastie
Posts: 20
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Thanks, 1.12 -> 1.14 works great.
In the future would it also be useful to zip the icons folder? My Icons folder contains 239 icons, seems if we were worried about 3 files, 200+ may be useful too.
edited by Coastie on 12/11/2011
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12/2/2011 2:50:19 PM
Topic:
New 1.13 version is finally out
SyMan
Posts: 7
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Okay, thanks a lot.
But again, I don't mind if you add some links or information about your other projects. Only the main menu wasn't the best place to do that. Just my 2 cents.
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12/2/2011 2:12:11 PM
Topic:
New version 1.14 released
Gianluca
Administrator
Posts: 86
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Hello to every SyMenu user.
The 1.14 version is out and these are the SyMenu new features:
- Customizable recent items list
- New customizable elements added to SyProgram: Home page and Version
- Enhanced the flexibility in using the mouse on the configuration form tree
- New splash screen
And only for the eyes of SyMenu lovers, here are some technical details:
- New zipping library (Ionic.Zip.dll)
- The item's guid (is a sort of identifier that SyMenu creates for every SyItem) is stored on the configuration file
- Configuration files are moved into the Config folder and are now compressed to increase performances
The last news is very important because it become impossible to downgrade to a lower SyMenu version without losing the configurations.
Well the configuration formats are not changed but now the file are zipped. So if someone wants to downgrade to 1.13 or lower preserving his configurations, he has to downgrade the program, unzip the configuration files and move them to the SyMenu root folder.
The configuration files are now zipped because in some slow portable devices, the time lost to read and write these files represented a big problem. Zipping the files, the read/write operations become faster even if the program has to make some expensive operation in memory (unzip/zip data).
If someone of you wants help with some manual benchmark (or personal sensations) please let me know.
Enjoy.
edited by Gianluca on 12/2/2011
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12/2/2011 1:56:10 PM
Topic:
New 1.13 version is finally out
Gianluca
Administrator
Posts: 86
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Hello SyMan.
Maybe you are a bit late.
Yesterday I released the new version of SyMenu (1.14) and, as promised, I removed the ads from this new version.
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12/2/2011 1:40:27 PM
Topic:
New 1.13 version is finally out
SyMan
Posts: 7
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Thanks Gianluca for keeping up the excellent work.
Your new project looks pretty interesting. My best wishes for that.
I agree with the others that the very clean approach of SyMenu shouldn't be destroyed by advertising in the menu.
But it's your own software and many here are glad to use it for free.
So why not link (and explain) your ghezee for instance next to the donate-button (and elsewhere in the config area)?
And of course in your forum!
All that wouldn't spoil the picture and I'm always interested in other products/services of people doing a good job!
Best regards from Germany!
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10/11/2011 4:17:04 PM
Topic:
Why my Extension Manager doesn't work?
Gianluca
Administrator
Posts: 86
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Hello PoWi.
I don't agree at all.
A portable program can't alter your system even if the alteration is temporary. The registry is a fundamental part of a Windows system and the file association lies on a common part of the registry whereby your proposal is evil in my opinion
Well I describe how PFA works to let you know why SyMenu ExM is not so powerful and to let you know a tool (PFA) that you can use to replace ExM if you don't care about the alteration of your system.
Gianluca
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10/11/2011 3:05:01 PM
Topic:
Why my Extension Manager doesn't work?
PoWi
Posts: 19
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Thanks for explaining the ExM.
I don't know how the PortableFileAssociatorreally works.
Does this program generates registry files where the old associations are stored?
If yes so it would be possible to restore all the associations in the system registry.
Maybe SyMenu can do it....
Before changing the associations store them. Then add the new ones to the system registry.
After exiting SyMenu restore the old association.
That's the normal way... :-)
If SyMenu crashed and couldn't restore the old associations there could be a simple mechanism to add the old stored file associationsto the registry.
What do you think?
edited by PoWi on 10/11/2011
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10/10/2011 4:33:39 PM
Topic:
New 1.13 version is finally out
Leteo
Posts: 1
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Thanks, Gianluca, for a quality software and freeware. It is the best.
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10/10/2011 4:17:32 PM
Topic:
Why my Extension Manager doesn't work?
Gianluca
Administrator
Posts: 86
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A friend of mine asked for some clarifications about the way SyMenu Extension Manager works and why it seems not working in certain situations.
Let's make a comparison with one other program that temporally maps some extensions to portable programs.
I'm speaking about PortableFileAssociator (http://portableapps.com/node/15583).
Certainly PFA works better than SyMenu Extension Manager but the reason is that it plays hard with your system. It adds the extension associations in your registry during its startup and then it restores the old associations when you quit it.
The question is what does it happen if PFA crash? Have I to rerun it hoping that on quit it repair my extensions?
Anyway this kind of programs are not literally portable because they change your system registry even if temporarily.
SyMenu Extension manager (ExM) works poorly than PFA because it doesn't modify your system at all (no registry modifications, no file system modifications).
SyMenu ExM works in an indirect way monitoring every new process in Windows.
Let's make an example. If I double click C:\test.txt file in my PC, Windows, trough its extension association, passes test.txt file to notepad.exe that starts with that file opened.
SyMenu ExM analyzes this new process and realizes that it was started by a file (SyMenu succeeded to get the file name because it's one of the argument of the process). Then it checks if this argument file has an extension managed by my SyMenu ExM (naturally it depends on my custom configuration). Just in case SyMenu quits the former process (notepad) and start the SyItem that manages the extension passing to it the file test.txt as argument.
It's a very complicated process but sometimes it works :-)
There are some processes that don't expose the opening file among their arguments.
Office applications are in this group, Windows Media Player is another.
One other case in which ExM can do nothing is when you open a file through open file menu... the process in this case is already active and SyMenu can't understand that you are opening something.
Well miracles are difficult to do.
Gianluca
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10/6/2011 8:30:19 AM
Topic:
New 1.13 version is finally out
PoWi
Posts: 19
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Many many many thanks to you Gianluca!!!!!!
SyMenu is the best starter menu I ever had!
edited by PoWi on 10/6/2011
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10/6/2011 8:28:16 AM
Topic:
New 1.13 version is finally out
Gianluca
Administrator
Posts: 86
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I'm very sorry that you are so annoyed by the ad!
No it is not possible to remove that because I thought to remove it from SyMenu in next version.
So you can remains on 1.12 or wait for 1.14.
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10/6/2011 6:55:45 AM
Topic:
New 1.13 version is finally out
PoWi
Posts: 19
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I found no option to remove the add.
I agree with coastie - a starter menu should be a starter menu - simple and fast without any elements that make the menu "bigger".
I switched back to 1.12
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10/6/2011 12:19:40 AM
Topic:
New 1.13 version is finally out
Coastie
Posts: 20
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I looked around the settings, is it possible to remove the ghezee ad from the menu? That is very annoying. I use Symenu for the simplistic display, and that ruins is.
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9/29/2011 11:13:35 AM
Topic:
New 1.13 version is finally out
Gianluca
Administrator
Posts: 86
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Hello PoWi.
The little banner you can see at the bottom of SyMenu contextual menu is a link to my new project.
ghezee.com is a web site where I'm exploring a new way to intend classified ads.
Instead to work on sale proposals ghezee works on contract proposals. In this way a person who intends to buy something can set the selling conditions and can choose his contractor (seller) basing his chose on price, reliability and quality.
The big difference between other ads web site is that in ghezee, users don't have to search for what they want because the stuff they want search for them.
I invite you to read the info pages to better understand how it works.
http://www.ghezee.com/HowItWorks
http://www.ghezee.com/Faq
Gianluca
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9/29/2011 9:36:43 AM
Topic:
New 1.13 version is finally out
PoWi
Posts: 19
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Hi Gianluca,
first: I'm very happy that you publish a new versi0on! SyMenu is still my favorit app-starter!!! It's really really great. Good job - I love you on every use of SyMenu. :-)
Now one question: I mentioned an ad at the bottom of the menu of that new version. Can you tell the user something about that?
edited by PoWi on 9/29/2011
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9/29/2011 8:48:55 AM
Topic:
New 1.13 version is finally out
Gianluca
Administrator
Posts: 86
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Hello to all.
The new SyMenu version is out since yesterday.
I post here this news beacuse there is one of the new feature that needs a clarification.
The full list of the new features is this:
- Added links to Control Panel tools and commonly used Windows 7 programs in Search items bar
- New Turkish translation
- Customizable proxy settings manager to check for update
- Item Manager menu changes accordingly to currently selected SyItem
- New icon set
- Bug fix
The feature that I want to explain in deep is the first one.
With Windows 7 (and Windows Vista too, but I hope that no one use it anymore) Microsoft released a great number of new applet for our control panel. The process was becoming since the release of XP's SP2 but since W7 is not ignorable anymore.
I chose a list of these new applets that I think could be useful to everything.
The list is accessible through the SyMenu search bar as any other host programs. The applet names are the English ones.
If I forget something very useful please let me know and I'll add it on the next release.
Control panel applets recognize by SyMenu
Accessibility Options - access.cpl
Programs and Features - appwiz.cpl
Bluetooth Devices - bthprops.cpl
People Near Me - collab.cpl
Color Management - color.cpl
Display Properties - desk.cpl
Windows Firewall Management
Device Manager - hdwwiz.cpl
Internet Options - inetcpl.cpl
Regional and Language Settings - intl.cpl
Infrared - irprops.cpl
Game Controllers - joy.cpl
Mouse (control mouse) - main.cpl
Mail - mlcfg32.cpl mlcfg.cpl
Microsoft System Configuration Utility - msconfig.cpl
Sounds and Audio Devices - mmsys.cpl
Modem - modem.cpl
Network properties - netcpl.cpl
Network Connections - ncpa.cpl
User Accounts - nusrmgr.cpl
Gateway Services for NetWare properties - nwc.cpl
Data Sources (32-bit ODBC) - odbccp32.cpl
Password - password.cpl
Power Options - powercfg.cpl
Speech - sapi.cpl
Scanners and Cameras - sticpl.cpl
System - sysdm.cpl
Phone and Modem Options - telephon.cpl
Desktop Themes - themes.cpl
Date and Time - timedate.cpl
Action Center - wscui.cpl
Automatic Updates - wuaucpl.cpl
These are some useful Windows programs that SyMenu search bar can find
DirectX Diagnostic Tool - dxdiag.exe
Microsoft Management console - mmc.exe
Paint - mspaint.exe
Notepad - notepad.exe
Windows Features - optionalfeatures.exe
Performance Monitor - perfmon.exe
Registry Editor - regedit.exe
Windows Task Manager - taskmgr.exe
Write - write.exe
About Windows - winver.exe
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9/4/2011 11:18:28 PM
Topic:
Possible To Get Right Click Context Menu Option?
nicedreams
Posts: 8
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Probably a little late on this post, but you can do like I do and configure one of your mouse buttons to work with a shortcut. I do this with my Logitech mouse. I have an extra button I don't use and I go to the Logitech config and program one of the mouse buttons to perform a keyboard shortcut which I have linked to SyMenu. Now any time I press that button on my mouse, SyMenu pops up.
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7/5/2011 8:12:39 AM
Topic:
Possible To Get Right Click Context Menu Option?
Gianluca
Administrator
Posts: 86
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Reading your reply I realize that what you probably need is a fast way to popup SyMenu at all. But this is an already available feature.
Go to SyMenu main form, select Configuration - Options menu, go on Hot Keys tab and enable shortcut manager. It works only with keyboard but it is a very time-saving way to use SyMenu.
It allows you to use SyMenu entirely with keys, especially if you check the Set focus on search bar flag.
Give it a try.
Gianluca
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