Really Effective

Windows Vista Compatibility Notes

admin — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:50:24 +0000

None of our products are officially supported or tested using the Windows Vista operating system.

However, as more and more people are using Windows Vista this post will be updated with any significant problems (and resolutions) that are reported by users with this operating system.

This is not an exhaustive list and due to several fundamental changes in the Vista operating system it is expected that there may be issues especially with respect to volume adjustment and installation.

Sound Control

Volume adjustment does not work - there are no known workarounds or resolutions for this issue.

TICK

No reported problems

We Are Back And With A New Site Design

admin — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:55:29 +0000

After an extended break, some effort has been spent on a brand new and more modern design for the site. Unfortunately both Sound Control and TICK have not had an update for quite some time now. No promises and it depends how involved it becomes but I am hoping to release updates soon starting with Sound Control and if the update is well received it will be followed by a new version of TICK. The new versions will be made available via the new Current Downloads feature, first as BETA releases to gather and fix any bug reports. Depending on the general feedback and success of the release it will then be made the official download version. When a release is made details of the changes will be posted as a new news item. Please feel free to Contact Us if you have any feedback.

Thank You And Goodbye

admin — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 23:00:47 +0000

After many years of success I have made the decision that due to personal reasons I have unfortunately decided the current version of TICK and Sound Control will be the last. With regret, this means Vista operating system support will not be implemented. The web site will remain open for the time being and support questions will still be read and answered if time permits. I am not totally discounting future versions but I currently do not have the energy, time, willpower or interest to continue these projects. It has been a difficult past few years and I wish to thank all users for their support and past interest in both TICK and Sound Control. When I think back to 1998 when I made the first public release of TICK (as it is called now) and back to 1999 for the first public release of Sound Control I have received great joy from these projects especially in the early years of development. If you wish to contact us please use the Contact Us facilities. Thank you and goodbye (for now).

What Is A BETA Release?

admin — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 23:00:12 +0000

Before a piece of software is made available to a wider audience software developers usually release a set of BETA releases that allow the potential audience of the application to provide feedback before the final release is made. This feedback usually includes details of parts of the application that do not function correctly on their specific hardware or details of changes they would like implemented. BETA releases however by their nature are usually contain problems, are feature incomplete (for example, unable to import previous settings) and may not be compatible with any existing version of the application installed. This generally means BETA releases are not recommended to be installed in a production environment or by inexperienced users. A more detailed explanation of what a BETA release is and the full software release cycle can be found on Wikipedia.

What Is A Member Only Release?

admin — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 23:00:04 +0000

A Member Only release is a special version of an application (usually a new version which is not publically available) which is made available to members of the web site only. A member of the site has registered to show their interest and support of the freeware applications available. Membership of the site is free. Member only releases facilities are currently not available.

Recent Server Problems Update

admin — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 23:00:13 +0000

Regular visitors have no doubt noticed that over the past couple of weeks the site has been experiencing difficulties. These problems started when the host company decided to migrate my account to a new server without my knowledge. This then involved me updating the domains so they resolved to the new server which causes a couple of days of the server appearing to alternate between up and down whilst these changes were propagated. The problems over the past several days have been caused by the new server suddenly having some kind of problem which resulted in no scripting being executed causing incomplete or even blank pages being served to visitors. I have since implemented a workaround but the original problem has still not been resolved and the server appears to be sluggish and unreliable at times. Please use the Contact Us facilities if you find any problems or to provide feedback on the speed/reliability of the new server.

What Is Our Policy On Older Or End Of Support Cycle Operating Systems?

admin — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 23:00:18 +0000

Here at Really Effective we take pride in trying to release our software for all Windows operating systems since Windows 95 and NT4 even after Microsoft no longer officially offers technical support anymore. At the time of writing Windows NT4, 95, 98, 98 Second Edition and Millennium Edition have reached their end of support cycle. This means it is no longer possible to get developer support from Microsoft and many developer tools are no longer supported by their respective manufacturers on these platforms. Although here at Really Effective we will try to continue to support these operating systems it will inevitably result in specific functionality being disabled in future releases for end of support cycle operating systems or at worse the operating system no longer being supported at all. This will unfortunately mean new releases, updates and bug fixes may not work unless you upgrade your operating system. If you have any queries on this policy please use the Contact Us link or refer to the official Microsoft article.

A Privileged Instruction Error Is Displayed?

admin — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 23:00:49 +0000

The Privileged Instruction error is known to occur when using TICK with Windows XP or above and the Internal Speaker options have been selected. This problem which is usually solved by adjusting your security level (more information in the Related Posts section below) seems to occur on some installations regardless of your Administrator level. The current workaround is to ensure you have no active dial up networking connections and change your sound options from Internal Speaker to None or Wave. Instructions for setting up Wave can be found in the help file. The Internal Speaker option directly accesses the internal speaker which is no longer possible due to restrictions that Microsoft have imposed with some Windows XP or above installations.

I Am Not Able To Select / Show Connect Speed?

admin — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 23:00:47 +0000

Due to various limitations TICK is not able to support connect speed if you use Windows NT4, Windows 2000, Windows XP or above. It is hoped that this limitation will be addressed in a future release.

Installing / Uninstalling On A Restricted User Account (Windows 2000 And Above)

admin — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 23:00:40 +0000

If you are installing / uninstalling in a restricted user environment and the setup application is telling you to use an account with Administrator or Power User privileges follow the instructions below.

Log In using your restricted user account credentials - the account where you want the application to be installed or uninstalled from.
Click Start - Settings - Control Panel - Users and Passwords. You will need to enter the User Name and Password of an Administrator.
View Properties on the restricted user you are installing the application for and click the Group Membership tab.
Select Other - Administrators and click OK twice. You may be prompted to log out and back in again.
Install the application by double clicking on the downloaded file. You should uncheck the Launch Application option to avoid it interfering with the following step.
Once installation has completed use the Users and Passwords applet to return the user to their Restricted User access level. Like before you will be prompted to log off and back on again.
Start - Programs - Application Name will contain shortcuts for starting the appplication, viewing the readme and displaying the help file.

You should avoid using the Run As command as this can confuse the installation process causing shortcuts to be created in the wrong user accounts.

Windows Has Automatically Hidden My Tray / Notification Icon?

admin — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 23:00:39 +0000

Windows XP and above automatically hides inactive tray / notification icons. Generally speaking this behaviour is not ideal and can be disabled using the following instructions. Right click on the Start button and select Properties. Click the Taskbar page and uncheck the Hide Inactive Icons option. Once OK is selected all hidden icons will be displayed. If you wish to have more flexibility choose the Customize button on the Taskbar page and select which icons you wish to hide.

Downloading Using Internet Explorer (Windows XP And Above)

admin — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 23:00:35 +0000

The version of Internet Explorer that comes preinstalled with Windows XP and above has additional security checks that ensure users do not accidently download files. When you click on a download link Internet Explorer may display an Information Bar at the top of the page. If you wish to continue and download the file you can click on the Information Bar message and select Download File from the menu that is displayed.

User Switching (Windows XP And Above)

admin — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 23:00:29 +0000

Neither TICK or Sound Control support the new user switching functionality of Windows XP or above. If you wish to switch users you must fully restart Windows. This will avoid issues including the incorrect sound device being selected and unable to access data files the applications need to run successfully. You may find you need to install TICK or Sound Control in each users environment. In most cases you should be able to select the same installation folder but as before installing any application it is recommended you backup your data files. For example, your TICK Log folder which is normally found in c:\program files\tick. It is also important if you are experiencing issues to ensure all users have Administration level privileges.

What Is A MD5 Checksum?

admin — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 23:00:16 +0000

When a new software release is made a MD5 checksum is created. This checksum is then published together with the file to the web site. After you have downloaded the application you run the file through a MD5 checksum creator and compare this value against the value published to the web site. If both checksums are the same it is unlikely the file has been corrupted, illegally patched or released by someone other than Really Effective. If the verification fails ensure you are downloading the file from the official site and that your download is not corrupted.