Possible bug in Find and Run?

[jacques0]

Newbie here. 

I have keyboard shortcuts set up for MANY programs, using the built-in Windows ability enabled by going to the shortcut to the program/file, then going to the properties sheet for that shortcut (Right-click/Properties, Right-click-R, or Left Alt-Double Click), then using the Shortcut tab to set a shortcut key for the file.  For example, CTRL-ALT-N (or Right-ALT N) launches Notepad, Rt-ALT W launches AdAWare, Rt-ALT Y launches SpYbot, etc.   

Now, I am totally impressed with Find and Run and I would absolutely be willing to contribute to its success, except for one problem:  As soon as I run F&R all of my keyboard shortcuts are disabled until the next boot or re-boot.  In other words (using the above examples) pressing Rt-ALT N, etc. does nothing. 

Certainly F&R is an extraordinarily useful program, but pressing 2 keys (Rt-ALT + something else) is faster than pressing Break, then typing in a couple letters, then pressing the numerical digit.  If F&R did NOT disable my already-configured shortcuts, then it would be a "must have" program.

I hope I am either missing something, or that this problem can be fixed on a future release.  I WANT to use it!

Any suggestions?

[mouser]

thank you for the bug report - while i've never heard of this bug before,

the ability to change keyboard shortcut is something that is long overdue, and i will release a new version in next day or two that let's user configure hotkey to whatever they want and solves your problem with other shortcuts.

catching the 'break' key was actually  a lot more work than normal keyboard shortcut responding, so it's probably interfering with your other hotkeys (not sure why it's not affecting others but still i'm sure that is the cause).

anyway, i will be uploading a fixed version in next day or two, which solves your problem so don't give up.

[jacques0]

Mouser...Thank you for the quick reply.  I want to make sure that my post was not misunderstood:  I am NOT dissatisfied with the "Break" hotkey.  Instead, I am concerned that my usual keyboard shortcuts have been disabled after I run Find and Run Robot.  If you can fix this problem, it will be a permanent part of my computer.

Thanks again.

[mouser]

i will still leave the break key as an option.

[mouser]

jacques0,

ok i see now you are saying f&r is interrupting not with a 3rd party hotkey system, but rather the windows internal hotkey handling.

the windows shortcut hotkeys all work for me even with f&r running, but i'd like to see if i can figure out what might be causing your troubles.

one question, if you exit f&r from the system tray (make sure its not shown in the system tray), do your hotkeys start working again?

what operating system do you have?

do you have any other hotkey manager running?

and does the break key actually work to launch f&r or not?

also one other thing, if you dont mind trying: if exiting f&r restores your hotkeys, or if you are feeling experimental, disable the "start with windows" option in f&r and try both different "tray-bases" ways of starting f&r from start menu and see if they both have this effect.

[jacques0]

Mouser...

First off, let me say how impressed I am with your concern.  I really appreciate your diligence to my question.

I'll answer your questions in order:

1.  The fact that Windows keyhoard shortcuts work for you, while F&R is running is---in itself---revealing.  For clarification, I'm going to explain in detail what I am referring to as "Windows keyboard shortcuts" so that we are both on the same page here:

       *  If I go to a shortcut icon on my Desktop, for example Quicken, and choose "Properties" from the right-click menu,  I am presented with a property sheet with two tabs. 

       *  Choosing the "Shortcut" tab, I can go to the "Shortcut key" textbox and enter there a letter/number/other keystroke which-----combined with either [Ctrl-Alt] or else [right-Alt] will execute the shortut (i.e., run the program). 

       *  In the example I have used, pressing [right-Alt+Q] will run Quicken on my computer.  I have many such shortcuts set up on my machine.

       *  This is the function that, on my computer, is disabled after running F&R (i.e., after running F&R, pressing [right-Alt+Q] does nothing.

Okay, now I'll move on.

2.  No.  If I exit F&R my keyboard shortcuts do not work until I either reboot or re-start the computer.

3.  I use Windows 98SE (I know, it's dated, but it has been absolutely bullet-proof for me so far, and I have a lot of confidence in it). 

4.  No other hotkey program running, although Toshiba has its own hotkey program available, which I don't use (btw, I'm using a Toshiba laptop).  I do notice, however, that Toshiba's Tfunckey process is running (visible via Process Monitor, from Sysinternals.com). 

5.  Yes.  The break key does work to launch F&R.

6.  I have tried this already, but did so again for the purpose of this post.  (a) Windows booted without F&R loaded; (b) launched Quicken (just to keep the example consistent) using [right-Alt+Q] as a test: Quicken launched fine; (c) launched F&R tray utility (less memory), then launched Quicken via F&R: Quicken launched fine; (d)  Closed Quicken, then tried to launch Q via [right-Alt+Q].  Received Windows "ding" and no launch; (e) Closed F&R tray utility and tried again to launch Q via [right-Alt+Q]: Windows "ding" and no launch; (f) Tried other keyboard shortcuts with similar response. 

Another, perhaps important, point:

I just now noticed that the programs I have set up to launch via an "F" key (in other words, F1, F2, F3, etc.) work fine.  The ones presenting difficulty are the ones requiring the Ctrl-Alt/Right-Alt prefix. 

I'd be curious to see what the experiences of other Toshiba users has been.

After posting this, I will disable the Toshiba Tfunckey process, then re-start the computer to see if that plays a role.  I'll report back.

Thanks again.  This is interesting.

Jacques

[mouser]

thanks jacques0, thats helpful information.
we are definitely on the same page, i understand the shortcut hotkeys you are talking about.
i definitely dont have your problem on my winxp machine but i will try it on a win98 machine and see if i do.

im definitely curious to hear if the problem happens regardless of whether you choose the:
"Find and Run Robot Hotkey Tray - Use Main Application (runs faster)"
or the
"Find and Run Robot Hotkey Tray - Use Tray Utility (uses less memory)"
way of launching F&R.

i will definitely have a fix for this in the next day, the only question is how elegant the fix is (ie whether you will have to choose between using break key and having bug or using something other than break key and not having bug).

[jacques0]

Mouser...More info:

First, I mis-stated that TfuncKey is a process running, whereas it actually is a program and shows up in the Task Monitor.  

This is what I have done since my last post:

1.  I disabled TfuncKey, then shut down, re-started Windows.  All results are same as before (i.e., F key shortcuts work before and after F&R, RightAlt+shortcut functions work before but not after F&R runs.

2.  I then enabled Tfunckey, but disabled Thotkey.exe, then shut down/re-start.  Same results.

3.  I then disabled both TfuncKey and ThotKey, then shut down/re-start.  Same results.  

The reason I shut down, then re-start is so that system memory is flushed, assuring no carryover effects, whereas a re-boot can sometimes have residual effects from previously running programs.

I've been playing around with RegMon (also from SysInternals.com), trying to find a registry access to explain the situation but---thusfar---I haven't found anything that jumps out at me.

Jacques

p.s.  I just noticed you reposted.  I will do a test of both functions, then report back.

[jacques0]

Mouser...More test results...

I tested all 3 modes (Standalone, TrayTrigger [uses less memory], and Main Application [runs faster]).  For each test I did the following:

         (1) Before launching any F&R function I launched Notepad by pressing RightAlt+N (my Windows shortcut for Notepad).  I also launched the Windows Find function by pressing F3, and I launched Windows Help by pressing F1.

         (2)  I then launched F&R (note: between tests for each F&R mode, I shut down, then re-started Windows).

         (3)  The program shortcuts mentioned in step (1) were then attempted again. 

         (4)  F&R was then shut down, and the program shortcuts were attempted again.

Here are the results:

Standalone Application:

       RightAlt+N shortcut worked before application started, but not after, and did not work after application was shut down.  F1 & F3 worked before and after.

System re-started........

Use Main Application (runs faster):

        RightAlt+N shortcut worked before tray icon started, but not afterward (i.e., shortcut did not work regardless of whether GUI launched or not).   RightAlt shortcuts did not work after tray icon was closed. F1 & F3 worked before and after.

System re-started.........

Use Tray Utility (uses less memory):

       Right Alt+N shortcut worked before tray icon started, worked after tray icon started, but did not work after program launched from tray icon (using break key or clicking icon).  If, however, the try icon was exited before launching F&R GUI, then all shortcuts worked normally.  The F1, F3, etc. shortcuts worked normally before and after, and regardless of whether the GUI was launched.

Whew!  Hope this helps.

J.

[mouser]

well that last test is a great help, and *suggests* that i should be able to fix this bug 100%.

thank you so much for doing all the tests.

i'll tell you what i tell other people that report bugs to me -
it's simply not possible to get these things fixed without those of you willing to give me these reports.
for every person who reports a bug, there are probably 10 or 20 more who encounter the bug and just uninstall the program out of disgust.

i can't thank enough those of you who are willing to test stuff and report back.

i am on the problem and hopefully will have a fix very soon.  like i said that last test suggests that i should be able to solve this problem.

[jacques0]

I'm glad to help out Mouser.  It will be interesting to see if there is a fix, or if it is a problem on my system. 

Once again, your prompt replies speak volumes about your integrity. 

Good luck!

Jacques

[mouser]

i've uploaded 2 things to test.
the first is a new test of f&r, just built with the latest hotkey component i use.
i'm guessing this is still going to fail like the other one, but its worth a try.
http://donationcoder.com/Beta/FindAndRunRobotSetup.exe

(you dont have to test everything anymore, just run the program and exit and see if your hotkeys are gone as usual).
(note this new version can just be installed on top of old, no reason to uninstall old first, just make sure it isnt running in tray)

assuming that doesnt work,
can i ask you to reboot and try this utility:
http://donationcoder.com/Beta/TestHotKeysProject.exe

just (reboot first so your hotkeys work) and then start it and enter some hotkey into box in top left, and click Add.  then test it by hitting the hotkey.
then exit and see if your normal hotkeys are still broken.

that will tell me if its the hotkey component i am using that could be causing this.  if so, i will try a test using another hotkey component.

[jacques0]

Mouser...

Sorry.  I was away from my computer for awhile. 

The first program, as you suspected, did not change anything.  I am about to test the second link you provided.  I will report back in a few minutes.

J.

[jacques0]

Mouser...re: the 2nd program...

I d/l'd the 2nd link you provided, but wasn't able to open it.  I received an error window saying that "A required file, Borlndmm.dll, was not found". 

I found the file on my system (in the SpyBot directory) and copied it into the F&R directory, but I was still unable to open the test file you uploaded.

Here's another thought:  I have my computer configured to install programs onto my D:\ drive.  Is that a possible source of problems (since most computers have their C:\ drive as the default install directory)?

[mouser]

no, doesnt have to do with D drive, my fault - i'll recompile it so it doesnt need that, just give me a minute.

[mouser]

can you try this one, hopefully it wont complain about borlndmm:

http://donationcoder.com/Beta/TestHotKeysProject.zip

[kfitting]

Any reason why the add method using THotKey control doesnt recognize the Win key?  I added a winkey hotkey using the GetHotKey method and it worked fine.

Kevin

[mouser]

it's a good question kevin, i'm really not sure, except that maybe the edit box that accepts and captures what you type is somehow not programmed to intercept windows key.

[jacques0]

Mouser...re: latest test..

Using your most recent test utility, and testing it according to your instructions, my keyboard shortcuts are still disabled.

Hmmmmm....not sure what's going on.

J.

[mouser]

well what i wanted to confirm, it sthat its the hotkey component i use (which you seem to be saying is the case), rather than anything specific in f&r.  now to try to find an alternate component.

[mouser]

jacques0,

i hope you aren't getting sick of rebooting your computer yet

can you try these two:
http://donationcoder.com/Beta/Project1a.zip
http://donationcoder.com/Beta/Project1b.zip

what we want to see is if these little tools, which just ask you to hit ctrl+alt+T
disable your other shortcuts like f&r does.  so the important thing is to test and make sure your program shortcut hotkeys work, then run this test, hit ctrl+alt+T to verify it works, then (exit or dont) and see if your normal shortcut programs work.

if we can find a hotkey component that works and leaves your normal shortcuts intact then i will be able to identify the cause.
if these all fail, well then its a bigger problem.

ps. i tried reproducing the bug on windows98 and the shortcut hotkeys still worked, so the problem you are having is not happening on all windows98 machines (though i did notice that my last build of f&r needed a change to run on win98 or else it complained of missing user32.dll function, so thats a good thing to discover).

i await the results of the test when you get a chance, thanks again

[jacques0]

mouser...I downloaded the files and will test them later this morning.  I have a few things to work on first, but I will report back to you as soon as I test them. 

Thanks for all your effort.  I feel guilty causing all this hassle.  There's always the possibility that it is something in my machine, perhaps the result of a Windows update or something.  Who knows? 

[jacques0]

mouser....Good news!

Here are the test results:

First, I noticed that the sizes of the two files (Project 1a & 1b) differ by quite a bit.  1a is 481 Kb and 1b is 1964 Kb. 

When I attempted to run 1a I received the following error msg.:

Error reading tdGlobalHotKeys1->HotKeys: Error reading THotKeyItem->HotKey: System Error.  Code: 127.  The specified procedure could not be found

and the program would not run.  There was no change to the functionality of any keyboard shortcuts.

I then shut down and re-started, and ran 1b, with apparent success.

Pressing Ctrl-Alt-T resulted in the message "Hello from hotkey".  I then closed the program, and all of my keyboard shortcuts (or at least all the ones I tried, both the Ctrl-Alt variety and the F1, F2, etc. variety) worked just fine.  I re-ran 1b and tried my shortcuts while 1b was still running, again with no problem.

It appears you may be on the way to a solution.  Let me know if you'd like anything else tested.

Jacques

[mouser]

great to hear that 1b worked - it will be very interesting to find out why this one works and the one in f&r doesnt.
and this is just what i needed to be able to figure out how to fix.. i will report on my findings soon.

[mouser]

can you test one more:
http://www.donationcoder.com/Beta/HotKeyTest6.zip

and a question:
do you use a non-english layout keyboard or a non-english localized version of windows?