ICON TRAY The Little Things That Microsoft Forgot -------- FEATURES -------- * Displays the current month, date, day simultaneously (in any order) in the system tray. * Schedules programs to run at specific time (i.e. automatically run backups everyday). * Appointment picture calendar with 1-month, 3-month, and whole year display (optional). * Automatic desktop wallpaper changing at pre-determined interval or time. * Launches the default screen saver instantly from the system tray. * Launches Explorer with a single mouse click from any defined folder and also open a DOS window in a default directory with a single mouse click (using the default COMMAND.COM shell processor or any other processor such as Norton NDOS). * Launches any program of your choice instantly. You can even change the default icon for these programs to any icon you like and a description for each program to be popped up as a yellow tool tip when the mouse is hovered over the program icon. * Launches any DUN (Dial-Up Networking) icon with a single mouse click. ------------------------------ HARDWARE/SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS ------------------------------ Hardware Requirements: * Any computer capable of running Window 95 or Windows NT 4.0 (a 486 or better is recommended). Icon Tray is developed on a Pentium II 300 MHz with 128 MB SDRAM, 4 MB SGRAM AGP Diamonth Viper V330 (nVIDIA RIVA 128). Icon Tray has also been tested on the following computers: * 100 MHz PCI Pentium-based computer with 16 MB of RAM and a 1 MB PCI Diamond Stealth SE. * 150 MHz PCI Pentium-based computer with 32 MB of RAM and a 2 MB VRAM Diamond Stealth Video 3200 (S3-968) under the above resolutions and color depth modes. * IBM P5-133 with 32 MB or RAM and a 1MB PCI Diamond Stealth DRAM (S3-764). * AST Bravo LC 4/33s with 8MB of RAM and a 512K ATI video card. * Sharp PC-9050 notebook computer with 32 MB RAM and a 2 MB VRAM PCI Trident (9660/9680/938X) linear accelerator. * IBM ThinkPad 365XD with 48 MB RAM. Software Requirements: * Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0. ------------ INTRODUCTION ------------ Icon Tray is a utility which displays the current month, day of the month, and date of the week in the System Tray of the Taskbar. You can select to display all these three items or any combination in any order you wish (ideal for foreign users who use different date format than the U.S standard). This comes in handy when you need to know the date immediately. Sure, you could leave the mouse over the digital clock in the lower right corner of the icon tray, and wait a couple of seconds, but I found it's not too convenient. It's nice to see the date/time at a glance any given time. The program allows you to launch programs at pre-detemined times. For example you can schedule a backup to run every night when the computer is idle. Tired of staring an existing desktop wallpaper day after day? Why not having a different wallpaper everyday (how about looking at a different picture from a photo album everyday). You can even have Icon Tray switch to a different picture wallpaper as soon as every minute. It’s like having a slide show desktop wallpaper. A perpetual calendar accessible with a single click from the system tray that displays 1-month, 3-month, or an entire year. You can define up to 9 different stylesets for the calendars (Holidays, Birthdays, Paydays, etc.) Up to 12 different pictures (BMP, ICO, or JPEG) can be assigned to each of the 12 months. The calendar module is available as an option. For those of you who frequently launch Dial-Up Networking icons such as AT&T WorldNet Service or CompuServe to establish an internet connection with your ISP (Internet Service Provider), you can even put your DUN icon in the system tray area and launch it with a single mouse click. Icon Tray also allows you to quickly launch Explorer from any folder of your choice or quickly open a DOS window (for those of you who are still nostalgic of the venerable DOS commands) with a single mouse click. You can further launch a default DOS command processor (COMMAND.COM) or any other shell (such as NDOS). Simply type the name of the desired command processor in the "Command Shell" box or use the file list box to search for one. What else? with Icon Tray, you can instantly launch any screen saver or your default screen saver (in case you're away from your PC and want to invoke a password-protected screen saver so no one can peek at what you're doing...) with without having to wait for the elapsed time or move your mouse pointer to a certain position of the screen (certain screen savers allow you to position your mouse pointer at any of the 4 corners of the screen to instantly invoke the default screen saver). You can also put all your frequently used programs in the system tray for quick and easy access. A description is also provided with each of your programs so you can label them to your liking (this label will appear as a yellow tool tip when you hover the mouse over any of the program icons in the system tray). To change the icon for these programs, click on the icon "icon" to select any other icon you like (.ICO file). Everything is always right there and accessible with a single mouse click. What a handy set of utilities. I hope you agree with me. --------------------- COPYRIGHT INFORMATION --------------------- A single user license permits a user to use Icon Tray only on a single computer. Licensed users may use the program on different computers, as long as there is NO POSSIBILITY of it being used at one location while it is being used at another, or on a computer network by more than one user at a time. No one may modify or patch the Icon Tray executable files in any way, including but not limited to decompiling, disassembling, or otherwise reverse engineering the program. A limited license is granted to copy and distribute Icon Tray only for the trial use of others, subject to the above limitations, and also the following: 1) Icon Tray and all of its release files must be copied in unmodified form, complete with the file containing this license information. 2) Operators of electronic BBSs (sysops) may make Icon Tray available for downloading only as long as the above conditions are met. An overall or time-dependent charge for the use of the bulletin board system is permitted as long as there is not a specific charge for the download of Icon Tray. 3) Shareware copies may be uploaded to BBSs, FTP sites, Usenet newsgroups, and any network sites with the condition that all of its release files must be included in unmodified form, complete with the file containing this license information. 4) Vendors of user-supported or shareware software approved by the ASP may distribute Icon Tray, subject to the above conditions, without specific permission. Non-approved vendors may distribute Icon Tray only after obtaining written permission from myself. Please write to: Chris Doan 4891 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., #401 San Diego, CA 92117 4) Non-profit user groups may distribute copies of the the Icon Tray diskettes to their members, subject to the above conditions, without specific permission. Non-profit groups may collect a disk duplication fee enough to cover the cost of the media and handling. ---------- DISCLAIMER ---------- I, CHRISTOPHER C. DOAN, MAKE NO GUARANTEE THAT THIS SOFTWARE WILL FUNCTION FLAWLESSLY NOR WILL I TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGES INCURRED BY THE USER EITHER ACCIDENTALLY OR INTENTIONALLY THROUGH THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED AS IS. IT IS SHAREWARE AND YOU MAY DISTRIBUTE IT AS SUCH PROVIDING YOU KEEP THE HELP FILE, THE PROGRAM FILE AND THE INTRODUCTORY TEXT FILE IN ORIGINAL INTACT CONDITION. THE PROGRAM MAY BE DISTRIBUTED IN SHAREWARE\FREEWARE PACKAGES IN WHICH FEES COVER DUPLICATION/ MEDIA COSTS. THIS PROGRAM MAY NOT BE SOLD COMMERCIALLY OR PRIVATELY WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. Use of this product for any period of time constitutes your acceptance of this agreement and subjects you to its contents. ---------------------------------- REGISTRATION/CONTACTING THE AUTHOR ---------------------------------- The shareware version of Icon Tray is fully functional in the first 14 days from the day you install the software. Registered users will receive a registered copy of Icon Tray on a disk and/or through internet e-mail (UUencoded or MIME-encoded) for $19. For those of you who are not familiar with neither of the above e-mail decoding methods, I recommend that you pay $5 to receive the software on disks through regular mail (it takes about 3-4 days). Those of you have access to CompuServe, you can register Icon Tray on line directly with CompuServe and receive the registered version almost instantly (SWREG #13797). Within hours of registration, you'll receive a temporary license file in your CIS mailbox which you can use to turn your shareware version into the registered version. The disks with your permanent license will be in the mail the next business day. For international users, this registration method may be the best option since you do not have to worry about currency conversion and the mailing delay. Using Visa/MasterCard, you can also purchase Icon Tray from the Virtual Software store which is accessible from my web page at: http://members.aol.com/doanc/products.html For international users who may want to do bank transfer for some reasons, you can transfer $US 19 directly to my Bank of America account. There will be an additional processing fee of $10 because that's how much my bank charges my account for Fund Transfer Service. You will have to contact me by e-mail to obtain my account number for this type of payment. As of this writing, I only accept money orders, cashiers checks, bank checks, or personal checks. A site license is required by a corporation, company, educational institution, or governmental agency for use of Icon Tray software on the total number of computers that will use the software. Please fill in the registration form in the REGISTER.TXT file and mail it along with your payment to: Chris Doan 4891 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., #401 San Diego, CA 92117 For my bookkeeping purposes, please refrain from sending cash. But if you have to send cash, please also include a written order so I can keep track of my users. For your payment, you will receive a copy of Icon Tray registered in your name (or company name). I'll trust you enough and send you the registered version on the day I received your check without waiting for the check to clear first, please don't write bounced check because this may void your registration status and cut off all future communication in case you ever need technical support. You may receive the registered version on the same day I receive your check by specifying on the registration form that you wish to do this (UUencoded or MIME- encoded), please be aware that if you are not familiar with the decoding process, you may as well wait about 3 days to receive the disks because the decoding process can be frustrating for those of you who don't know how to decode software embedded inside the body of the e-mails. Thank you for your interest in Icon Tray and supporting shareware. Chris Doan doanc@san.rr.com chris_doan@compuserve.com San Diego, California April 1998