Volumouse v1.10

Volumouse v1.10
Copyright (c) 2004 Nir Sofer
Web site: http://www.nirsoft.net

Description

Volumouse provides you a quick and easy way to adjust the sound volume on your system - simply by rolling the wheel of your wheel mouse.
It allows you to define a set of rules for determining when the wheel will be used for changing the sound volume. For example: You can configure Volumouse to use your mouse wheel for volume control when the Alt key is hold down, when the left mouse button is down, when the mouse cursor is over the taskbar, and so on...
When the conditions that you define are not satisfied, your mouse wheel will be used for the regular scrolling tasks, exactly as before.

System Requirements

32-bit Windows operating system: Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, or Windows XP. (Windows 95 is not supported)
Wheel mouse
Sound card.

Versions History

Version 1.10
- New option: Display on-screen indicator while changing the sound volume.
- New option: Mute/unmute the sound volume.
- New Rule Conditions: Mouse cursor is over a title bar, BSPlayer is focused.
- Non-Sound Components: Now you can also use volumouse to make your windows transparent (On Windows 2000/XP) or to change the brightness of the entire screen (only if you have a video card that supports this feature).
Version 1.00 - First release.

Upgrading Volumouse from previous versions

If you have a previous version of Volumouse, you don't have to remove the old version before installing the new one. You can simply overwrite the previous version with the new version. However, You must do it according to the following instructions:

Exit completely from Volumouse. (The pink button)
Wait one or two minutes, to allow the vlmshlp.dll file to be released by the operating system.
Install Volumouse, as you did with the previous version.
If you get any error message related to vlmshlp.dll, restart your computer, and then do all this process again.

Installing/Removing Volumouse

There are 2 methods to install Volumouse on your system:

Manual Installation: (For advanced users only !)
In order to manually install Volumouse on your system, follow the instructions below:
1. Create a new folder for Volumouse utility (Under your 'Program Files' folder, or anywhere else you like).
2. Extract all files from the zip file (volumouse.zip) into the new folder that you created.
3. Optionally, create a shortcut to volumouse.exe on your desktop or under your start-menu.
4. Start using Volumouse, simply by running the executable - volumouse.exe
In order to remove Volumouse from your system, follow the instructions below:
1. To ensure that Volumouse is not running in your system, Select 'Exit Completely' from the options dialog-box or from popup menu of the taskbar icon.
2. Delete the folder that you created during the installation process. If you failed to delete the Volumouse helper dll (vlmshlp.dll), wait a little time (one or two minutes) to allow this file to be released by the operating system, and then try again.
3. Optionally, delete Volumouse configuration from the Registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\NirSoft\Volumouse
Automatic Installation (With self-install executable)
In order to install Volumouse with self-install executable, follow the instructions below:
1. Download and run the Volumouse self-install executable.
2. Select the desired installation settings, and click 'install' to start installing Volumouse.
3. After installation is completed, run Volumouse from the your start-menu.
In order to remove Volumouse that you previously installed with ZipInstaller:
1. First, you must ensure that Volumouse is not running in your system. In order to do that, select 'Exit Completely' from the options dialog-box (the pink button) or from popup menu of the taskbar icon. Wait a little time to ensure that vlmshlp.dll is completely unloaded from the system, and then continue to the next step.
2. Go to the Add/Remove Programs module, choose Volumouse entry, and select to remove it from your system.

Using Volumouse

When you run Volumouse, the main options window is displayed, in order to allow you to configure Volumouse according to your needs. You can always return again to the 'options' window by clicking on the tray icon of Volumouse.
Volumouse allows you to define up to 5 different rules for determining when and how the wheel should be used to control the sound volume. When you run Volumouse in the first time, it defines for you 2 default rules: When the alt key is down and when the left mouse button is down. You can accept the default settings by pressing OK button, or change the rules list according to your preferences.

Wheel Mouse Rules

Each rule contains 4 basic fields:

Use the wheel when: This field represents the condition of the rule. For example: if your select 'Shift key is down', this rule will be activated only while the shift key is hold down. You can also disable a rule by selecting 'Disabled' in this field.
Component: This field determines that sound component that you want to control with this rule. The default and the most useful component is the 'Master Volume' of your system.
Channels: The default and the most useful option in this field is 'All Channels' - which means that both right and left channels are changed to the same values. If from some reason, you want to change only one channel separately - you can use the 'Left Channel' and 'Right Channel' options. Starting from version 1.10, 'Mute / Unmute' option is also available. If you select this option, scrolling the wheel down will mute the sound, and scrolling the wheel up will unmute the sound.
Steps: The number of steps added to the sound volume for each move of the mouse wheel. If you increase this number, the volume will be changed faster when you scroll the wheel.

there are also more advanced options for each rule, you can configure them by clicking the 'More...' button of the desired rule.

Non-Sound Components

Volumouse was originally created for controlling the sound volume with the mouse wheel. However, starting from version 1.10, I decided to add 2 additional components that are not really related to sound, but they might be useful for some people:

Window Transparency: (Works only on Windows 2000/XP)
Allows you make any window transparent !
In order to use this feature, define a new rule with this component, go with mouse cursor to the window that you want to make transparent, hold down the right keys or buttons according the the condition that you chose, and then scroll down the wheel to make the window transparent !
Screen Brightness: Allows you to change the brightness of the entire screen.
Important Notice: Changing the screen brightness is achieved by setting the gamma ramp values into the video card. Unfortunately, many video cards don't support this feature, so the 'Screen Brightness' component may not work in your system.

On-Screen Indicator

Starting from version 1.10, Volumouse allows you display an indicator on the screen when you use the wheel for adjusting the volume.
You can configure the on-screen indicator by using the following options in the 'advanced rule options' dialog-box: (click the 'More...' button in order to get this dialog-box)

Type: The type of the on-screen indicator. You can select vertical trackbar, horizontal trackbar, or 'none' - if you don't want to display any indicator.
Size: The size of indicator - in pixels.
Delay: The number of milliseconds that the indicator will be displayed on the screen after you finish to adjust the volume. The default value is 500 milliseconds.
Position: the horizontal and vertical position of the indicator. By default, the indicator is displayed in the position of the mouse cursor.
Transparency: Allows you to display the indicator as transparent. Only works on Windows 2000/XP.

Other Options

Mixer Device: The sound device that you want to use in Volumouse.
Display icon in the system tray: By default, the icon of Volumouse is displayed in the system tray (taskbar). When you click the icon with the left mouse button, the main options window is displayed. If from some reason you don't want this icon to appear in your taskbar, you can hide it by unchecking this option. When this option is unchecked, the only way to access the options windows - is by running the executable of Volumouse (volumouse.exe)
Load Volumouse at startup: If this option is checked, Volumouse will be automatically loaded after you reboot your computer.
Display this window when you start Volumouse: By default, the 'Options' window is displayed each time that you run Volumouse. If you want to avoid this, uncheck this option

Translating Volumouse to the languages

In order to translate Volumouse to other language, follow the instructions below:

Run Volumouse with /savelangfile parameter:
volumouse.exe /savelangfile
A file named volumouse_lng.ini will be created in the folder of Volumouse utility.
Open the created language file in Notepad or in any other text editor.
Translate all string entries to the desired language. Optionally, you can also add your name and/or a link to your Web site. (TranslatorName and TranslatorURL values) If you add this information, it'll be used in the 'About' window.
After you finish the translation, Run Volumouse, and all translated strings will be loaded from the language file.
If you want to run Volumouse without the translation, simply rename the language file, or move it to another folder.

License

This utility is released as freeware. You are allowed to freely distribute this utility via floppy disk, CD-ROM, Internet, or in any other way, as long as you don't charge anything for this. If you distribute this utility, you must include all files in the distribution package, without any modification !

Disclaimer

The software is provided "AS IS" without any warranty, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The author will not be liable for any special, incidental, consequential or indirect damages due to loss of data or any other reason.

Feedback

If you have any problem, suggestion, comment, or you found a bug in my utility, you can send a message to nirsofer@yahoo.com