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<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>Netlaunch Frequently Asked Questions </title> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 3.0"> </head> <body background="../../../internet/web/bcsoft/images/skin.jpg"> <big>Netlaunch Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Updated April 30, 1999</big> <ol> <li><a href="faq.html#19">During installation, it tells me it cannot find a file, and asks for a disk! Am I missing something?</a> Updated 25-Mar-1998</li> <li><a href="faq.html#1">IE4.0/IE5.0 does not work with the Disconnect when program is closed and Only one instance option</a> Updated 30-Apr-1999</li> <li><a href="faq.html#23">How come Netlaunch cannot tell when some programs are closed? (DOS programs, non-application shortcuts, etc)?</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#2">Netlaunch won't press the "Connect" button in IE4/MSMail/MSNews/etc</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#20">This darn program doesn't work! I configured my program to launch on connect, but it doesn't connect!</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#3">How do I keep scheduled programs from launching when I manually connect to the internet?</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#4">How can I set up programs that only launch when I am on, and configure programs that only launch when my spouse is on?</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#5">How come Netlaunch presses the "Reconnect" button sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't?</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#6">I have a Fax/Voice Mail program running all the time, but I want Netlaunch to close it just prior to connecting. I've set all the configuration options in Netlaunch, but Netlaunch won't close it...what gives?</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#7">POPIt/WarFTP/etc programs leave their icon in the system tray after Netlaunch closes them down. The icon disappears after you move the mouse over it, but how can I fix this?</a> Updated 25-Mar-1998</li> <li><a href="faq.html#8">Are you going to add functionality to start programs minimized/maximized?</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#9">How come the "automatic redial" feature of Netlaunch is disabled in Windows NT? How do I make NT redial?</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#10">How come the Retry/Cancel button feature of Netlaunch is disabled in NT?</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#11">When I check the memory usage in Windows, Netlaunch seems to be quite a hog! Is it really using that much memory?</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#12">I have a script assigned to my connection. How can I automate the login process?</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#13">I have RAS Callbacks configured. Can I get this automated?</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#14">I want Netlaunch to run my e-mail, press the "Check Mail" button, wait for it to download the mail, and then disconnect. How can I do this?</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#15">My ISP has xx phone numbers. How can I automate dialing these darn numbers?</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#16">I want to use Netlaunch in our organization (commercial or non-commercial). Can I?</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#17">I love Netlaunch and I want to link to your page and/or use the Netlaunch graphic. Is that OK?</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#18">We want permission to put your program into a shareware CD collection</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#21">What's the deal with the quote in your About Box?</a></li> <li><a href="faq.html#22">Why is Netlaunch freeware? I'd have gladly paid for it, and you could definitely charge money for it!</a></li> <li><a href="#24">Is NetLaunch Y2K compliant?</a> Updated 08-Mar-1999</li> </ol> <a name="19"></a>Q. During installation, it tells me it cannot find a file, and asks for a disk! Am I missing something? A. Nope. Apparently Windows 9x doesn't like it when the source of the installation files is in a directory with a long filename. If you press OK at the prompt for a disk, installation should continue normally. The fact that you are getting this error indicates that you are on a version of NetLaunch prior to 3.14, and you should probably upgrade. <a name="1"></a>Q. If I select "Disconnect when program is closed" for IE4/IE5, Netlaunch drops the connection right after launching. What gives? OR If I select "Only one instance" on IE4 or IE5, NetLaunch still launches multiple instances of the program! A. IE4 and IE5 are integrated tightly with Windows. They are automatically loaded when Windows starts, and serve as the main interface by which you browse your computer and view your desktop. When Windows launches the IE browser, it is merely loading up a small program that is telling the already-running Explorer to open up a new window. This program promptly shuts down after the IE window opens, and NetLaunch thinks the browser has closed. To solve the problem, you have to go into the Internet Options from the Control Panel, and go to the Advanced tab. Find the entry marked Browse in a new process, or Launch browser windows in a separate process. Place a checkmark on this option. This will cause a new process to start when you open the IE4/IE5 browser in NetLaunch, and allow NetLaunch to keep track of it. <a name="23"></a>Q. How come Netlaunch cannot tell when some programs are closed? (DOS programs, non-application shortcuts, etc)? A. Netlaunch is not without limitations. Netlaunch can currently only keep an eye on Windows applications. An example of a non-application would be a shortcut to Dial-Up Networking. This kind of shortcut doesn't really point to a Windows executable...There's no way for Netlaunch to keep track of that window once it has been opened. <yet>. I'm working on a better method for Netlaunch version 4. DOS applications are a bit tricky, and I'll be implementing the close options for DOS programs in the next version. <a name="2"></a>Q. Netlaunch won't press the "Connect" button in IE4/MSMail/MSNews/etc A. Let me set the stage...Netlaunch is running, you are not currently connected to the internet, you double-click Internet Explorer, and IE4's "Connect" dialog comes up. It stays up, and you curse at the Netlaunch icon that happily ignores the dialog, right? Netlaunch was never supposed to hit that button! You did it backwards according to Netlaunch. You see, Netlaunch can easily run IE4 (or any other program for that matter) in response to sensing an internet connection. However, it cannot launch a connection in response to you running a program! One of the problems is that IE4 has its own "Connect" dialog, MS Mail/News has its own "Connect" dialog, and so on and so forth. Although I plan to code these dialogs into Netlaunch, they were never part of the original scheme of things. <a name="20"></a>Q. This darn program doesn't work! I configured my program to launch on connect, but it doesn't connect! A. Let me guess...you run the program in question, and Netlaunch doesn't connect you to your provider, right? I'm afraid you've got the roles reversed. Netlaunch will run your program when you connect to your provider, it does not connect to your provider when you run your program! <a name="3"></a>Q. I've got several programs that I've scheduled to run at various times during the night. How do I keep them from launching automatically when I manually connect to the internet? A. This is easy...For now, simply create a new DUN (Dial-Up Networking) connection...call it "Scheduled Events" or something. Then, program all your scheduled stuff into that connection rather than your main connection. For the final blow, check the "don't show in context menu" button for that connection...Now, when you manually connect to your ISP via the original DUN connection, none of your scheduled tasks run. Netlaunch 4.0 will allow you to set tasks to "run on schedule only". <a name="4"></a>Q. My spouse and I both use the internet on the same computer. How can I set up programs that only launch when I am on, and configure programs that only launch when my spouse is on? A. Two ways to accomplish this, actually. The first involves something similar to the previous question. Create two DUN connections, one for you, and one for your spouse. The second involves using Windows to set up multiple users. You can do this in the Control Panel, under "Passwords". <a name="5"></a>Q. How come Netlaunch presses the "Reconnect" button sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't? A. Version 3.14 fixes this problem. In a nutshell, Netlaunch was waiting up to "xx" seconds (user-configured) for the "Reconnect to" dialog to appear after a disconnection occurs. Unfortunately if the value was set to a very small number, Netlaunch would stop waiting before the dialog appeared. Similarly, if the line took a few seconds to reset before the dialog appeared, Netlaunch would have passed it by. I changed the way Netlaunch waits for the dialog in v3.14, so all should be well again. <a name="6"></a>Q. I have a Fax/Voice Mail program running all the time, but I want Netlaunch to close it just prior to connecting. I've set all the configuration options in Netlaunch, but Netlaunch won't close it...what gives? A. This is a little tricky. Netlaunch can only "see" programs that it has started. If your Voice Mail/Fax/Whatever program was started outside of Netlaunch, then Netlaunch cannot "see" that program to shut it down. An example of this is if the program is in the Startup folder, and Windows executes it at boot. Since Netlaunch wasn't responsible for launching the program, Netlaunch cannot see it. This can be corrected by editing the shortcut in the Startup folder, and making Netlaunch responsible for it. To do this, follow these steps... I'll refer to it as "Fax Program" and am assuming you want the program to close prior to connect, and launch on disconnect. <ol> <li>Add the "Fax Program" shortcut to the Launch List. Configure it to "Close Just prior to Connect", and "Launch on disconnect".</li> <li>Click the Start Menu button, select Settings and then select Taskbar</li> <li>When the Taskbar Properties screen comes up, select the Start Menu Programs tab</li> <li>Click the Advanced button. This will bring up the Windows Explorer and allow you to explore the programs on your taskbar.</li> <li>Find the "Fax Program" program icon. Right-click on it and select Properties.</li> <li>When the Fax Program Properties window appears, select the Shortcut tab.</li> <li>For the Target, make sure the entire line is highlighted and press Ctrl-Insert (there IS a reason for this). Change the target to "C:\Program Files\NetLaunch\LAUNCH.EXE" Fax Program.lnk Don't forget the quotes around the NetLaunch executable program!</li> <li>Erase the Start In information. This should be left blank.</li> <li>Change the icon back to the Fax Program icon by pressing the Change Icon button. Under the File Name, make sure the entire filename is highlighted and then press Shift-Insert. Press Enter, then select which icon you want to use. Usually it's the first one.</li> </ol> What you've just done is made Netlaunch responsible for the Fax Program. Version 4.0 of Netlaunch will be able to see tasks it didn't start, but this is the only way to accomplish the task in version 3.x <a name="7"></a>Q. POPIt/WarFTP/etc programs leave their icon in the system tray after Netlaunch closes them down. The icon disappears after you move the mouse over it, but how can I fix this? A. Try using different close methods to shut the program down. If that fails, contact the author of the program and let them know about it. The problem is that the author(s) have put their icon cleanup code in the wrong place, and/or are not expecting to be shut down by an unexpeceted manner. I'm afraid it's not really Netlaunch's fault. NetLaunch 3.14c will now "flush" the system tray icons after closing down an application, so this problem should go away. <a name="8"></a>Q. Are you going to add functionality to start programs minimized/maximized? A. This is already part of Windows and part of Netlaunch. To change a program to launch minimized, open the Launch List, right-click the program, and select Properties. Once there, you can configure the program's initial window state. <a name="9"></a>Q. How come the "automatic redial" feature of Netlaunch is disabled in Windows NT? How do I make NT redial? A. ...Because this is already part of RAS on NT. Open the RAS Phonebook, hit the More button, and go to User Settings. Check the Redial on link failure, and whala. <a name="10"></a>Q. How come the Retry/Cancel button feature of Netlaunch is disabled in NT? A. Once again, this is built-in to Windows NT4. See previous question about setting it up in NT. I tried to give the Windows 9x RAS a boost up to where NT was, and then build on them both from that point. For convenience, I may isolate all these "boosts" and put all the NT/9x features into a single place in Netlaunch 4 so I can make the differences in RAS on both platforms seem less apparent. <a name="11"></a>Q. When I check the memory usage in Windows, Netlaunch seems to be quite a hog! Is it really using that much memory? A. Of course not. Netlaunch uses several OLE libraries, which the Windows Explorer has already opened up. If you look closely, you'll see that the memory usage for Netlaunch will fluxuate along with the Explorer executable. Basically, I'm using some DLL's that are already in the system, and Windows "maps" the DLL memory to the application that is calling them. The end result is that Windows is showing you all the memory that my application is using, but failing to distinguish what memory I am "sharing" with other applications. For a better idea of Netlaunch's impact, run the Resource Viewer, and record the % of memory/resources free before and after Netlaunch is executed. If your free memory % goes down more than a single point, I'd be suprised. <a name="12"></a>Q. I have a script assigned to my connection. How can I automate the login process? A. Go to the <a href="http://www.windows95.com/connect/dscript.html">Windows95.Com Dial-Up Scripting Page</a> for extensive information on scripts <a name="13"></a>Q. I have RAS Callbacks configured. Can I get this automated? A. I have had so many requests for Netlaunch to press buttons that I am thinking of adding some kind of execution scripting into Netlaunch v4. In short, the answer is, "I'll see what I can do". For now, I recommend a program called <a href="http://www.clearlight.com/~rtvsoft/">RTVReco</a>, which can press buttons and such for you. <a name="14"></a>Q. I want Netlaunch to run my e-mail, press the "Check Mail" button, wait for it to download the mail, and then disconnect. How can I do this? A. That's quite a bit of work for a dialer! Again, I'd have to refer you (for now) to the above link for the RTVReco program to press the "Get Mail" button. As for disconnecting, make sure you have version 3.14, and configure a low-traffic disconnect for the connection. <a name="15"></a>Q. My ISP has xx phone numbers. How can I automate dialing these darn numbers? A. You have two options. The first is to upgrade to Windows NT (muahaha). The second is to wait for Netlaunch v4, which will perform this task for you. <g> <a name="16"></a>Q. I want to use Netlaunch in our organization (commercial or non-commercial). Can I? A. Netlaunch is totally unrestricted freeware. You may use, distribute and abuse Netlaunch to your heart's content with absolutely no thought to the mental harm you may cause me. Don't worry, I'll be OK. I'd appreciate it if you would not hack the code and/or change/remove the credits however. <a name="17"></a>Q. I love Netlaunch [ed. thanks!] and I want to link to your page and/or use the Netlaunch graphic. Is that OK? A. Absolutely. You can snag the graphic, and link anywhere you want. I only ask that if you are going to provide a Netlaunch download, that you are either dilligent in checking my site, or link directly to my FTP/HTTP archive file. It's not that I want the traffic (my ISP charges me for excessive traffic), but I want to make sure you are providing the most recent version. Believe it or not there's people with version 3.06 still floating around. <a name="18"></a>Q. We want permission to put your program into a shareware CD collection A. Cool! I'm flattered! Go for it! <a name="21"></a>Q. What's the deal with the quote in your About Box? A. Yes, I am a Christian, and the quote is not there to stir up controversy or "peddle" my religious beliefs. It is there merely to give credit where I believe credit is due. If it makes you angry or offends you to the point where you do not wish to use Netlaunch, then I think the problem is not with Netlaunch or with me. If you are one of these people, then had I wished to thank "Joe Bloke" in my About Box, you probably would not have complained--even though you may have no idea who "Joe Bloke" is or why I thanked him. The quote does not interfere with the normal operation of the program, doesn't flash or beep or mess with the screen, and doesn't pop up unless you specifically bring up the About Box. If you are offended by the quote, I would simply remind you of what you paid for using Netlaunch. Most of the feedback I've gotten regarding the About Box has been positive, and for that I am quite thankful--and thank you for the encouraging messages! I'm aware of the hacks people have posted to remove the quote, and I'm constantly shocked by the lengths people will go to to remove it. What's even more amazing is that the quote never even mentions God, or Jesus or Christ, or salvation, or anything of that nature, and yet some people are quite angry about it! At any rate... That's all I have to say about it. It won't be going away, and I put it in all the freeware programs I write (with the exception of those that I was on contract to write and the client requested it not be there). <a name="22"></a>Q. Why is Netlaunch freeware? I'd have gladly paid for it, and you could definitely charge money for it! A. A few reasons...First, I don't always have the time to maintain it--afterall, Black Castle Software is a one-man show! I make my money from contract programming jobs, so my first obligation is to my paying clients. I would not feel right charging users for a piece of software that I was not sure I could support on a steady, continual basis. Second, Netlaunch was an experiment for me. Netlaunch was the first Win32 app I wrote specifically for Windows 95/NT4, and I was experimenting with shortcuts, RAS and the system tray...Netlaunch just kinda stumbled out of my experimental rubble, much like the dreaded Frankenstein. <g> Like Frankenstein, it's a collage of mixed experiments, and has a mind of its own. I felt that the things I programmed into Netlaunch should have been part of the Windows 9x/NT OS to begin with, and why should all of us have to pay for such basic things? I'd rather see all of us die-hard 'net users working with Netlaunch than having to fumble around with 2-3 other programs that together make up only a percentage of Netlaunch's functionality. Finally, I gained a lot more than money by publishing Netlaunch. The accolades, the contacts, and the friends I've made are worth much more to me than any financial rewards I might have earned. <a name="24"></a>Q. Is NetLaunch Y2K Compliant? A. NetLaunch doesn't really care what year it is. However, it is quite Y2K compliant nontheless. NetLaunch uses the Windows API function GetLocalTime() to retrieve the current local time and date. As long as Microsoft hasn't screwed this function up, NetLaunch will run just fine. Theoretically, even if the function is screwed up, the most it'll do is cause NetLaunch to report the day of the week incorrectly. </body> </html>