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AltDesk Giveaway
$15
EXPIRED

Giveaway of the day — AltDesk

AltDesk is Virtual Desktop Manager for Windows, which makes your daily work easier.
$15 EXPIRED
User rating: 370 85 comments

AltDesk was available as a giveaway on May 11, 2010!

Today Giveaway of the Day
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AltDesk is a Skinnable Virtual Desktop Manager for Windows, which makes your daily work easier.
It offers you a completely new way of managing running applications on your computer, just as if you had a whole set of monitors. For example, you could launch an Office suite on one Virtual Desktop while working with your e-mail on another. Swapping tasks and switching Desktops can be easily done in the blink of an eye.

AltDesk supports skins, which let you choose your preferred appearance and form. AltDesk displays applications' icons, supports thumbnails, drag-and-drop and lets you pin applications to certain desktops. It does not require a lot of precious screen space, usually being as small as a window title bar. You can also minimize AltDesk to tray and switch tasks with hotkeys.
AltDesk has a user friendly interface, translated into many languages, which makes working with it even more comfortable.

A brief list of AltDesk features includes:

  • Easy task managing.
  • Simple, user-friendly interface.
  • Little resource consumption.
  • Hotkeys for any actions.
  • Skins to change the program's appearance.
  • Reliability: even in case of a failure you'll be able to recover the lost application's window.
  • Numerous advanced features, like setting unique wallpapers for each Virtual Desktop, sticky apps, autorun and so on.

System Requirements:

Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 (x32 and x64)

Publisher:

Gladiators Software

Homepage:

http://www.astonshell.com

File Size:

2.19 MB

Price:

$15

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Comments on AltDesk

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#85

Would this be the same as virtual desktop?

Is there usb functionality on this?

Reply   |   Comment by V  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#84

My copy already crashed. It says to re-download the files. Don't know if I can with the GOTD license.

Reply   |   Comment by Web Wanderer  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#83

It would be alot more useful to me if it had some ability to change and modify extended desktop features, ie. one desktop was using extended desktop another would not, or different extended desktop settings in each desktop, that would make this product the cats meow.....

Reply   |   Comment by Shoe  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#82

Like the concept, can see myself using it alot for work.

Cannot put up individual wallpaper for each desktop. It wont change sometimes for a desktop, then it changes for all the desktops, when I change between desktops the wallpaper I want sometimes appears for a very short time then reverts back to another one.

Reply   |   Comment by Shoe  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#81

Virtual desktops are a matter of preference and numerous alternatives have been discussed in the past. Personally, for the most part I agree with mike, I have dual monitors and I haven't found a need for virtual desktops. I do like having a second monitor, it lets me run maximized applications on my primary monitor while keeping track of things on my secondary monitor. Also, Windows Media Center locks you into it only when running fullscreen, so I can have some status information displayed on the secondary monitor (but you can't conveniently interact with it while Media Center is fullscreen).

Some very handy utilities which I use include NTWind VistaSwitcher, which is free and runs on XP and higher. It supports multiple monitors and virtual desktops. Read all of the online documentation for it (the site navigation is on the right). It has many features which eliminate the value of virtual desktops. It has various hotkeys, but I use the mouse (if using right-mouse-click plus mouse-wheel activation, don't move the mouse when activating) and I have it set for sticky mode. Multiple applications can be selected via the middle-mouse-click, then right-click for group options.

NTWind WindowSpace is commercial, but very handy (W2K and higher). If you have multiple monitors, it can move applications between monitors. It has a lot of features, read the online documentation. There are many more hotkeys and features within the program settings, not documented online.

NTWind Sticky Previews (Vista and higher) is new and will have more features and changes coming. It's interesting on multiple monitors, but I'm not sure that I would use it much if I had a single monitor.

Reply   |   Comment by Fubar  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#80

Installed and activated but in XP seems buggy. Windows keep disappearing and reappearing.

Reply   |   Comment by Trevor  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#79

Good concept, looks reasonable. Crashed PC and iTunes, so possible incompatibility there. Might work on other systems, would be a very handy little app to have.

Reply   |   Comment by dma  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#78

This is a very excellent program. However I ran into one wall; I was playing around with it and then an error box appeared that said "AltDesk files are damaged or corrupted. You need to reinstall AltDesk." Then it asked if I wanted to close AltDesk. I didn't close it, and from then on, something changed from the original desktop when I closed AltDesk. Reinstalled AltDesk and now it works just fine. I just need to remember, don't use hotkeys to switch between desktops REALLY FAST.

Reply   |   Comment by SkippyElectrochomp  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#77

To #63 - about virtuawin, I just downloaded it and it doesn't seem to be able to create different desktops with different icons on each one. It just repeated ALL of Desktop 1's icons on each desktop. It opens programs on each desktop and you can switch between programs (desktops). I wouldn't call this a "desktop switcher", but a "program switcher". It has a limit of 20 desktops only and no shortcut keys for each desktop.

Microsoft Virtual Desktop Manager only allows for creation of 4 virtual desktops. I am currently running 8 and may create more.

Altdesk allows for different real desktops with whatever program icons, file icons or shortcuts and wallpaper you want on each one. This allows for different, individual and personalized uncluttered desktops. You can right-click on an icon and move it to the desktop you want it on and right-click again and paste. I have done this repeatedly with no issues. Also in some of the skins, you can see the open programs and just click on and move them to other desktops.

I have tried several "desktop switchers" and have taken them all off. I downloaded Altdesk about a week ago and have spent time organizing my personal projects on each desktop and have downloaded several skins. Also this program allows for shortcut keys like Alt-1, Alt-2 which makes it easy to switch from desktop 1 to desktop 5, etc.

I just purchased the Home Edition - 4 user. Thanks Gladiators Software for the wonderful program and great price. Also got to pay by Paypal. Nice.

Reply   |   Comment by GMO  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#76

Seems to consistently mess up the desktop icons... shuffles them all over the place and eats more than a few of them... and different for different desktop selections (#2 and #3 have some of those on #1, but others are gone...)

Reply   |   Comment by JimC  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#75

Can this software allow me to let a keyboard-mouse macro run in one desktop while I switch to the another desktop? Will this kill the macro?

Hope I can get a reply from the developer as this question is a unique one which not many normal user will know an answer.

Thanks.

Reply   |   Comment by Monk  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#74

I just do not understand why so many people are having so much trouble installing this program, and why so many people cannot figure out what it can be used for.

I have now installed it with no difficulties on 2 of my systems, one is my little convertible laptop that runs 32-bit Windows XP SP3 using dual 1.60GHz processors w/1Gb of RAM and a 120Gb HDD, the other is my main system which is a HP Pavilion d5200t that runs 64-bit Vista Ultimate SP2 using 2.66 GHz quad processors w/4Gb RAM, 1Tb RAID HDD, and 1Tb external backup HDD. It was downloaded to both using Mozilla Firefox 3.6.3

It runs superbly on both systems, after I made some changes in the options (which is the little symbol on right hand side of the little
tab). (note to programmers: please make it possible to put the tab on top of the bar).

For people who wonder what to use it for: as previous people have said the taskbar gets crowded - between the quick launch bar, the taskbar, and notification panel (even when you hide most of your notifications) there is just not enough room on the bottom of the screen. I will admit it is more useful for a developer, or tech support - but generally, I put the administrative overhead stuff on one screen (the browser, the mail program, today's calendar, and etc.). On the 2nd screen I put all of my development tools, the 3rd screen gets a copy of everything but the end-user is looking at, and the 4th screen holds my entertainment (fortunately, you can change very quickly from the last screen to the 2nd screen when the boss walks by ).

Contrary to what some people have said, the status bar not only has the symbols of what applications are running within that window, but if you hold the cursor over that symbol, a small window pops up to show you what that application looks like.

I think perhaps the problem that everyone is having with their antivirus programs, is that after downloading the program, but before you start the install, you should stop all nonvital processes and temporarily disable your antivirus program. Remember, you have scanned these files already when they were being downloaded - why have your antivirus programs running when you are performing an install? I leave up my firewall, of course.

Reply   |   Comment by Doug S.  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#73

Another really good program...installed perfectly on Windows 7 Pro x64, dual monitors. Took all of five minutes to configure. :o)

Reply   |   Comment by Keter  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#72

I'll absolutely Keep it...THANKS GAOD
i was not going to download it but it is really usefull

Reply   |   Comment by Mohannad  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#71

I've been using DexPot for a couple of weeks and really like it, but I think I like this one better. Sure, you can get Desktops from Microsoft for free, but I really like what I see in AltDesk. It installed easily in Windows 7 64-bit and is fast and smooth. I think the plethora of skins available is a neat touch. I only wish there were screen shots or a video of how this is actually used on their web site--I wasn't sure what was going to happen until I actually installed it and ran it.

It's surprising to see so many people proclaim the uselessness of an application like this. Everyone uses their computers differently, and I've found that having many different applications open at once, but segregated into groups of applications on virtual desktops keeps things much more manageable and organized for me. I work remotely for a company from home and having the company's resources and applications open on one virtual desktop while keeping a browser and email open on another with a music player on yet another really helps keep things out of the way and lets me focus better.

I like virtual desktops and am glad to have another choice. Thanks, GOTD!

Reply   |   Comment by David Cornelius  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#70

Poor Man's Alternate Desktops

Just for fun, try this:

1) Open 4 Explorer windows. (or 3 Explorer windows and a web browser window for extra fun.)
2) Right-click the taskbar and select "Tile Horizontally".
3) Make a new folder someplace of your choice in each (Explorer) window, calling them something like "Desktop 1", "Desktop 2", etc., and open them. Right-click each window and select "View...Icons".
4) Add shortcuts as desired to each window.
5) Select a window you wish to use, and press F11.
6) Press F11 again to go back to the 4 windows.
7) Customize each window as desired.
Okay, so it's nothing fancy. But some people might find it useful sometimes.

(Oh, yeah...You can undo the tiling by right-clicking the task bar again and selecting "Undo Tile".)

Reply   |   Comment by Mack  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#69

I love the products these developers offer, and am tickled to see more of them here at GOTD again...After trying AltDesk the first time it was here, I actually purchased both it, and AstonShell. And I'll probably buy AstonMenu2 (from last week's GOTD)as well. AltDesk is great for those of us who are obsessive compulsives and cannot work unless everything is arranged "just so" - I love being able to have my 3D programs on one desktop, my 2D one's on a second, and Firefox on the 3rd...all nice and neat, and never clicking the wrong taskbar icon by accident. No, that isn't a tragedy, but to me, it's annoying LOL, so thank you AltDesk.

And while it certainly can help in getting one organized, there's another reason why some of us like it....it's F-U-N! That's right, some people actually like installing things just fer grins....you bunch of stuffy wet blankets ;-) While I wouldn't exactly call AltDesk a "toy", I do think its a fun little app to have. But then what digital artist wouldn't love being able to have a different wallpaper on each desktop?! LOL!

Okay Gladiator guys - here's to all paws crossed for you putting AstonShell2 up next!! Now that would be TRULY awesome!

hg

Reply   |   Comment by hamstergirl  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#68

an interesting utility which, as some of the others, I suppose I'll get used to and find a use for as I play with it more.

Installed ok, but shuffled my desktop icons all over the screen.

Reply   |   Comment by JimC  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#67

Cool!

So, essentially, this does what Aero "shake" is intended to do, only better: that is, what this does is bring one "thing" to the foreground and minimize all the others, as easily as possible -- except that the "thing" brought to the foreground with this tool can be *multiple* windows (not limited to just one window as with Aero "shake").

So for example, if I have 6 open windows, and work with them in two groups of 3, then to switch from one group to the other with Windows' normal user interface it would take four actions: first, minimize all windows, then open the 3 that I want to switch to. But with this "virtual desktop" tool, I can pre-group my two groups of 3 windows, and then switch between them with a single mouse click or hotkey press.

Very nice.

Reply   |   Comment by Scott  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#66

Downloaded, installed and registered no problem. My big problem is what's the point? Why would I need separate windows for all of my open programs when I can click and swap between them from the taskbar anyway and it only takes one click rather than two. I also hate having floating bars on my desktop wasting space. If it offered a benefit such as reducing resources then it might be useful but it doesn't. For me it just appears to add an unnecessary step when switching between programs. Nothing wrong with the software as it appears to run fine but for me it is completely pointless.

Reply   |   Comment by John Ex  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-4)
#65

@42. Its a nice program, and it runs fine and with very little RAM consumtion. But it has two misleading messages at the beginning. Firstly, tell Avira to ignore the false positive message about the dll permanently - it is no trojan; secondly the program will crash the first time it runs - after a while: ignore this behaviour and restart the program, than it runs stable. There is no download of the latest update necessary.

Reply   |   Comment by Kammreiter  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#64

If you have a good taskbar set up then I would find this programme obselete. Recently I have had issues with 'google chrome' and I keep losing the taskbar. This programme allows me to jump between programmes without having to do the 'ctrl + alt + del' everytime.
Thanks GAOTD.

Reply   |   Comment by madgo  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#63

pretty cool, not too much of a help though. I guess you could use it if you are running a game on your computer...
to register the program, RIGHT CLICK THE TOOLBAR and select REGISTER. the info will be entered already. register over the internet. this was in the readme :D

Reply   |   Comment by herro  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-4)
#62

Never having used a program like this before, I wanted to see if it would do what I wanted. It did.

I set it up to have 4 windows. One for my main window with all my shortcut icons on it. One for a project window where I'll have all the programs I'm working on be open. The next one is my Art program desktop and the final one will be just blank for now.

What I like is most of my shortcut icons are not on 3 of the desktops. I love this uncluttered look. Comes in handy when I'm doing videos and don't want my cluttered desktop to show.

I did find out I couldn't copy and paste shortcuts from the main (cluttered) desktop to the others. Oh sure, the icon showed up but when I clicked on it, it gave me the corrupt error notice.

Ignoring the notice, I opened my "art" desktop, clicked on Start, Programs, chose the program I wanted to open and Altdesk worked perfectly.

BTW, I have a dual monitor set up and AltDesk works perfectly with it.

Reply   |   Comment by Judith Tramayne  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)
#61

Alternatives

freeware
http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtuawin/files/
similar and also has some built in skins
also can work it from the tray and bring up the desktops in list form somewhat different in presentation than alt-tabs' task list. Has a "gather all" command to consolidate all apps on all desktops into the current desktop. Disable desktops and re-enable to original layout

I found dexpot a little tricky because its default interface language is not english but german .. so you needed a little translation help to go into the german setup menu and change that (setup - "choose language" drop list (17 languages) - apply button - OK button)... it does have a lot of configuration and behavior tools to tweak....and a 4 window/quadrant full screen mode(s) for both the windows and the apps within a window ..Don't see a list-text mode ??... but is also has passwords and animated transitions...transparency control ..long list of tweaks. http://www.dexpot.de/ now on version 1.5.1


I think the granddaddy of these virtual desktops was part of the MS XP tweak tools ...basically unsupported utilities
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

Direct link
http://download.microsoft.com/download/whistler/Install/2/WXP/EN-US/DeskmanPowertoySetup.exe

Another Trial product is goScreen

The irony of these products is that to run well or even at all you need lots of memory, video memory and a quick processor to keep everything at hand ( you don't want to be disk swapping open apps)... but if you have oodles of memory and newer graphics card with its own substantail memory you can almost as easily just do without it. Its an organizer. When you have lots of apps related to one project open and you have more than one project going... you'll start looking for something like this. If you find yourself alt-tabbing thru a bunch of apps to get to the right one this will clean things up ... and maybe organize your thinking in the process. The trickiest part is finding a place for it where it is not intrusive of screen space while you get into the habit of using it. Which is where a good tray interface comes in. The downside ...is that if one of your virtual windows or the app itself crashes its disconcerting. Not sure if you restart it will recover all the desktops ... but something to consider before you run into the problem... but I think that's all you lose ...all the various windows send their apps back to window 1 and you have to reorganize...so the ability to drag-drop open apps to another desktop is a major feature...which dexpot does with a right click menu for each app window and drag-drop in the small interface mode....alt-tab has drag and drop and Virtuawin has drag and drop. Its worth doing a full trial comparison of these three for performance, stability and tweaks.

Reply   |   Comment by Frank  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+7)
#60

I'm sorry for being a noob here, but what does this program even do?

Reply   |   Comment by TheGag96  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-10)
#59

To #2 and Dexpot -

Using Dexpot, when I right-click on a 2nd, 3rd, etc. desktop etc. to arrange my icons, it flicks back to Desktop #1 and arranges them there, instead of on the desktop I am on. Not what I am looking for.

Altdesk on the other hand, allows me to right-click and arrange my icons on a 2nd, 3rd etc, desktop and it stays on that desktop and arranges the icons on that desktop. Plus it is easy to use and set up. It never flicks back to the original desktop on its own, but only does so only on my command. The program is very solid and creates as many desktops as you want. It also includes a nice variety of skins and the ability to create your own skins.

Altdesk has a Home Edition that allows you to install their program on up to 4 commputers in your home which is just a few dollars more than the one person edition.

To "stick" your icons to your desktops (if you want to organize different icons on each of your desktops) there is a free program called DesktopOK which works with virtual desktops. It is available at cnet.com

Reply   |   Comment by GMO  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+8)
#58

Just my take. Altdesk consumes a little over 3megs of RAM, Dexpot a little over 7meg. Also, Altdesk seems a little faster, and seems more efficient with memory when a lot of programs are loaded, based on what FreeRAM XP Pro tells me.
Dexpot 1.4 has more features, but Dexpot has strange bugs, like altering the order of icons on the desktop, or change the shape of open windows, when it first starts.

Neither program allows you to alter the location of the desktop folders, which I find really annoying.

Altdesk in general seems more intuitive and easier to use, in my view, so it remains my favorite. This coming from someone who prefers freeware utility programs over payware.

Reply   |   Comment by Don  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)
#57

Used to use this one all the time at the 1.6 version. One of the things that made me a believer was when I was working Helpdesk and used this with two monitors. I'd have programs jumping between windows using Microsoft's attempt at Wirtual Desktops, but AltDesk would keep things clean and nailed down. So I'd have two split screens, one with browser, one with lookups, one with ticketing, and the other with command stuff. Altdesk kept them all seperate and organized. Excellent program. Not doing that job anymore, and I still miss the program from time to time. Would definitely think about using it again in a multi-monitor situation, but no longer running that so don't need it personally. :/

But definitely a good app. :)

Reply   |   Comment by dr  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#56

#2
I agree, Dexpot is as good as it can get. .

Reply   |   Comment by bswarm  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-3)
#55

Installed it on XP SP3 for about an hour before getting an error:

"AltDesk files were damaged. Further AltDesk operation is not possible. Please, download and install the latest AltDesk version from http://www.astonshell.com"

Seems like a really nice app, worked great for the short time I used it. But unless the developers can address this problem (I see I'm not alone), it's of no lasting value. The error is so vague I don't even know what else to do but mention it here.

Reply   |   Comment by eibgrad  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#54

I don't get it. To me it is useless. It does not do anything that windows cannot do. It just switches between opened windows. Well, you can do that yourself. Could someone explain if I'm missing something here?

Reply   |   Comment by useless  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-10)
#53

The system I work on most has an nVidia graphics card which comes with 'nView Desktop Manager' which also provides multiple virtual screens etc. I guess many people here will have it as part of their driver installation too. I dabbled with it but cannot really find a real use for it (without having two monitors - then I expect it to be different). Will this do much else than nView Desktop Manager? Anyone here using nView Desktop Manager on a single monitor?

I currently have 12 buttons on my taskbar that allow me to select the window I want quite nicely. Grouping is enabled. Currently two Word windows in use. Still room for a few more buttons because I changed a registry key that reduces the minimum width of these buttons. By the time the buttons overflow into a second row I know It's probably time to close something to free up resources. This doesn't happen very often. And there's Alt-Tab and Shift-Alt-Tab to get around. Works for me so far.

There is one little utility to help me keep things organised that I use and like a lot. Because I like my taskbar buttons to be "in the right place". Do you start your programs in a specific order to have their buttons in that same order? Which gets messed up when a program crashes or needs to be restarted or you accidentally close it? And even if you haven't given this much thought there's a good chance you'll like this little thingy even though you didn't know you wanted/needed it until today.

Try the free "TaskArrange". No installation required, which I like. Makes it fully portable too. I created a shortcut in my Quick Launch Bar where I can start it from. I use it and it closes itself again. Leaving nothing resident in memory, which I like too.

Truly a keeper. Look here: http://users.forthnet.gr/pat/efotinis/programs/taskarrange.html

Reply   |   Comment by Ben  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)
#52

For anyone wondering about the use of this software, it's mostly for corporate techs, where users need to keep dozens of apps open and be able to switch back and forth. Anyone that has opened dozens of windows knows the taskbar is crammed to the point of useless, and it takes some searching to find a particular window from any app group. Virtual desktops are helpful in keeping your desktop organized by applications/categories/purposes/calls/clients/etc.

With that said, virtual desktops are rarely of use to home users, and most are either slow/resource hogs, or have compatibility issues, especially during rapid switching of app heavy desktops. AltDesk appears to be fast in its switching operation, and so far Dexpot has been the most stable on my XP SP2.

Reply   |   Comment by needforspeed  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)
#51

Friends, no matter what you do, more you open applications, more you will kill system resources/memory usage.

Whether its just opening more applications, of using any Virtual desktop software, the results are not going to change. Infact, with Virtual desktop, you will end up using more system resources and more system memory.

Best way to utilize maximum system performance is to keep less applications open at a time and keep system clean of unwanted startup items.

As description says "Swapping tasks and switching Desktops can be easily done in the blink of an eye" well its same with standard windows interface too. You can always make taskbar bigger to see more applications on taskbar, but as I said, more applications, more system resources.

Reply   |   Comment by PY  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+6)
#50

Please give this a test drive - though I don't currently use it, but I have in the past, it is an effective multi-desktop manager for those people who prefer cleaner desktops with many programs running, each in its own desktop if desired. There are many people who shudder at the thought of more than two or three open windows on a single desktop (or a crowded taskbar). This is perfect for those neat freaks: once you get used to it, you wonder how you ever lived without a desktop manager.

As far as Avira goes, it is well known that Avira produces a high level of false positives. As I work with many older systems (refurbing used systems to donate to needy families; educational and community group funding is always an issue), we have used UPX runtime compression on many applications to save (sometimes substantial) disk space. Accessing UPXed files triggers Avira about 5-15% of the time, depending on the applications installed.

Unfortunately an increasing number of anti-malware packages generally classify any file that has been runtime compressed and/or performs one or more potentially dangerous activities (low-level disk access, FTP or other file transfers, other file modification, certain registry access, etc.) as being an enCRYPTed TRojan or a download TRojan. The level of false positives have seriously increased over the last few years as it would appear that Avira especially has decided to use a tarbrush instead of searching out more discerning virus signatures (if a program uses common compression libraries and the same API call as used by a known virus, well guess what, you've won the booby prize).

Since AltDesk hooks into Window's desktop management routines & redirects screen access, guess what, alarms will go off.

My usual suggestion is to visit VirusTotal, Jotti or several other multi-scanner site and see what they report - if more than the usual "chicken little" scanners report a problem, then it probably is. If you can uncompress the compressed file, and it scans OK, you know that too-generic anti-virus signatures are the problem. (Within the last year, we noticed that if you UPX WinAmp, Avira screams about winampa.exe.)

I've started suggesting to many others to try to switch to Panda Cloud Anti-Virus (does require regular internet access, but is free for personal use, is simple to use and is only slightly overaggressive with basic cleanup - it does leave broken malware traces that trigger other scanners but shouldn't cause malware behaviour).

Reply   |   Comment by CompNetTeach  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#49

Installed easily and without issue on my Win7/64 system. I haven't rebooted as yet, but assume that will go well. Of concern--it works with my dual monitors without a hitch.

I've needed this program for quite a while. I will be using 3 Desktops all the time:

1. Web surfing and reading my RSS.
2. Video Editing.
3. Transcoding Video Files.

These all require different programs and files to be open which Have gotten to be a hassle to find when all three are going AND Win7's automatic window resizing which I still haven't gotten used to. This didn't seem to be as big an issue in Win XP. Maybe I'm getting "old?" BTW--I have the same issue of not being able to find the "active" webpage that is playing autorun but closing all files works fine for that as I usually don't need all those tabs open.

Interesting about Win7/64--it doesn't multi-task as smoothly as Win XP/32 does. When transcoding with Super, my entire system slows down and is jerky on commands and mouse movement==no issue on XP. Same with highlighting to drag and drop--no issue with XP, need multiple tries with Win7. Since I am transcoding almost all the time, I gotta say Win XP is almost a better choice. Irritating.

Reply   |   Comment by bobbo  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-4)
#48

Totally baffled by this software. Why would anyone running Vista & above want it?? Windows does exactly the same thing (or should I say vice-versa!). Totally redundant piece of software.

Reply   |   Comment by Bill  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-6)
#47

Installed it, set hot keys to navigate between desktops and it crashed after one minute intensive desktop jumping. Using Windows Vista Home Premium.

Reply   |   Comment by Eugeniy  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-4)
#46

For you non-programmers out there posting about Anvir flagging the DLL as a virus:

This is almost certainly a false positive, as none of the other anti-virus programs used by Virus Total flag it. False positives occur ALL THE TIME and are caused by the virus detection mechanism, not the application. There is NOTHING a programmer can do to "avoid" false positives. All we can do is inform the anti virus company of the false positive and get them to update their code. As you can imagine, with so many anti virus companies out there, this can be a royal pain in the rear.

And NO, you can't just delete the "offending" DLL. DLLs contain part of the program itself or resources for the program. In most instances, deleting a DLL will cause the application to not load at all. In any case, it will have an adverse effect on the application.

Reply   |   Comment by David Kocur  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)
#45

Really this is an excellent freeware. I have been using Gotd's freewares for some time, but this time I would like to write it to thank Gotd for this fantabulous gift. Installation was so easy, so also registration.

Many doubt whether this programme is useful to them since they use only one window. But they may find this quite useful and save lots of their time in switching from one window to other so quickly. Another feature of this softwware is that it shows thumbnails of the windows when cursor is pointed at it. Really a very useful software.

One suggestion to GOTD and all developpers who are extendeing their freeware here is that to give screen shots of the programme. So that, it would be helpful to see at it and choose before downloading the programme.

Reply   |   Comment by Murali Krishna  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#44

Win XP SP3
Seems a handy little program, but crashes saying the files are damaged and to download the latest update, so far can't find an update tab, which according to GAOTD rules will invalidate my installation. Any suggestions from the author ?

Regards Nigel

Reply   |   Comment by Nigel  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+8)
#43

Installed and registered on Windows 7 32-bit. Worked very well for 5 minutes. I made a program (Outlook) sticky and then it crashed. A message box popped up and told me that some ALTDesk files were corrupted and that I needed to install a new version from their website. Uninstalled.

Reply   |   Comment by dk  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#42

Hi all,

On May 3rd the same developper offered Aston2StartMenu here, which I installed -mainly because of having so many programs and other documents on different drives that XP Pro SP2's Start Menu couldn't cope with it any longer.
I also have Avira AntiVir Personal running.

Now, Avira keeps giving false positives on Aston2StartMenu and I haven't found a way to get rid of these anoying alerts yet. They come as soon as Aston2StartMenu is activated and Anvir enabled... AND it's TR/Crypt.XPACK.Gen2 that's causing it...

The GAOTD project team here states "It is all about altdesk.dll file that has been modified recently, but Gladiators Software assures that it is false positive. Sorry for the inconvenience."

So: How "recent" is "recent" really? Surely Gladiators Software must be aware of this problem since May 3rd last? And if so, why does today's offer still suffer with the same illness?? Today's program may be for free also, but is it really consumerfriendly not to have dealt with this issue yet or ethical to include this .dll in todays offer?

Or is it Anvir's mistake?

IMHO it has to do with Gladiators Software only...

Consider this procedure for registering (both) the software(s): “To register the software right click the main window and choose Register AltDesk. The field in pre-filled with the key, click Next button to activate the software via Internet.”

Also consider that in Aston2StartMenu, the top left "wheatherstation"-window seems to regularly update, giving a typical "Anvir-beep" every so many hours - which only occurs when both Aston2StartMenu and Anvir are running...

But I may be very wrong on this!! as searching for any .dll's installed between May 2nd and now, I find 6 related to Anvir, none to Aston2StartMenu.

QUESTIONS:
1. What if I were to remove the "culprit" .dll included with today's AltDesk version after install, register and first run etc... The program would crash on any next run, I suppose.
2. On the other hand, searching for any .dll's installed between May 2nd and now, I find 6 related to Anvir, none to Aston2StartMenu (see above)
3. WOULD INSTALLING, REGISTERING AND RUNNING AltDesk result in any CONFLICT with Aston2StartMenu??

I wonderingly wander, turning around in circles...

Any suggestions anyone, on any of these 3 programs? I'd surely appreciate any feedback...

Thanks!

Patrick

[16:29 GMT+1]

Reply   |   Comment by Patrick  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#41

It does not support "Pan-and-Scan", a nice feature like we use Google-Map, one large desktop allowing screen display freely move arround.

I had one for Win-95, but can't find any for Win-XP, Vista, Win-7 ever since.

Wish the developer consider to add it in the future version.

Reply   |   Comment by calvin888  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-8)
#40

Seems to be working fine on a VISTA Ultimate 64bit. No problem registering or installing.

Reply   |   Comment by Jerry  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-4)
#39

Works quite well (XP64 in this case). Activation was easy enough. Once installed, I right clicked on the taskbar icon, where there was a line listed to register it--no fuss at all. I like the fact that it shows an icon of what's open on each desktop within the Altdesk bar itself--and all that is customizeable (really--there's quite a bit one can modify to suit themselves). Note, that the "hotkey" setup needs two keys, such as "alt+c", not just a single key. True, Windows 7 lists each open item within it's own group on the taskbar, but this will open the whole desktop, not just a single item, and as such, is faster for my use. This is one of those programs that'll go into the "keeper" collection.

Reply   |   Comment by JEV  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)
#38

After playing with ALTDESK I can see it does not do what I hoped it would do, unless I am missing something.

I would like to be able to mouse-over one of the FIREFOX icons in a virtual window and get a LIST of each TAB and its webpage/file that is in each TAB.

I have many tabs open in each window and this does not help me quickly see what is in each tab. I only see icons for the windows in the virtual desktop

Reply   |   Comment by Brian  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-8)
#37

Well, to try to balance the emotional / hysterical reports here, I downloaded out of curiosity to see what the fuss was about. I am using Win 2003 server enterprise and download was quick, no problems. [Using Opera and a 150 mbps adsl] Activation was also painless, automatic in fact, and as others have said, registration was also completed with no problems. I was also able to set it where I wanted it.
I run a variety of anti spy, anti virus etc and in over two years I have NEVER had a problem with any of the stuff I have downloaded from this site, and I have quite a bit!

As for the product, I can't truthfully say I can't live without it or I didn't know how my life existed before it, but, to be fair, I can see how it can be useful. As others have noted, it does I think, depend on how heavy you work your machine and i also tend to have several, up to 6 or 8, apps going at once so this is going to make life a bit easier. Not an every day use product, but useful enough to be a keeper, so thanks GAOTD and Gladiators Software.
Oh btw, I kept getting little POPUPS suggesting I "STICK IT" which is what I suggest you do with that software! I have noted this before on your blog.

Reply   |   Comment by wordperfect  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+12)
#36

This is a very clean implementation of a multi-desktop. It operates just as expected and hoped! I've tried 3D Desktop but it was slow and clunky compared to AltDesk.

Some of the default settings seem odd but they were very easy to adjust and personalize.

For people who have never used Linux the concept of individual desktops may be confusing or frivolous. It is VERY useful and helps productivity; I've never understood why MSoft left this feature out since Linux has had it for years.

Thanks Altdesk, I love your program.

Reply   |   Comment by Glen G  –  13 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
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