Absolute garbage, doesn't handle lots of removable devices, some it won't eject and others it will disable to eject which means the device won't attach next time, lots of support calls to PC vendors about faulty USB storage I assume...

It doesn't migrate "USB Safely Remove" settings on installation. Not as "friendly" to use.

All in all a very poor alternative to USB Safely Remove 4.1 which I'll now reinstall.

The site is just up and running again I was getting some wierd page that said the site was expired. So I was wondering for this and the day or two before if the giveaways are just dead to us to try or if they are still available?
Thanks
Donna

Everyone who still didn't receive the license key can write to our support: support@zentimo.com. During a couple of days I will try to help to everyone who have a problem with delivering of our e-mails. Therefore it would be much better if you give me several alternative e-mails on different mail servers.

Many thanks to everybody for his notes and suggestions. Our team will try to resolve them all as soon as possible to make the program more useful for every user.

Good luck and have a nice day!

---
Anton Lipikhin, the Zentimo developer.

Downloaded and installed. Went to website and signed up for giveawayoftheday frre activation code with 2.5 hours left and never received free code. Tries twice more with different email addresses and still did not receive the code to activate during the giveawayoftheday time period.

Be aware that if you paste in the license key yourself, then hitting the "paste" key on the Registration form (page?) will paste in another copy of the license key, which will return an invalid license notice. When this happened to me, at first I thought there was something wrong with GAOTD, Zentimo, and/or my computer, but instead it was another in a long line of "senior moments" on my part, although it does seem to me that ideally this type of mistake could be anticipated and prevented by intuitive, user-friendly, heads-up programming by the software makers.

Not so impressed. Uninstalled USB Safely Remove , installed Zentimo, tried for 15 minutes, unistalled Zentimo and re-installed USB Safely Remove.
The Main Screen has gone, if I expand the Tray menu to include hidden items it expands beyond the screen with no obvious means to scroll or to collapse. (Terminology also seems wrong now, since you unhide something hidden from the tray menu by operating on it where it is listed in the tray menu???)

Can't help but observe that this is version 1.0 whereas USB Safely Remove was up at 4.3 and it looks like it. Don't think I'll be downgrading to this anytime soon.

Thanks GOTD, nice to give it a try.

http://zentimo.com/blog/zentimo-1-0-final/#more-321 mentions the differences between this program and its USB Safely Remove.

@65 - If you can't download it may be that your browser is treating the download window like a popup. Make sure your "anti-popup" option is turned off. Another thing it could be is your firewall or anti-virus - has it updated recently? Sometimes it will change settings on new virus definitions. Last suggestion - download and try Firefox. Hope that helps. It's a nice little app - hope you can get it.

Installed fine on Win 7 64x, got my registration info in about 1 1/2 min. using a gmail account. I'm not sure what everyone is griping about, I think it's a fun little program with some nice features. Maybe I need it, maybe I don't, but it's a FREE program today that seems to play nice with my OS. Maybe I won't want it down the road, and if that happens, I'll just uninstall - no big deal.

One suggestion: when I hover the mouse over the tray icon, the storage manager popup window pops up in the lower right-hand corner of my screen. Unfortunately the program doesn't recognize I have dual monitors - so the text that is displayed is spread over two windows (with, of course, a break in the middle of the text.) If there was an option as to be able to fix WHERE the window poped up, that would be great. Otherwise, it's a handy little utility. Thanks!

I would like to buy the full upgradable version of Zentimo (strange name?)

However I dont want to pay yearly or biyearly until i die oe loose my mind. (it might cost me hundreds of dollars!)

Why doesn't Crystal Rich Ltd offer users a Lifetime License even if it costs 3 times the normal price.

This quasi-subscription method is more about making money than meeting the customers needs, and if customers want lifetime licenses then the company should listen to their customer base

It installed fine on my WINDOWS 7 64Bit machine, and seems to run well! however I am not seeing much of an advantage of using this program instead of windows explorer or the popup that allows you to simply browse the drive every time you connect it.

Zentimo is prettier IMHO, but not far removed from the free USBDeview [ http://goo.gl/WJnxk ]. With this sort of app or with Windows' default notification I find I always have to take a moment to be careful I select the right device to disconnect, or else I've inadvertently disconnected the Readyboost device or whatever that I want to stay connected. Towards that end the most useful addition I could think of would be device filtering, where I could set it to always ignore, or at least not display certain hardware. Once upon a time the drive letter masking Zentimo offers would have been much appreciated, as many memory card readers showed up as a separate drive for each slot -- currently though the market's been flooded with cheap, universal readers that don't have that problem [I have a 1/2 dozen or so I've picked up for anywhere from 39 cents to a $1.50 shipped from places like meritline or deal extreme & even Walmart.com]. Far as unlocking a device goes, if/when McAfee is causing a prob., or it's caused by Windows misbehaving, you can't force it to stop [there are plenty of file/folder/drive unlockers avail & I've tried several]. When it's Windows' Explorer causing the prob, closing Explorer does the trick. And of course If you're running an app from an external device, it has to be stopped. I don't see anything really different in that respect that Zentimo brings to the table. The built-in speed test is nice, but besides using Windows itself (i.e. the same performance tool that gives you a system rating in Vista/7), there are several options [http://goo.gl/szMN ].

You register Zentimo's GOTD version at their web site (URL in GOTD readme.txt), & once you do you'll see a link to the download without the GOTD wrapper -- a nice touch that makes up somewhat for having to get the key e-mailed rather than shown immediately [e.g. with Wondershare GOTD offers]. The Zentimo site offers a beta version for download, but the key you'll get for today's GOTD doesn't work with it. Installation adds a service [Zentimo Assistant] that's set on Automatic -- setting it to Manual, starting Zentimo Does Not start the service, so saving a few resources that way is out. Installation adds a couple of app data folders [one under users, the other under all users] to hold the app's logs -- something I consider more for the developer's convenience rather than any benefit to the user, but so-be-it [that's just my more market-centric philosophy putting the customer always 1st, noted just in case the dev sees this]. The program's folder is light at ~6 MB, but holds a lot of [mostly image & language] files (151 in 2 folders). [Since the install starts by asking your language, why copy all 43 alternative language files?] Installing the service adds 2 registry keys, there's a new value added to the ASProtect key, plus the Zentimo's key itself. Registration is stored in that program key [HKCU\Software\], which isn't normally restricted -- I was surprised then when one of my test installs wouldn't register, my *guess* being because I'd already tried installing/registering the beta. Because of the late hour [with the Flu I'm running 1/2 day + behind] & doubts this will get posted anyway (because of the late hour) I didn't go further to confirm that, but if you have similar prob. you might want search in Regedit to make sure *all* Zentimo keys/values are gone.

#59 is right. I checked my junk mailbox and it is sitting in the junk e-mail pile.

@59:
No such luck.
There's something wrong on your end of the deal.

Oh well, tough luck, I guess.

If I have this program set to run at start up, I get this error message:

windows no disk

You don't need to click the safely remove button anymore to remove external drives. Since XP it has been redesigned so you simply unplug the external HDD. The safely remove feature is only for Thumb-drives /Memory sticks.
That is why when u click safely remove and select an eHDD(External Hard-drive) it says cannot remove at this time. It no longer controls the drives. Unfortunately, Micro-ditz does not think in real-world user terms or they would have completely removed any connection to the SR feature & the HDDs.
There is an article about it at Microsoft.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Safely-remove-devices-from-your-computer
This article also applies to Vista and XPsp2/sp3
There is another more accurate article to which I do not currently have the link, it may be in Forums. However I did notifies Microsoft that this article could be worded more clearly.
If you read this article and are unclear of its meaning make sure you select "Somewhat helpful" in the choices at the bottom. This will open a box for written suggestions. Write in..."Needs to be worded more clearly" or something to that effect.

Hi, I'm having the same problem as #53 and @58 and tried another email but still cant says that this is a trial version. It downloads and then takes me to the download page and says that it is successfully activiated but it's not. No activation key appears. Loaded loads of the GOTD and never had a problem like this. Please help

Well, many things are possible with windows utilities and within the operating system itself. USB devices have become most usable and usefull to everyone, so to provide even only a better user interface may be a great service for all of us - users or developpers. Proper user-readable identification of USB devices is of great service. And this software does more, as many have reported here (#5, #24, and even the developper in #25, and #52 clearifying some doubts because of the license duration). So it's definitely a keeper for people who want neat software on the machine and a good and rich devices administration. This site is definitely much richer than understood at first impression. It's a very rich collection of experience and expertise. Excellent Freeware as Slickrun from Bayden Systems, or Softwareok.de, or Nirsoft, or even the Sysinternals will definitely not appear over here, - and there is much more out there. But here we have a public forum where so many developers and potential users will meet, and I think, it will definitely rise the standards for the good of everyone. So any contribution to this site is welcomed, everytime. We write here a book of ever growing and developing experience. I don't know all the people over here, but with any of them this project will be enriched. Yes, I do miss Ashraf for his excellent clear and handy analysis, I like mike the mac ;) even if his posting are somehow verbose, as this comment tends to become, the clear style of Fubar and BuBBy, and the doubts and irritations and critiques of so many others. Here we understand from time to time that participating is done by humans, who spend their time, enthusiasm; they enjoy or get angry as we do, but SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCE, and that is wonderfull. Thanks to all of you. May the better ones improve the others for the sake of all. With this site we have a big university, where to be fair may often be the only wages to be gained, but that will attract everyone to the experience of productivity and discussion about the best idea.

Couple of the above comments were talking about always doing a safe remove. But when Windows tells me is in use - and can't be ejected... because hour ago saved a picture or something else on a subdirectory on the flash. Word and Explorer are now closed and just the last location history remains so how under Windows to unlock?

Hoping this will work better. Thank you for the opportunity to try it.

I have been trying to download Zentimo for the last couple of hours. Tried both IE and Chrome. Get message that says webpage does not exist. This is the first time this has happened to me at GOOTD. Is anyone else experiencing this problem, or have any suggestions how I can download the program?

Thanks

Dick

Well it's certainly attractive enough from a GUI perspective and brings together a number of features that windows has as standard into one place in the system tray, but the reason I installed this was for it's TrueCrypt management.

The problem is I can't really work out what it is supposed to manage. I use truecrypt on my portable drive and have it mount automatically when I boot into windows or plug the device in to an already booted system. However even when the encrypted partition is mounted, Zentimo just shows the unknown encrypted partition in it's menu.

I'd have expected this app to recognise when I mount my encrypted partition and then autorun my portable apps menu application. I have entered all of these details into Zentimo's auto run configuration and virtual device setting.

Perhasp I am being a little dim but I can't see how this is helping me to manage truecrypt on my portable drive at all.

Any pointers into what this is actually doing that truecrypt 7.0 is not providing me natively would be appreciated.

YEAH!!!!! Thank you Anton. Worked beautifully. Anxious to try this. Everything downloaded/licensed fantastic. Will have to check out the other email address. #53 give the other email address a try. It worked. Again, thank you very much Anton. All, have a good day.

What I'd like to see is an explanation of how this application ties up system resources. I've yet to see that from the developer, or anyone else who is an expert. I won't try this until I can get a reasonable answer about that.

I miss Ashraf's reviews as he usually covered resource loads fairly well, despite some of his reviews being too wordy.

Home users don't seem to understand what Giveaway of the Day is all about. For example:
#32 Puzzled by the objections to this program because of the price the developer wants for it. It’s free, here. That is, no cost. Zero. None! Comment by David Bookbinder — November 3rd, 2010 at 8:37 am
Comments like this are appearing here every day now. What they don't understand is that Giveaway of the Day is a platform to get applications out - it's advertising. Yes, home users can use this for free. BUT, people like me in the IT industry CANNOT just install applications we select on all of our customers' (or clients') machines. It just doesn't happen like that, and furthermore would violate the license terms.

Therefore, PRICE is a legitimate point. Developers NEED the feedback on the price. It's as simple as that.

I really wish that GAOTD would explain what their site is about, and why comments about prices appear. They should also moderate out pointless comments like "why are you complaining about the price when it's free." It's such a waste of time to browse through pointless comments like that.

Home users should be happy just to take advantage of this opportunity and should leave the commenting to the people at the companies who actually purchase software displayed here.

Thank You
Ryan Thompson
IT Manager
ACEX International, LTD.

As usual, posts show up while I'm writing this. I didn't intend to offend you mike, you're about the only "regular" who still posts here, and people pay attention to what you say. The total size of installed files may be relevant, and where files are installed is always relevant, but the number of files and registry entries simply doesn't matter at all, and I think that it's a bad idea to imply that they do, as most people here don't have much technical knowledge. Things like privilege levels are always relevant, and you don't mention those. I almost never post here anymore, so I mentioned backup applications and video cards because I thought that you had been showing too much bias related to those in numerous posts. As for the Microsoft Installer, it's probably those who aren't using it who are messing it up. While it's true that it can be used incorrectly, like any other software, I think that far more developers are doing bad installs using other tools. One of the huge advantages which the Microsoft Installer has, if used correctly, is that it sets a System Restore Point at the beginning of installations, which guarantees that you can undo any bad changes that the installation made (assuming that System Restore works on your PC). That's also important for installations which don't complete, as you can rollback any critical changes.

Since I'm not going to post the same things over and over and over again, I'll say some things about installation and uninstallation today which I've said before, so note this if you don't know it. The GOTD zip file contents should always be extracted prior to running, because Windows will otherwise use temporary files which causes various problems, especially on Vista and higher. For non-GOTD zip files, you should right-click, select Properties, and select Unblock, if present, prior to extraction (not necessary for GOTD zip files).

Since almost none of the offerings is using the Microsoft Installer which every developer should, you should manually set a System Restore Point prior to installing. When installing, if you get the message which says "The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process", then it's likely that your security software is scanning or blocking the file, and a security prompt should be visible. If there isn't a visible prompt, then you may need to disable your security software during installations. If there is a security prompt, answer it. In any case, the installation should be canceled. On Vista and higher, wait for the compatibility complaint, and cancel it. Then re-run the installer.

Always clear any checkbox which tries to run the application at the end of installation. In many cases, you'll need to run Activate before running the application, and in any event, it's always better to start the application yourself after installation has completed.

Upgrading or uninstalling a previous version will frequently cause problems. In most cases, I recommend uninstalling the previous version yourself (you should exit it if it's running in the tray, first), then rebooting before installing the new version. The reason is that Vista and higher will mark services and drivers for deletion, and the flag doesn't get cleared by the installer, only by rebooting, which will perform the deletion, even if the file was just replaced by the installer.

Uninstalling can frequently cause more problems than installing. You should make a quick decision as to whether to keep the software. The proper procedure is to run the application's uninstaller, then do a System Restore to the point which you just set when installing. It's possible that some data may be left behind, but anything which could cause a problem should have been fixed by the System Restore. Uninstaller applications cannot fix things that have been messed up by an installation, as earlier registry entries or files may have been replaced or deleted. System Restore is a form of rollback, so it should be used right away, otherwise you may be better off to skip the System Restore.

#53 #58, Try to use another e-mail address on another mail server to get the license. Perhaps the problem with spam-filter.

---
Anton Lipikhin, the Zentimo developer.

FIRST OF ALL - Welcome back. I really missed this site - a real GAOTD withdrawal LOL. Now onward, I have the same situation as #53. Tried several times but unsuccessful. This looks like a real good software as I have many USB devices and about to get another. Would like to really try this out. Thanks for this offering GAOTD and Crystal Rich LTD. Have a nice day.

I have USB Safely Remove (got a free license for a review!), this looks like a nice upgrade. Thanks GAOTD and Crystal Rich!

"... I know now why you were always whining about the Windows Installer."

Sorry if it seems like whining, it's well documented on-line, the reason MS came out with their "Windows Install Clean Up" app, why it became so popular & so on. Oversimplified, Windows Installer stores records of where setup files are located -- if the coder using it doesn't take an extra step or two, Windows Installer can look for those setup files when they're both unneeded & unwanted. Thus when you start an app, the familiar install dialog pops up asking for install discs etc. for an un-related app mind you, & the app like as not won't run. Why complain?... The other day a poorly designed app auto-updated, using a poorly written msi file. This broke Ofc 2007. Reinstalling it was a PITA, with registry keys protected from patch installs etc., not to mention the large number of patches that had to be downloaded & applied. That was a lot of my time wasted because someone didn't code their update properly -- IMHO something worth getting upset about. **If** the coder used something else besides Windows Installer, that would not, could not have happened, thus like many, many others I consider Windows Installer a big prob. that MS should have fixed loooong ago.

OTOH from the standpoint of checking things out I prefer msi files, as they're very easy to disassemble into the individual components. That way I can spot say a C++ runtime installer that might/might not run during testing, & can see for example what if any VB components an app might add, not just what it did add for me.

"...I’m not going to push one brand over the other... but until ATI proves to me that they can write functional drivers and perform high-quality deinterlacing, I’m sticking with nVidia."

lol... 'bout being a fan boy I mean. :-) I don't really care personally, but I'm concerned that I wrote poorly enough to give the impression I was trying to boost ATI -- I'm not. The other day when I said something about advertising CUDA but not ATI stream, that was for the benefit of any developers, as I thought (& still think) that's rather poor marketing. If nVidia (or ATI) pays or through whatever incentives encourages a game company to favor their brand, that's one thing -- the game dev is entering into an agreement eyes open. When a dev is trying to make their app more successful OTOH, does it pay to discourage 1/2 or more of any potential market? CUDA may/may not be better, easier, whatever then ATI's stream -- I'm not making a claim one way or the other -- but advertising just CUDA is a bit of a double edged sword IMHO, & wanted to make them aware of that perception.


* * *

I apologize if I offended Fubar, CompNetTeach, or anyone else... That was never my intent, nor did I ever intend to imply more than I've ever written -- I'm just not a between-the-lines sort of guy. My sincere belief is that most all articles, forums, blogs, any on-line comments are FWIW opinions, free to be accepted, critiqued, ignored, trashed, or whatever the reader feels appropriate -- I mean if getting trashed bothers you, don't post on-line because sooner or later it's gonna happen. ;-) To anyone who doesn't post on-line for that very reason, my view is that much better, smarter people than I are frequently called idiots & much worse -- such is life -- so no use worrying about it... getting trashed just puts you in great company. :-)

That said, I'm 'bout as far as you can get from being a good writer, so maybe I did somehow imply something or other that I never intended to even hint at. *Maybe* a little background would help? *Maybe* if nothing else it will correct a misperception or three? I don't claim any impressive sounding credentials, & I don't claim a job implying knowledge &/or skills [e.g."As an instructor"], partly because I don't think that means a whole lot & partly because I don't like talking about myself. I try not to have a big ego -- seriously, I don't come back to GOTD once I've posted something because I'm afraid I'd start to worry about ratings, & then I might get more concerned about writing whatever for the ratings rather than simple truths. I also might get tempted to critique &/or answer critiques, & then it can become more about personalities etc. & that's not useful to you. Maybe this will help... [As briefly as I can, begging forgiveness for being OT]

I've been at this stuff a while, 1st with mainframes -- I remember when reading keypunch cards was a useful skill. In the late '80s we bought our 1st PC [the 1 MB graphics card had to be special ordered! :-) ], I hoped it would help my wife out with or for work (it did), I started learning more [DOS, Unix, graphics, DTP, C++ etc.], was on the Internet through a local edu [before there was a World Wide Web], & started helping a few folks & businesses move to & use PCs. In decent health [weight training, aerobics etc.], I went to bed one night with a bad cold, & woke up disabled. A large part of my disability is neurological, making some things difficult, others seemingly impossible. I had to re-learn how to read, more than once... If there's anything self-serving to any of my posts, it's practice so I won't have to go through that again. Otherwise my goal since becoming disabled is to learn & continue to learn as much as I can -- new research may lead to a cure or at least treatment for my illness, & I want to get back to work.

I've had enough occasional successes over the years to feel that sharing findings, experiences, fixes, methods etc. is worth it -- call it seeking good karma or just trying to be a nice guy or whatever. I firmly believe in that sort of sharing, that it makes up part of the backbone that forms the social structure of the Internet, & besides, stuff others have posted on-line has helped me tremendously over the years, so maybe I can return the favor? At any rate, I check out the software offered on GOTD because I love software, & I'm genuinely interested personally. I check it out the way I do because I want to know the effects of installing it -- some apps are truly horrible in that respect -- & if/when possible I like to dispense with the installation routines themselves... *very* often they're just a convenience that adds to registry bloat, & often include redundant installs of things like the MS C++ runtime. Often I can get away with essentially copy/paste installs on other Windows installations &/or PCs, & sometimes I can make an app portable -- I find portable apps handy because they can be stored off-disk & run on-demand when or as needed, so if someone wants to see if an app does what they need/want, or maybe needs to use an app only once, ever, that maybe saves an awful lot of bother. Of course apps don't have to be portable, but given 2 more or less identical apps, the one that is portable is almost always better coded & more effiecient IMHO because the dev put in extra time & effort to start with.

Again, I'm hoping that might help manage perceptions -- I really am not trying to be anything other than helpful, I don't post links to any site where I personally stand anything to gain etc.

I also remember the posting for USB Safely Remove and had been using it until Zentimo came out. I have been using Zentimo since it's Beta days. Zentimo has a multitude of options that USB SafelyRemove did not have. Unfortunately I am not going to list them here but I do think to anyone who has use for a USB Manager. This in no way can be compared to the built in Safely Remove. I do encourage people to go check out the manufacturers site. Personally I have the Pro version with a lifetime license. There is the ick with this download. it requires license renewal every year, but in buying the lifetime license I get all the renewals and upgrades for free. They have just put out another Beta so I guess this one will be getting replaced soon. BTW both USB SafelyRemove and Zentimo are made by the same people.

#47 gpc111, Yes you should uninstall USB Safely Remove if you install Zentimo. Because both of programs do similar things and conflicts is possible if they have different settings.

---
Anton Lipikhin, the Zentimo developer.

It's been over an hour since I put my information for registration in their website and I still have not received the reg. code. Tried a second time with a second email address and same result.

#36: The registration page for today's GOTD clearly states that "The license you'll get allows you using [sic] the program for lifetime, but doesn't allow neither [sic] upgrades nor techinical [sic] support."

(I'm not criticising their English BTW, especially since my Russian is non-existent!)

You would have surely seen the statement for yourself if you'd visited that page.

#44: Two big reasons to love Zentimo:
1. You can rename and change the icon for every USB device in the menu. This stops you making silly mistakes when you remove a device.

2. The Windows Safely Remove Device (in XP Pro, which is what I'm running) has the maddening habit of briefly stopping my USB ADSL modem—a Thomson SpeedTouch 330—whenever I stop any other device, and this in turn drops my Internet connection until it redials (dunno if this is the modem driver or Windows at fault, but it's a total PITA). Therefore, I've taken to simply pulling out USB sticks, which prevent this (but still makes me nervous). However, Zentimo does not have this problem! If I use Zentimo 'Safely Remove' on a USB flash drive, my Internet does NOT 'drop out.'

Am I very happy about this? Yes! Am I $35 worth of happy? Knowing now that it DOES solve my own really annoying problem, probably 'yes.'

Please TRY Zentimo before assuming 'it's just the same as Windows Safely Remove,' because I've just proved that it really isn't the same: it is a big improvement over Windows.

A huge thank you to GOTD and to the developer, who I am very pleaed to see is answering everyone's queries.

I agree with the comments others have made: you might not want a device's properties written to it. And for anyone baffled about how to enter the reg. key, apply for and obtain your key by e-mail, install and start Zentimo, then click the little key icon at the top right of the window. You cna then copy/paste your personal key.

One final thing: I have my Taskbar running down the right-hand side my Desktop, and I am VERY pleased to say that the Zentimo window displays correctly. You would be surprised at how many 'tray icon' apps. display only part of their window if the Taskbar isn't in its 'usual' place! Well done!

Zentimo is a difinite keeper for me, for all the reasons above. Grab it while you can, folks!

Comment by Peter C1 @ No.31 = "I’d like to see a Lifetime License purchasing option being made available to those who want too buy one. Instead that Option of buying a Lifetime License was taken away by Alex at the beginning of September 2010, in favour of charging customers every 1 or 2 years.
C’mom Alex if you price it correctly at 2 or 3 times the yearly purchase price people will buy it in droves. It was originally USD$70 for a Lifetime License, isn’t that so Alex?"


Hi Folks

. . . Peter - . . . So WHAT was that all about ? - Do you actually know this Alex ?
Many years ago - I was a Radio DJ & the Main 'On-Air' GOLDEN RULE we had to follow was . . .

“If you are making a joke or comment - IT MUST BE OPEN to the listeners - IF they can’t follow it OR they don’t understand because THEY DON’T KNOW THE BACKGROUND to what the discussion is about - they’ll lose interest” etc. etc.

My point is - You seem to be going at this Alex BIG STYLE - BUT - I don’t understand why - do you know him / her - are you a disgruntled ex-employee / customer because the number of times you address Alex in person certainly gives that impression.

IF you need to have a beef with someone which is not going to be of benefit to the wider group - PLEASE ask the Moderators to pass your message on in print etc. WITHOUT Post on site ! - I’m sure they’d oblige.

I personally have sent several messages directly to the GAOTD Team which never get posted - because they weren’t meant to be !


Comment by Fubar @ No. 27 = “I rarely post here now, it’s not worth my time. There are all the usual brain-dead posts, like whining over Vista (it stomps XP is almost all respects, and Windows 7 is largely Vista), country of origin, malware false-positives, etc. As for mike and his supporters, he’s turning into another Ashraf, acting like he has technical knowledge when he doesn’t. So, mike, I used to somewhat trust portions of your installation traces, but not anymore. The only thing which you seem to care about is portability, which is largely irrelevant to me. It’s not possible to give a trace which is applicable to all users. Your “clean system” method won’t tell you when an installation changes or deletes registry entries or files on other people’s computers. I know now why you were always whining about the Windows Installer … Even after AMD bought them, they remained buggy. nVidia always stomped ATI in video quality tests of all types. Neither ATI nor nVidia did a good job of deinterlacing, but nVidia did a ten times better job than ATI (literally). A lot of gamers only care about frame rates, so if you’re willing to spend a fortune on the cutting-edge cards, then ATI is currently in the lead (they go back-and-forth). I’m not going to push one brand over the other, and perhaps AMD’s resources has finally improved things at ATI, but until ATI proves to me that they can write functional drivers and perform high-quality deinterlacing, I’m sticking with nVidia.
”
What the Hell ???

Users of this site - Myself included - read these posts for 2 primary reasons -
1: - To Find Out . . . Is the software any good - does it have issues - are there better FREE alternatives ?
2: - To Learn from people like yourself / BuBBy / Fubar & Mike.

I can be 99% certain that the vast majority of GAOTDs users DO NOT turn up in the hope of following a fresh SCRAP ! - "Who's Punch-Up will it be today ?"

When it comes to Windows & PC's in general - you're one of the most knowledgable people out there - you've probably forgotton more than I could hope to KNOW !!! - I used to enjoy reading every one of your posts - before you started getting personal - BECAUSE I WAS LEARNING FROM YOU !!! - Call me crazy but I thought that was the reason you were posting. - Now it seems - I was wrong.

I understand you are one of the Moderators - IF someone else had been laying into you in the same way - would you have put it up ? - I've had posts refused BECAUSE I WAS THANKING PEOPLE IN PERSON - but it seems if I'd been slamming them - I'd have had no problem.

We're back to the age old question - "WHO watches the watchers ?" - WHO Moderates your posts to allow susch stuff through ? - You even ended up having a go about ATi & nVidea - WHY ? Mike never even mentioned them here today ? - IF I'd done that - I'd have been refused for being OFF TOPIC !!!

You are far more than that - anyone who viewed this site for the first time today - would have seen you to be a very angry & uncaring individual - BUT having seen your earlier posts - I believe that's an unfair representation. - IS THAT REALLY THE IMAGE YOU WANT TO GIVE ????

I have frequently made reference to you in my posts because I believe your knowledge is to be respected - I certainly wouldn't say the same for today's post - I'd hope for your sake it is forgotten - QUICKLY !.

For what it's worth - I actually MISS your OLD POSTS !!!

--------------------------------

Mike - PLEASE DON'T BITE BACK - this should be A NO FIGHT ZONE !!!

While it's OK to be critical of a comment made because you have a different opinion - the other person's opinion is just as valid & has every bit as much right to be on the web site !

Comments like Fubar's today are more likely to give his future posts LESS credability to those who "Met" him for the first time today - unfair BUT TRUE !!!

Please you guys - A lot of us check these posts - top to bottom every day & we want to feel better by the end - NOT WORSE !

Maybe you could have a seperate page - like I've seen on other Group Sites - A Sounding Off Page - where that is the only page that these sorts of comments are allowed - almost encouraged - BUT that way - we don't have to see it by default - we'd have to purposely go to view the page !

I've only ever wanted what's best for this site & it's users.

Anyway - That's my thoughts - for what they're worth !



I hope this has been helpful for some of you :o)
Apologies for any Typos ...

Cheers for now & HAVE A GREAT DAY FOLKS !!

- - Mike - -
- Macs-PC -
LIVE in the UK ! :o)

HI. This sounds like a great program for a simpleton like me who never knew there was a correct way to remove a EHD. All I have done is unplug it & plug it in. LOL I caanot get the program to open. It saus it installed, & I tried again. Windows 7/68... whatever that 60 something # is.
Also- what is “autorun.inf” virus? Everytime I plug in any EHD it always starts a search (could be because I havent been removing it correctly).
Thank YOu- I hope this can help me with my EHD's.

Fubar (#27): It's nice to see you commenting again, even if acerbically. I have always appreciated your technical analyses of the giveaways, regardless of whether I understood them. Your comments stand out against the many other "brain-dead" remarks. Perhaps it could be more worth your time to comment if you spent less time on each comment, for example by writing more concisely and sticking to your main point (and perhaps hitting Enter occasionally)? Many of us would benefit from your continued postings.

How do you even address the whining that goes on, and for those that keep asking "what use is this program" If you don't know the purpose of a program don't use it! this software helps me with hiding unused drives 11 in all and solves the windows problem with certain drives. Thanks a lot to GAOTD and to Crystal Rich. Not much is free, so try and decide, don't complain about the price of a program that you are getting for free!!

Like many others her I have USB Safely Remove from a previous giveaway. My questions is should I uninstall USB Safely Remove before I install Zentimo?

Thank you GOTD and Zentimo for a well needed app

Talk about uselessness. This program doesn't have ANYTHING at ALL which is even remotely useful or not already in Windows.

Like many others here, I've been using USB Safely Remove for a while now. What I like about it is that I see more than just the drive letter, each drive gets a name and description, so I always know which device it is I want to disconnect.

However, when I plug in a USB octopus, it doesn't know what to do with it. Last time I tried it, the whole system went down. I can't find a mention of hubs on their website, so I don't know how Zentimo handles them or if it does. Anybody??

As for the price, too high. However, if I decide to install it and I like it, I'll watch for a discounted price and grab it then.

Lifetime licenses. Sooner or later, you'll learn better.

#33 Spam Sorenson, Thank you for your opinion.
If you found a problem, you have a note or suggestion, please feel free and let us know about that. You can send us screenshots, notes or suggestions directly to our support on this e-mail: support@zentimo.com---
Anton Lipikhin, the Zentimo developer.

Maybe a little off topic but it's great to have GAOTD back. Keep up the good work, guys!

#24 graylox, many thanks for the kind words. That is very pleasure for developers.

Anton Lipikhin, the Zentimo developer,
Crystal Rich Ltd,
http://zentimo.com/

#23 Laura, I can explain you. :) The difference between USB Safely Remove and Zentimo is that USB Safely Remove is a small utility for removing external devices safely as followed from its name, whilst Zentimo is more powerful device manager, which contains more features than USB Safely Remove, and that is just beginning. We planning to add more features to work with storage devices easily.
Anton Lipikhin, the Zentimo developer,
Crystal Rich Ltd,
http://zentimo.com/

#19 nescio - Thank you for the kind words. USB Safely Remove was just a start point to make a big step toward developing a powerful device manager.

Anton Lipikhin, the Zentimo developer,
Crystal Rich Ltd,
http://zentimo.com/

Have to agree with comment #2 by grey area. Why do I need This? Windows Has This Covered.

A problem I encountered with the developer, and this is with USB Safely Remove, is that it automatically checks for updates.

When it installed one of them, the free version suddenly died and my use was limited.

If the developer pulls the same stunt with Zentimo, it is simply sleazy behavior, IMO.

The same thing is what the "All My Books" developer does.

GAOTD should request that SW developers explicitly state whether they will pull the free license when their program finds and then offers to install an update.

Always, always, always use a safe eject method.

As an instructor, I always have at least five screwed up drives a year (I'm surprised there's not more) from students who do not use a safe eject method but just pull out their thumb drive without checking. Unfortunately, the usual bad news I give the students is that the MBR, MFT or directory structure is scrambled from the unsafe eject (since management structures are the last things to be written out of the cache because they are most heavily changed), and I can't help them recover the most recent updated files (if the flash drives are highly fragmented - defragging flash drives can shorten the life of the drive).

Good ol' free <a href="Unlocker">http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker does an excellent job in trying to show what is the locking process, but does miss when anti-virus / anti-malware / advanced firewall programs intermittently accesses a file (or does some sort of background scan). The other time it fails is when you have a heavily loaded system (running sluggish) and explorer looses track of handles. I strongly recommend installing it (even if you install Zentimo).

As an "improvement" over USB Safety Remove, I strongly recommend installing this on your systems. I tend to prefer autorun disabled and no writing settings to the drive. Yes, adding a catalogue of drives ever plugged in would be welcome (rather than deciphering the registry).

Yes Zentimo can help you when you have "externally" attached devices that become unaccessible due to Windows thinking that the device is unresponsive.

Nice to see r01Z & Fubar. I agree with Fubar's sentiment.

Thanks Crystal Rich & giveaway.

Just what the world needs, the technological equivalent of a $300.00 cheese slicer...

If you enjoy filling your HD with redundant programs, the developer's website (crystalrich.com) has other nuggets of pure joy you'll treasure! Their software, with the exception of two, simply mimics what Windows does:


The exceptions are:

* Visual Booster - want to show your father what button to press in Skype to reply? Use this tool for sharing and publishing screen shots.
(Are they serious?? Honestly, if "Dad" can't figure out the Skype reply button, how can this tool possibly help him? Common sense shouldn't have to be downloaded...)

* LockHunter - a foolproof file unlocker with 32/64 bit support.
(No thanks, I'll continue using Unlocker - the ORIGINAL, free and trustworthy program that takes up even less room than LockHunter. http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

* Time Maniac - a small freeware utility for personal time tracking (In Russian only)
If one needs to manage their time more efficiently, why waste more precious time using this software, that is, if one does speak Russian?


If Crystal Rich Ltd. should ever design original software and not duplicate the accomplishments of others, I'll probably give it a try. Until then, I don't see the need to clutter my computer with identical applications using different names.