Very nice tool there.

thank's it's very useful

I'd recommend TrayIt better. And it's freeware.

Mike R..... MOST EXCELLENT EXPOSE! That took you some time to check out all the awards and pricing claims made by the developer. Much appreciated.

And most important, your post has confirmed what I decided about a month ago, take the "free" offerings on this Site with a grain of salt and caution.

I no longer assume that the offerings are either "free" [many are time-limited trial offers, not true giveaways] and others are questionable offerings by what I call "third world" developers.

Kudos to you.

Littlefield, you should run a Google search with quotes. "windows will not minimize to tray" and see what comes up.

I run exact errors and error messages in Google all the time and find fixes for the problems.

For example, recently with I click "save file" to my PC when I right click to create a new folder to put the file into, my XP will not open the "new folder" box.

I did a Google search and I found the fix on MS site. While they did not say what the error was, they said to simply right click on a blank part of the "save as" Window and the new file folder dialog box would open. That worked.

Google will lead you to forums that have discussed your particular problem.

I suggest we also need 2 columns of forum here-one just for people to suggest other similar programs. And they could maybe add "freeware", without criticizing anyone else's prices.

It's all free here.

Got it, like it, it works great, & thank you very much!

This is NOT "questionable software", people! If you think you can use it, try it. If not, don't please. Leave it for someone else. For Pete sake, some of the NONSENSE posted here as comments rips my brain! Most of the above don't know what they are talking about. As usual.
These programs are offered here for FREE by the makers simply to be nice, NOT to unfairly criticized, for reasons that don't even COUNT.

These aren't programs that are brand new & in the Beta stages! They don't need your analysis. If you discover honest PROBLEMS with a program you got here, please do tell us! IF they are actual problems with the software itself, & you know what you are talking about! NOT just to be negative & make yourself feel important!

I never saw a forum b4 that had a bunch of people complaining like this. Shame on ya! The Bladed Thoth does a very good job for us here, as does WhiteRabbit! Any other comments should be of use to us, or don't bother! We just see how silly & irritating you are! Even my comment about the comments isn't necessary, but I'm just so irritated! BUT unless you think it's important we should know, & you KNOW what you're talking about, please, please, just download or not & say thanks & let it go.
And I worry that the makers of these programs see all this STUFF & may decide it's better not to give us anything than reap this kind of reward for being so nice & giving it free! Enough of my rant too. Sorry. Thank you. I'll stifle for awhile again. lol:) I'll work on a better way to express it briefly later, if at all.
How's this- Please limit comments to important facts users here need to know. This is not a Beta program & isn't in need of criticism unless there's a real problem in the software. The makers give them free to be nice.

The following was written to post in the forums as there is only 4 hours to go before the next giveaway. So please excuse some of the wording. I haven't the time to rewrite those bits that need editing.

I was impressed by the list of ‘non’ awards that someone claims to be the truth with respect to Almeza’s claims to have received quite a few awards. Which was presented in the comments section of the Captain Trays giveaway. There were over 12 sites quoted as being false with respect to the claims that Almeza has made on it’s home page, where if you follow a discreetly placed link you will find 20 or so awards listed. The poster of these comments lambasts Almeza as well as indicates that giving away products from such a company as this will only taint the giveaway projects name.

I have the time to check things out when I’m in the mood and thought I’d do some simple research myself. I checked out six of the claimed awards:

Download2you.com which I found gave this product 5 stars, which was indicated as false by the commenter, who I may add has receice3d over a 100 positive points for his in depth and well researched post. Then I checked Hotlib which the poster claims “shows no evidence of the 5-Star award advertised by the developer” well he was partially right as it was actually awarded 3 stars. I also checked BrotherSoft which the commenter said the “award is notable only for its complete absence”, which again is totally not true as I found immediately that Brothersoft had awarded it 5 stars as claimed by Almeza.
Shareup.com also gave it 5 stars and global software 4 stars. At this point I decided to stop, partly because I realized it was getting really late (3am) and I also felt that what I’d found just proved that what has been said has no real foundation. And in my opinion should be deleted from the comments section, or at least the parts that are propagating the badly researched and mainly totally wrong evidence as I think this would be called libel.

I do hope that the comment hasn’t done too much damage. I wouldn’t be surprised though if Almeza decided to pull out of the project, which would be a great shame. Looking at the scoring with only 4 hours to go it looks like the damage has already been done. 68% of 191 votes were thumbs down to what I can only say is a nice piece of software.

What I did find I that using different search engines was definitely important because using one would give a negative, whereas trying the same query on another one would yield a positive result.

It wasn’t my intention to try to rip apart what was a really well written and seemingly well researched piece of work; my intention was just one of confirmation and curiosity. It shocked me to find such negativity when there was really no cause for it. . It seems to me that he purposely wanted to make Almeza look dishonest.

What set me off on this was my own experience with the software which was a positive one and also The Bladed Thoths excellent and impartial review.

I can easily post evidence to support my findings in the form of screenshots. I didn’t think to take them while actually doing the research, but as it only took me about five minutes to search for six positive hits and only one negative it would only take me 10 to 15 minutes to take some captures and post them to my photobucket account. Unfortunately as I’ve already said, the damage seems to have already been done.

Works. It is alresy built into windows really.

As stated several times already, the "awards" this company claims to have received look totally bogus. I noticed that you can't even click on them to get to the sites they are supposedly linked to. They are just image files that lead to nowhere. Thanks to Mike R. and everyone else who alerted the rest of us to this very questionable software.

Thanks GAOTD for the daily offerings but please consider giving Almeza the boot from ever being listed here again.

Why minimize windows in the system tray?
You can minimize them in a dock first choice RocketDock
(+ ObjectDock, RKLauncher) or even VisualTooTip and then use SweptAway to automate the action.
http://lifehacker.com/software//lifehacker-code-swept-away-windows-255055.php
DM2 is also a great program endeed!

Some freeware alternatives are: DM2, TrayIt, PowerMenu.

However, CaptainTray offers the possibility to minimize to "system tray", or to "taskbar" (Word, Outlook, etc.), therefore, instead of blindly following FaeGiN1's "advice to non internet/PC gurus", CaptainTray is an option that some people can definitely consider.

PLEASE READ THIS
Hi, I've tried this software now, it's not bad. After reading the comments, though, I was worried about CTP taking up to much RAM/memory.
So after instalation of the full version, I used good old taskman.exe to tell me how much RAM/memory Captain Tray Pro uses. Well, about 6,900kb. That's 7mb. Firefox uses 55mb.
What's more, thins of how big your average RAM/memory is today. About 512-4gb.
Let's say, for a more casual expirement, a 1.5gb RAM. That's 1500mb in all, and 6 is being used.

7/1500=0.00466666, 00.0046666x100=0.46666%
About .46% Wow.
*Sarcastic tone* We're REALLY hurting our system reasources. Man this might overheat our CPU, I meant HALF of 1 percent on a 1.5gb computer?
*End sarcastive tone*
Please. I do recomment this program, it is not a resouce stealer, and it's useful. Good job Giveawayoftheday, you've provided acceptable software today.

To Mike R (#20), I'm not defending this product or the company, Almeza, but those awards may have been to the company itself or some of its other products and they may have put them all onto one page and display them with every product or something. So all of those awards don't necessarily have to belong to the particular product they seem to be attached to. I'm not saying this is the case, but it may be possible that's what they did.

To NannySamdi (#40), I agree that no one should let other people's comments convince them one way or the other whether they should get a product or not. They should decide on whether a product is particularly needed and whether it would be useful or a waste to install it onto their machine. Of course, negative comments and reviews are just as useful as positive ones and can serve to help people understand what's good and bad about a product before someone else does so they know what risks might be involved with it. Sure some of it is opinion, but not everything. A lot is just relating how a program worked for a person so anyone else might have a better sense of what may or may not happen with them as well. As far as you downloading and installing programs that you never use for 6 months, that's on you. Why install something you won't use or don't know that you will use? I personally check out any product BEFORE downloading or installing, as most people do. If it looks like something I will never use or have no interest in or has no real purpose, I don't bother with it.

This software, according to the very helpful comments here and also after havoing a look at their site, seems to be one I would avoid. I have not tried it.
Yet I would also recommend any users, especially the non internet/PC gurus amongst you, to avoid this too.
why?
simply, there are a number of freeware programs that do what this does and one in particular, does it better and a few more functions that are very useful too!
I am talking of the already mentioned PowerMenu!
I cannot recommend this enough my friends!
PowerMenu is free and it gives you an extra function in ALL windows where, if you right click on the top of a window (the title bar) then you see a small menu with the following options:
Always On Top
Transparency (lets you set the transparency of the window to 0%-100%)
Minimize To Tray
Priority (lets you change the process priority between high and idle - can be useful)

So please, if you just need a utility to minimize windows to the tray you MUST test out Powermenu at least and then decide for yourself!
You can get it at the authors site here:

Mike R #20, thanks for taking the time to do the research into the "rewards".

GOD, I hope you took note and confirm it. If it is true, you should seriously reconsider posting anything else from this author. This type of bragging is one of the marks of a malware (virus etc) author, "look at all the 'prizes' that 'prove' this software is 'safe' ".

GOD, I would have expected that you already did this type of verification as a service to us, your "clients". Your "certification" that all awards claimed are "real" would be another way to put this site ahead of the other generic download sites.

PS, do you run any anti-malware scans before posting. I don't see any mention of that on the ABOUT page. Scanning should be another minimum service to your "clients".

Lots of negative comments here, but I really like it - no problem with installation, easy to use, does what it says it's for. I wouldn't have paid for it, but it's free today - thanks, GAOTD!

I use TrayDevil. It's freeware and uses very little system resources.

can u plz put this back on


Wondershare DemoCreator



my net was down and now it is on and i wantet it

I have been using one of these kinds of apps (a freeware one) for a very long time and find it immensely useful. I'll try this to see if it's any better. If anyone hasn't tried one this is worth trying out - like Tabbed Browsing it is so useful and you can't live without it once you've grown accustomed to having it. ^_^

To all you newbies out there, just a little word of advice. Don't let what other people say stop you from downloading and trying out a program that you see here...though if there are a lot of complaints about technical problems I would give a serious second thought to whether I should download them or not. Negative comments often just mean that the person writing them has absolutely no need or wanting for that program and they insist on posting that information here. On the other hand, I've downloaded and installed lots of programs that others have insisted are 'the best''must have''can't do without' only to uninstall them months later because I haven't had a reason to use them even once. So my advice is read what other people have to say, both positive and negative, and then make up your own mind.
PS: I also think taking a look at some of the freeware alternatives offered here is a good idea, gives you an idea of what's out there.

Even for the freeware alternatives, it is very difficult for me, to decide which one is the best. DM2 looks like an interesting alternative, because of the optional virtual desktop plugin. The reviews today, and the mistaken price and awards by the developper, do not encourage me to download today's giveaway.

As for the previous giveaway by Almeza, MultiSet (unattended software installer), the best way I have thought about, is to build a virtual Windows XP machine on my already existing OS, and even then, I would have to check, if Almeza MultiSet is really the best way to prepare an unattended multiple software install.

P.S. A real good Virtual Desktop Manager for XP/Vista would be an excellent giveaway, the Microsoft powertoy is really basic (I always lose the wallpapers located by default in the temp directory), there is no solution which has convinced me 100% until now, as for both elegance and functionality.

I used Taskbar Shuffle for a while and liked it, then I found Taskix. It's not as graphical as Taskbar Shuffle (buttons do not tear off the taskbar, no tray icon) but it uses less than 800KB of memory.

http://taskix.robustit.com/

I don't know why it seems that there are no posts to some people, but I think people post them at a certain hour, but they are not shown until verified by site admin, therefore we can't see them right away...

#4 Stephen -- FYI: There is a Firefox extension called "Minimize To Tray" that will work for you, and it also works for Thunderbird.

#20 & 30 Mike R -- Thank you for all the time you spent checking out the developers "awards". I never get time to actually check on each one as you did. If I see them, I just look for ones I recognize. This developer lists some I have never heard of! I doubt they will be changing their "awards". They seem to be very proud of them.
I will be looking for your comments here in the future!

Thanks GAOTD for your offerings, but I am passing today due to lack of rave reviews and a lackluster review by BladedThoth (who I admire for his time and great reviews!).

I also found this "Package" questionable at best but I am glad I read through all those helpful suggestions that were posted. Thankyou dedicated people who care.

Thanks GOTD for giving us this forum to applaud the worthwhile, give a helping hand to the new people on the block and a "boot to the head" (tm) for those who so rightly deserve it.

*(tm) Phrase originally coined by The Frantics

I couldn't try Captain Tray (some system problems)
but I'm using an open source app for a long time: DM2

DM2: minimize windows to floating icons® or to tray,
make them standing always on-top ... and supports custom plugins.
DM2 is free for use. Source is released under the terms of the GPL license.
read and get it on :
http://dm2.sourceforge.net/
graylox

#32: Jahala

No parallel universe access today; GaOTD updated their price to match what it is being sold for by the publisher.

Guess we live in parallel universes. In my browser, it says this program costs $9.95. Where are people getting $34.95???

I have been looking for a good program like this. I have tried several, such as MinimizeToTray, that simply don't work...at least, not on my computer.

This program, so far, is working well. No setting up, which I like. You can simply have all windows sent to the system tray, hidden or whatever. It also has other features, such as reboot. In short, it's simple to use and does the job.

my avria anti virus gave the following report upon downloading this software

Virus or unwanted program 'HEUR/Malware [HEUR/Malware]'
detected in file 'D:\giveaway exe files\CaptainTray.zip.

what should i do?

How odd.

The Captain Tray $34.95 I referred to in my #20 post is now $9.95.

After this re-writing of the software's prices, perhaps there'll now be some re-writing of the software's awards??

Clown from post #16 can't even count!!

Hello all! Today's 15-Minute Review is up! Check it out!

http://www.bladedthoth.com/reviews/15mrs/captain-tray-pro-v6-4/

#23 - I am concerned about the rust on some of those bridges, like the Williamsburg and Manhattan or the one by the Gowanus Canal (oh, is that in Queens ?). Maybe you could drop the price by 1/2 as part of the "Bridge Du Jour" daily special ?

Anyway this GAOTD really spurred me to try the two freewares, TrayIt! mentioned above, and PowerMenu ..
http://www.abstractpath.com/powermenu/

And that makes todays GAOTD very worthwhile !

Shalom,
Steven

After downloading and trying out, about the only good thing I can say is the download is lead paint free.

Used system resources and created more clutter on my desktop. just another step to take.

#20-Awesome. My admiration stands no bounds. I do not blame this sight as I sincerely be leave GOTD for making the offer for the developers and they can be had as equally as we can. When evaluators such as yourself bring it to their attention and to the publics this sight is doing exactly what it says it will do by exposing flaws that can help the public and the developers. You are correct that it harms the other developers. I have seen some powerful, awesome offers here that are highly respected universally. Your post may well teach the bogus programs, do not mess with the consumer and do not mess with GOTD, we stand behind them.

Here's an app that lets you rearrange taskbar icons:

http://www.freewebs.com/nerdcave/taskbarshuffle.htm

Works great for organizing what you have open.

I downloaded and used this software today! I can't believe that it actually MINIMIZED my applications but didn't CLOSE them! How come no one thought of this before? I mean I haven't seen such technology since the Windows 3.1 days! And before anyone spends $35.95 on such a great program please email me and I'll inform you on how you can buy a bridge in Brooklyn for about the EXACT SAME price!!

One of my favourite programs is "The Wonderful Icon" which is freeware and for W95 through to XP. It can put items into the system tray and much much more. I spent a couple of days setting it up so that none of my shortcuts conflicted with either standard windows shortcuts or any shortcuts used by my favoutite or frequently used programs.

I also use "Effective Desktop" which is excellent, and is also freeware and keeps the system tray uncluttered. However, I use W98SE (and as development stopped a long time ago)I have no idea if it will work on later versions of windows.

Both the above programs are reliable and lean on ram and CPU usage.

is there a place to recommend new giveaways? there is a program like this, only it uses virtual desktops that you can switch between. of course linux already does this, but for windows it aint so bad...

http://www.tucows.com/preview/377666

The generosity of this site in offering commercial software on a freeware basis is appreciated by many.

But when software presented here raises more questions than it answers, GAOTD itself runs the risk of compromising its own hard-earned credibility.

Not for the first time has this developer, Almeza, appeared here.

And not for the first time does this developer's website promote the software it is offering via GAOTD with comprehensive evidence of "awards". . .

But they are "awards" that either fail to stand up to inspection. Or don't appear to exist at all:

CAPTAIN TRAY AWARDS

"WINNER! This software has received the SMART award from Smart Downloads Net!"

Has it? There's no record of Captain Tray on Smart Downloads that I can see.

GEEKFILES: Awarded 5 / 5 For Exceptional Product.

Has it? The only "Geekfiles.com" I can trace is MajorGeeks.com, a well-respected site. But of "Captain Tray" on MajorGeeks, there's no sign at all. Nor any mention of Almeza.

The "BrotherSoft" award is notable only for its complete absence.

The 5Cup "Award" is meaningless because this site is dysfunctional.

The Editor's Choice at Byte Flow is invisible because the entire website is, er, invisible.

The Award for Excellence from Download2You is meaningless because this is a vanity site which awards anything that comes its way for referral purposes.

The Hotlib website shows no evidence of the 5-Star award advertised by the developer.

The 5 Star Award given by Fileheaven.com isn't apparent on the Fileheaven website.

The Trophy and 5 Star Award from popularshareware.com isn't evident on the popularshareware website.

The 5 Star Award given to this software by sharewareplaza.com must be a surprise to sharewareplaza.com as the site seems never to have heard of it.

As to the worth of the endorsement of an "Editor's Choice" from something called freetrialsoft.com, this seems to be reflected in the number of downloads that have occurred since "Captain Tray" was heralded in 2006: a total of 4.

One widely recognisable shareware resource on the "awards" page is Softpedia.

But what the developer cites as an award is merely a copy of the graphic Softpedia employs to assure users of Softpedia's best practice.

Nor is this all.

Here on GAOTD, "Captain Tray" is quoted at a retail price of $34.95.

Yet on the developer's own website, the price (in British Pounds Sterling) is quoted at £5.07p.

I know the US Dollar is weak. . . but that's ridiculous.

Fortunately, if you hit the currency button, Almeza translates that into $9.95 -- almost $25 less than what Captain Tray is said to be priced at in the product information at the top of this page.

A bargain?

Could be. After all, if you hit the link on the Brothersoft site, the price there is also $34.95, i.e., three times what Almeza is asking for it on Almeza's own website.

Consider this, though. Freetrialsoft.com, which adores Captain Tray so much that it has seemingly induced a mere 4 users to download it, seems to be making it available for, er, absolutely nothing at all:

http://www.freetrialsoft.com/CaptainTrayPro-download-29522.html


Which is somewhat better than Hotlib's price of $14.95.

Still, Hotlib's $14.95 is a better buy than the retail price quoted by fileheaven and, er, daolnwod: $18.95.


So. What's going on? Awards that aren't awards? Prices that aren't prices?

Sorry, GAOTD.

There are many developers out there who you've helped by bringing their work to the attention of the wider world. Developers who have hopefully been assisted by feedback from users of this site.

Where today's developer is concerned, however, I'm not about to touch this or any other of its offerings with a barge-pole: if I can't have confidence that the developer is accurately representing:

(a) its product prices
(b) its products' provenance

then I sure as heck have no confidence at all in its ability to create software that can be depended upon.

I prefer the "Auto Run Manager" Tool provided by "Revo Uninstaller" which is a great Uninstaller by the way! And the price is my favorite -- FREE!

Um... those who write that this program doesn't add anything that Windows can't do by itself already: Please show me (and others here) how to minimize to the system tray (the area next to the clock), not the taskbar on a Windows with no extra programs running to do this...

To save you the work: It can't be done! You need a program like this to get the job done.

Given what the program gives you, and the fact that freeware alternatives are available, I think the price is a bit steep though.

@Stephen
There are okebty of firefox add-ons ever try minimize to tray?

This program is pretty much useless since it has one job and takes up precious resources.

nice i'm going to give this a try when i get home and oh ya 1st post of the day! boo yaaa!

I use TrayIt, which is free. http://www.teamcti.com/trayit/trayit.htm

I tried out today's program because XP "minimize to tray" doesn't work for me, even after a clean install; the programs just "disappear" and can only find them using alt+tab or task manager. However this program Captain Tray doesn't really add anything new or interesting that task manage doesn't already do. So I've already uninstalled today's GOATD program from my computer and envy those of you whose "minimize to tray" works. As for me will continue to use task manager unless anyone out there knows how I can fix this bug...

There's also 4t Tray Minimizer Free - I've been using it under XP and Vista for a few months and it works nicely.

Well i've downloaded and run, but honestly whats it for?
Its just another programme to operate and maintain, whereas my XP task bar does the job anyway. It already has Minimise and Explorer options as is. Sorry, it's just another Toy that will need cleaning out.

Do people really buy such expensive softwares that have so little use? I think most people can do without using such softwares or using a freeware version of it.