still having issues with the icon maker wont open downloaded file keeps stating the key cannot be decrypted. please get these programs working

with the new download, the download, install, and registrations went very easy and no problems.

HOWEVER...
I am still missing all program menu options with the exception of "File" and "Help". It looks to me like the program would be very useful to me, but without the program menu options, I can't see me using the program.

I truly believe the software would be a worthwhile product, but all of the issues we have encountered (and it boggles my mind that there are so many issues that some have and others don't), that it just doesn't inspire any confidence for using it.

I really tried to like this.

sorry :(

....we implemented importing images from photo camera / web camera and uploading image gallery into our server. That is why settings you mentioned are stored in the registry. At the moment Icon Maker does not use them, they are reserved for the feature.

What!!!
The software writes entries into our PC's registry for currently non-existent software products that your company plan to roll out in the distant future? Without telling us first that this will happen and getting our consent.

No excuses please.

This is simply sloppy coding by a lazy programmer who could not be bothered to remove the totally irrelevant bits of the template.

Second Attempt
#47 John, fwiw I’ve been using VirusTotal for years – https://www.virustotal.com/
IMHO it's an excellent free service that now combines over 45 mostly well-known scanners* to analyze suspicious files and URLs. (as long as the file meets VT’s 64MB file size constraint)
As someone else may have submitted the same file first, VT will prompt you: "do you want to see the previous result or do you want to rescan?"
Their service inadverntently highlights how many false positives newer heuristic scans cause as many times one or a few of the scanners will claim a hit while the rest report it as “safe.” I would never rely on WOT or any sort of Internet nanny for this reason.
It’s left to you to decide what to do, but I don’t see why a school would balk at submitting a file for a scan. OTOH, your system admin might balk at your installing anything without authorization, and your due diligence in running such a scan probably won’t override school protocol.
* AntiV scanners used –
AVG
Ad-Aware
Agnitum
AhnLab-V3
AntiVir
Antiy-AVL
Avast
Baidu-International
BitDefender
Bkav
ByteHero
CAT-QuickHeal
CMC
ClamAV
Commtouch
Comodo
DrWeb
ESET-NOD32
Emsisoft
F-Prot
F-Secure
Fortinet
GData
Ikarus
Jiangmin
K7AntiVirus
K7GW
Kaspersky
Kingsoft
Malwarebytes
McAfee
McAfee-GW-Edition
MicroWorld-eScan
Microsoft
NANO-Antivirus
Norman
Panda
Qihoo-360
Rising
SUPERAntiSpyware
Sophos
Symantec
TheHacker
TotalDefense
TrendMicro
TrendMicro-HouseCall
VBA32
VIPRE
ViRobot
nProtect

I hate to say it but now that I have it, I don't know what to do with it! :D Thanks anyway GAOTD. Yeah, finally it works. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad!!

#75 We are going to create several new applications based on the same image editing engine and we implemented importing images from photo camera / web camera and uploading image gallery into our server. That is why settings you mentioned are stored in the registry. At the moment Icon Maker does not use them, they are reserved for the feature.

Using the NEW download, and regardless of what options I choose to make a new icon, I get this error: "Encountered an improper argument."

I simply open the app, click FILE | NEW, select Animated Icon (ani), and it returns the error. Same thing happens regardless of the resolution if I select ANY of the Target Formats.

Please HELP!
Thanks!

@37
you must have downloaded the down-loader with Greenfish. That is why your browser was messed up. Malwarebytes should remove it or even your own antivirus..

@23
following Giovanni's recommendation I was stooped by Webroot.
If you go back and look again the program tries to install a downloader which is risky as McAfee warned you.
Just uncheck the downloader option and then download Greenfish. it is a really good program. As for this program I usually do not install a program that can not buy just in case I have to re-install. in my opinion these program are for XP which will be dead soon.

Thanks GAOTD and especially SoftOrbits for updating the download file. I had no problems downloading, installing, registering, starting, creating an icon, loading an icon file (Vista Home Premium 32-bit). Program says "Registered Version" and it didn't crash in the few minutes I tried it out (always a good thing!). I'm a big fan of Sketch Drawer and think I will enjoy Icon Maker - especially the transforms (shift left/right/up/down, etc.) which are very helpful when designing my own icons. I also tried copying a selected section of an icon and pasting it into a different spot -- worked very well. Looking forward to using this!

I agree with others, buggy. Still yet, even the "new" version is still buggy, unless I'm just not using it correctly.
For instance, I chose a widescreen wallpaper, used the "crop" box to make it square, but the remainder of the original sized box still remains and is recognized as the image size, unless I'm missing something. My paint programs always chop and off what I tell them to crop, this only seems to make that area transparent (as if I used the eraser on it).
At least this version doesn't crash (why not change the version number as it shouldn't still be 1.0, correct?).
Anyways, one more thing. It seems to have an update check built in with no apparent setting in the Options to disable it. There is one, however, in the registry:
Change "disableUpdates" from a "0" to "1" at the key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\softorbits\IconMaker

Has potential but still has some bugs and dust to polish IMO.

Install without any problem on Vista business 32 bits OS.
However, every time run the program to make an icon, program crashes.

FWIW, Greenfish Icon Maker is Open Source, gets a clean 0/50 with VirusTotal and is "certified malware free" by Softpedia.
Might be that someone ignored the comment printed right on the Greenfish blog
http://greenfishsoftware.blogspot.it/2012/07/greenfish-icon-editor-pro.html

following
Current version (3.31): (includes source)
Note: You may want to uncheck "Use our download manager to get recommended downloads" because THAT sounds like a source of problems. Always have to be alert for those pesky pre-enabled opt OUT checkboxes!

OK, the updated installation files seem to be fine. The program did not crash anymore.

System: Win XP MCE SP3 (with all the latest updates), P4 CPU at 3.06 GHz, 3 GB RAM
.
To all those who want to keep this program:

There is no possibility to disable automatic updates via the GUI (which is very annoying for a Giveaway!). The only way to do this is via the Registry; so if you do not want to have an evaluation copy soon, go to this Registry entry:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\softorbits]

Click on “+” or double-click on the map “softorbits” to open it; now you should see a map called IconMaker; click or double-click on it; now look in the right pane for “disableUpdates”; double-click on it; a small window opens where you can edit the DWORD-value. This value must read 1, so change it accordingly. Click OK and you are on the safe side.

I do understand that not everybody is confident enough about editing the Registry, so as an alternative you can (must) block IconMaker.exe through the Firewall. Therefore you will need a so-called “Two-way Firewall” which can block outgoing traffic as well - the built-in Firewall from Windows XP does not suffice, it is a “One-way Firewall” which only blocks incoming traffic.
.

To the developer:

SoftOrbits has a good reputation. However, two things really make me wary:

In the Registry:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\softorbits\IconMaker\Settings]
"WEB Camera Size X"=dword:00650068
"WEB Camera Size Y"=dword:00720020
"WEB Camera Frequency"=hex(b):65,00,67,00,69,00,73,00
.
What are these webcam settings good for?

And in the config.ini file:

[Configuration]
m_arrEMails_CUploadDlg=0
m_strLastEMail_CUploadDlg=
.
What e-mails will be uploaded without dialog? And why? And what is their destination?

I do not see any plausible reason for “Icon Maker” to make use of a webcam or its settings or to send e-mails to whatever destination!

If you want to keep your good reputation: Please explain this to us!

Thank you.
.

Regardless of the above, I will stick to IconLover 5.34, which is an excellent piece of software, given away here on May 22, 2013.

sorry, but the previous version at least registered. the updated one shows registered, but after the next start it's trial again. very annoying. thanks anyway.

OK for those with registration issues, make sure to start the program first then go to Help > Register > then put in your license key and e-mail and should be good to go. DO not activate the key before the program is running.

@Fran # 61
I have used this for ages. Very simple and no need for any other program. If you haven't used this method, simply use any image editor and save your image at 48 x 48 pixels and be sure to save your image as bitmap (.bmp) and follow instructions in post #61. It works fine on both Win 7 and Win 8. After all the negative comments I won't be trying this giveaway, thanks anyway.

It Worked
Installed using new download setup file, opened without any problems, did not crash as previously.
Imported an image without any problems and tried a few of the effects which I really liked on a Windows icon.
When you hover over some of the tools instead of telling you what they do it says "Unknown" suggesting it is not quite in the beta mode yet.
Could be a useful tool for any programmer because of the range of icons it can create, have not tested for non-Windows icons, just hope they work.
This is the first icon creator that I have used that has effects, something I found it useful so I will be keeping this program even though it needs considerable more development.

#54 Mark, PLEASE could you tell me which antivirus you have that said GreenFish was infected? VirusTotal said all 47 antivirus programs they used gave it a clean bill of health, but it is not foolproof. It only checks the first 64MB (sorry, I had read it was 40MB, but they have increased it to 64MB for the web and email interfaces, 32MB for the API interface)

https://www.virustotal.com/en/faq/

I think what yours might have detected is the current usual trick of offering other optional software ("recommended") which you have to be careful not to download as well. So it could be a good catch by your antivirus!

#47 John,

Yes! Before downloading any software, you can scan it's web address and also the actual program before you run it with virus total. Just go to www.virustotal.com and paste in the address you want checking, or click on the tab for uploading an actual program and follow the instructions. It is very good, but if you read the website carefully, it does only check the first 40MB of any program, so it is not foolproof sadly...But it is still well worth doing as it catches most stuff.

It is WELL WORTH checking any program, because sometimes the latest version will contain browser hijackers and things like that, while previous versions did not. Also some people take popular programs and upload them to other sites once they have infected them with malware. So even if a program has good reviews and is safe, if you download it from the wrong website, you could get a version that someone has infected.

Remember, that one detection is probably a false positive, but the more detections it has, the more cautious you need to be. I personally will not risk anything that has three or more detections, but that is just what I feel.

Ok.. Now it will make Icons and the “Trial Version” dialog bug when saving that icon is gone.

Icon:
win 16×16 8 bit
win 32×32 24 bit TC
win 32×32 32 bit TC+A
win 256×256 32bit TC+A

New GAOTD Version:
IconMaker10_new.zip (same name, but different creation time: Today, March 17, 2014, 12:25:34)


OS: Win XP-Pro 32bt

Tested Parts:
New, Open, Save.
Undo, Redo.
Add Icon, Delete Icon - created icon sizes 256x256, 32 bit, 16x16, 16 bit and animated cursor or icon (What Fun).
The animated icons frame rate can be set.

Duplicate Image.

Flip Vertically, Flip Horizontally, Rotate Left, Rotate Right.

Shift all pixels of the current icon in any direction.

Zoom In, Zoom Out (making detailing of the current easier).

Corrects resolution on file import (ready for icon construction).

Did I mention this "Icon maker" can also create Animated Cursors? (all in how the Icon is saved)

All seems to be working now, Have Fun.

Looking forward to making more impressive Icons (instead of the quick doodles I created for testing).

Thanks; Ray

Not sure why it is getting such a bad review, I downloaded the software and installed no problems. It registered just fine and I created a new icon and saved it no problem. Windows 7 64 bit.

They are so many screenshots on the developer site, - It's worth seeing.
Regards. Adam

This time with correct spelling

When I try to run Setup.exe, I get a pop-up that reads “The key connot be decrypted.” In summary, Setup.exe doesn't run.

Hi, @18 (Steffo) - Yes, this method still does work. On Win7:

Create New Folder, click Properties, go to 'Customize' and 'Change Icon', navigate to 'Browse' and choose your Image. Even if renamed to have .ico as extension it will not show as 'Icon files', or any other from drop-down list, but in All Files will (doesn't have to have .ico extension, can still be bmp, or whatever), click on it, Apply, OK. Your customized Folder is ready to be used - 'as is', for it doesn't show preview what's in it.

Afterwards this action can be restored to Default using the same method. Make sure your Image is at least 48 x 48 (millimeters) to be visible on (say) desktop, or that it's not distorted. Also - if using anything 'framed' (like photo) when saving as bmp a.s.o - layers must be properly merged before saving, otherwise New Folder will not show framed picture. I tried it and it works:) Thanks Steffo for reminding us.

Ok.. Now it will make an icon... But it still has the "Trial Version" dialog bug when saving that icon.

Icon:win 16x16 8 bit
win 32x32 24 bit TC
win 32x32 32 bit TC+A
win 256x256 32bit TC+A


New GAOTD Version:
IconMaker10_new.zip

OS: Win XP-Pro 32bt

Dear users,

we have just uploaded updated installation file. If you faced program crashes, please re-download the archive and re-install the application. The issue with registration has also been fixed.

And yes, the giveaway will be extended for another 24 hours on GOTD in English.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

--
Sincerely,
GOTD team

#44 John

Two of the best Malware and Antivirus Programs are...

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

Avira Free Antivirus

Both are free. Search Google for download link.

When I try to start program. error message appear says icon maker stops working. Sorry I remove program from computer. $49.99 to much for beta version

Giovanni, you should have a website with all the links and names of the equally comparable software, the better and the best software. It would be very helpful to us so we can use your knowledge and experience without spending countless hours on the internet trying to find software. I also like your reviews here so I can compare products and see what is worth trying and purchasing for those who which to do so. Thank you

Improve by making a product that actually works (Win 8.1 64 - 8 G Ram - 1 TB Drive - 2 Gb Dedicated Vid Ram) built for graphics - thx GOTD - removed within 5 min of install.

GreenFish editor may not be safe since my security software removed it and claimed it was infected with "the Insight Network Threat".

Having just battled with some nasty malware I'd stay away from it.

Downloaded and Registered no problem.
Upon opening, get message "Windows had to close".
Tried it twice.
Uninstalling.
Thank you
Nice try
Thanks GOTD and all who commented.
(This is why it's nice to have people offer free alternatives!)

Downloading + registration were easy.

But when you try to use the software.

It crashes every time.

It fails, without fail.

SoftOrbits Icon Maker has encountered a problem and
needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Error signature -
AppName: iconmaker.exe AppVer: 1.0.0.1 ModName: iconmaker.exe
MooVer: 1.0.0.1 Offset 0001967e

Next time please do not hand out such junk in GOTD.

................

I use Greenfish Icon Editor + IcoFX. Both are portable, free of charge and excellent.

Check out this beauty: Icon Extract by NirSoft. Similarly, it is portable, free of charge and excellent.

Open Irfan View or any photo editor, impot any graphic picture you want and save as .ICO, that's it.
I have been doing this for years. Also you can select transparency and size if you need too.

Same problem again. It installed and registered fine on XP sp3, but whenever I tried it on an image file (I tried jpgs of different sizes and two small gifs) it just crashed straight away. I tried opening the image, using the "Extract icon from an image" dialogue and even reinstalled with the program file from the website instead of the GAOTD version, but to no avail.

Installed (Windows 8.1) and registered without problems.
Crashes when I try to use it.
Will somebody help ???

I followed direction and registered it. Crashes every time I try and open something.

This program is clearly in the Alpha stage of development.
Crashes every time on Win XP system.

Installed, registered just fine. Clicked the "new" button, selected an icon type etc, then crash!

I made several different attempts with different icon types, also build from image (jpg).

Crash every time.

Windows 8.1, installed to folder C:\Utility\Graphics\IconMaker

I should know better. Version 1.0 of anything.

Uninstalled.

For installation i had to switch off bitdefender is. installed and registered. when trying to create an icon from a common bmp, Windows gives a message (programm funktioniert nicht mehr...) and app has to be closed. Win 8.1 Pro x64. Very disappointing and annoying, because i lost about 1 hour to get to this result.

Can't test today's free giveaway as the program crashes every time.
I can get with it so far to the create new icon dialog box but when clicking on OK

[Window Title]
Microsoft Windows

[Main Instruction]
SoftOrbits Icon Maker has stopped working

[Content]
A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available.

[Debug] [Close program]

Unlike some others, my copy of Icon Maker installed without any issues and the program worked without errors or crashes (Win 7 x64 Bits, SP1).

And like others, I also have IcoFX 1.6.4 (last freeware version), which I prefer over today's offering. In large part this is due to the differences in the GUI. For example, in IcoFX there is a separate preview window, allowing for a greater sense of the changes one has made to the icon.

Maybe when today's offering reaches its version 1.5 some of the shortfalls of the current GUI will have been corrected; until then I'll stick with IcoFX.

The program can’t start because MSVCP100.dll is missing from your computer! Noticed another had same problem – Uninstalled!

Everyone with this issue needs to install the MS Visual C ++ Redistributable Package. See here http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_other-performance/msvcp100dll-missing/9a687c31-0619-4ee9-b511-020985e29b5f

The price of this software is FREE!

Why is it working for some and not for others? It keeps crashing. Am I doin somethin wrong here? Somebody help me out please.

@ #15 Giovanni A thumbs up for this recommendation. I have used it for years and is a great free little program for creating icons.

The software won't install on my Windows 7 Home Premium system.

#23 I don't know about Gio's download link but I use icoFx and I think it's a great icon app.

@TeeK,

You might want to uninstall or avoid McAfee. Wife got Dell computer a few years ago and it came with McAfee Antivirus. It would not even uninstall without McAfee tech support.

We have some McAfee products forced on us at work, probably because someone is golfing with an important someone else. Their software, at least in my experience, it pure crap.

It is kind of like Symantec. It was very good at one time, but that time is passed.

Final recommendation: Everyone needs to read before they are download. If the link says "use our download manager to get extra special offers" that is a clue that someone may be up to no good.

Just my two cents, your mileage may vary.

Cheers,
Exploro

Windows XP 32 bit:

Program installs and registers correctly, but when selecting "New" from the file menu, the program throws up an error message saying that the program needs to close!
No details are given on the error?