Visual Automation Blog

Changes for version 7.11

2009-07-16T15:31:00.003-04:00

Changes for Secure Desktop 7.11!

- Using the Window Wizard, if the minimize and/or maximize system menu items are removed, the minimize and/or maximize buttons in the upper right corner will be disabled.
- If you remove one or the other, the buttons will be visible but disabled.
- If you remove both minimize and maximize, the buttons will no longer be visible.

This issue was reported by a customer. Thanks for helping us to improve Secure Desktop!

To upgrade to Secure Desktop 7.11, visit

visualautomation.com/securedesktop/download.htm

Remember to follow us on Twitter, @securedesktop7.

Become a Secure Desktop Facebook Fan!

New Features for version 7.10

2009-04-06T10:28:00.004-04:00

New Features for Secure Desktop 7.10!

- Internet Explorer 8 Support.
- Added ability to force a window to be "Always-On-Top" using Window Wizard.
- Added Shift-Right Mouse click support to sControl.exe.

The Always-On-Top and Control Panel Features were customer requests. Thanks for helping us to improve Secure Desktop!

To upgrade to Secure Desktop 7.10, visit

visualautomation.com/securedesktop/download.htm

Remember to follow us on Twitter, @securedesktop.

Become a Secure Desktop Facebook Fan!

New Secure Desktop 7.01

2009-02-16T10:37:00.001-05:00

Changes for 7.01

- Icon tooltips may be causing an error, slight change was made to try to correct this.

- If a value in the sDesktop.xml file should have been an integer, but wasn't, an error would occur. This has been fixed.

- If Secure Desktop tried to start a program that didn't exist, an error would occur. Because Secure Desktop may be running in a 24/7 unattended environment, error boxes would pile up resulting in an eventual crash. These error messages have been removed.

- Clicking on an empty icon slot would cause a File Not Found error. This error has been removed.

- Clicking on a tab that was password protected would always result in an Incorrect Password error. This occurred because sTools was not encrypting the password, but sDesktop assumed that it was encrypted. This has been fixed, but customers should re-enter all tab passwords, causing them to be saved correctly.

Got Twitter? Follow us @SecureDesktop

Got Facebook? Visit our Secure Desktop 7 Facebook Page.

New Secure Desktop 7 for Windows XP, Vista, Internet Explorer 6 or 7, and Mozilla Firefox 2 or 3

2008-11-24T14:32:00.003-05:00

New Secure Desktop 7!

Secure Desktop 7 represents our single biggest re-design, largely due to native support of Windows Vista. It was necessary to change how we store the Secure Desktop configuration data, how registry modifications are made, and even Secure Desktop help. Because of these changes, we have taken this opportunity to re-design the user interface, re-name product files, and change icon launching. We even dropped a few features.

We are very excited about this new version. It's easier to use, better looking, and the best user experience yet. The following is a summary of new features for Secure Desktop 7:

XML files instead of INI files
Internet Explorer 7 support
Mozilla Firefox 3 support
New in-dialog help
New Adobe PDF manual
Now over 350 hot-keys disabled
Vista support - UAC ready
Start EXE files or document files
Dropped Office specific features
Dropped Windows versions older than XP
Re-named most Secure Desktop files
Dropped sFile
Dropped DDE features
New Run As Administrator feature
New User Interface

For a complete list of new features, please visit: visualautomation.com/securedesktop/features.htm

Please contact us with any questions. Thanks! Happy Thanksgiving! - Duane
--
Duane Fahey
Visual Automation, Inc.
http://www.visualautomation.com
517.622.1850 517.622.1761 fax
--
Secure Desktop | iLock | ColdKey

Secure Desktop 6.85

2007-04-20T10:29:00.000-04:00

Changes for 6.85

Improved Administrator detection, previously we checked for local Administrator only.

Updated iLock to version 2.0, to support Mozilla Firefox 2.0.

As always, please contact us with any questions or comments. Thank you. - Duane
--
Duane Fahey
Visual Automation, Inc.
http://www.visualautomation.com
517.622.1850 517.622.1761 fax
--
Secure Desktop | iLock | ColdKey

Secure Desktop 6.84

2006-12-28T14:35:00.000-05:00

New Features for 6.84

- Added checkbox to enable opening a new window in Internet Explorer 6.
Previously, it was always disabled when IE6 was in Full Screen mode.
This checkbox also disables Ctrl-N system-wide.

- Added Vista detection so that Secure Desktop 6.84 can not run in
Vista. Secure Desktop 7 will be designed for Vista.

- Added Internet Explorer 7 detection when the Internet Explorer button
is clicked in Secure Setup. The settings in this dialog will not work
for Internet Explorer 7, that support will be in Secure Desktop 7.

Please contact us with any questions or comments. Thank you. Happy
New Year! - Duane
--
Duane Fahey
Visual Automation, Inc.
http://www.visualautomation.com
517.622.1850 517.622.1761 fax
--
Secure Desktop | iLock | ColdKey

New Secure Desktop 6.83

2006-04-26T14:36:00.000-04:00

New Features for 6.83

* Added checkbox to disable Close/Minimize buttons in Internet Explorer 6. Previously, they were always disabled when IE6 was in Full Screen mode. The Restore button is always disabled to keep IE6 in Full Screen mode.
* Added checkbox to enable Local File access in IE6, but only when the URL can not be modified by the user.

New Secure Desktop 6.82 and ColdKey 3.02

2006-03-27T12:32:00.000-05:00

New Features for 6.82

* Internet Explorer 6 Dialog
o Added Tab called Approved Sites to aid in creating a white-list using Internet Explorer's Content Advisor
o Start in Full Screen Mode checkbox now disables Alt-E, Alt-F, Alt-T, and Alt-V system-wide
o New checkbox to enable Printing and Print Button. If Printer Dialog is displayed, printer selection is disabled.
* Supervisor Mode Dialog
o Dialog completely re-designed in new style (like Internet Explorer 6)
o Can Now apply 5-digit PIN number calculation to all passwords in Secure Desktop
* Options Dialog | Alarms Tab
o Audit Trail enhanced with new Secure Desktop events (programs started, tabs clicked, and toolbar buttons clicked)
o Audit Trail now includes Firefox 1.5 URLs
o Audit log file now tries to mask passwords and secure web sites. If a text field has the ES_PASSWORD flag (* character), it will log *. HTTPS sites in Internet Explorer or Firefox also log * characters.

Changes for 3.02

* Changed the masking character for a password to an asterisk, as the bullet did not work in some other language versions of Windows.

Secure Desktop 6.81 Released!

2006-02-06T15:57:00.000-05:00

We've just released a new version of Secure Desktop, as follows:

- Added the ability to disable USB storage devices (OS Registry
dialog).
- Added Firefox dialog to easily start/re-start Firefox and install the
iLock Firefox extension.
- Fixed a couple of tab order user interface items.

New Secure Desktop 6.80 with New iLock 1.5

2006-01-20T10:41:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

The Browser is the Desktop

Secure Desktop 6 plus Firefox 1.5 or Internet Explorer 6 is simply the
best way to create a browser-based desktop system for factory
automation, retail point-of-sale, hospitality kiosks, libraries,
museums, schools, labs, and cafes. Anywhere a browser-based desktop is
needed, Secure Desktop 6 provides the right solution.

New Features for Secure Desktop 6.80:

Added a Mozilla Firefox 1.5 Extension, called iLock 1.5, to lock down
Firefox for kiosk use
- Native Mozilla Firefox Extension operates within Firefox system.
- One password protects iLock options, Firefox options,
  about:config, and the Extension Manager.
- Automatically clear private data due to inactivity, by re-starting
  Firefox when not on the home page.
- One checkbox automatically sets Firefox to full screen mode and
  disable non-browsing keyboard shortcuts creating a kiosk mode.
- Optionally run Firefox as a windowed program with no menu bar,
  still disabling non-browsing keyboard shortcuts.
- One checkbox will disable all protocols not related to normal web
  browsing.
- Set location bar (URL) to read-only.
Re-designed the Internet Explorer dialog to truly lock down IE 6 in
full screen mode.
- One checkbox automatically sets IE to full screen mode and
  disables non-browsing keyboard shortcuts creating a new type of kiosk
  mode.
- Clear private data stored while browsing automatically when IE
  auto re-starts due to inactivity or when closed and auto re-started.
- Turn Address Bar (URL) off in Full Screen mode or set it to
  Read-Only.
- Disable Downloads or force to specified folder.
Fixed a small problem with Terminal Services detection.
Fixed a small problem with the Window Wizard.
Fixed a small problem with the tray icons.

We're excited about this new version of Secure Desktop, and we hope you
are too. Many of our customers are using the browser as their primary
program with Secure Desktop, so we think this new functionality makes
this easier and better than before. We have new web pages and PDF data
sheets that contain screen shots and details. Please give us feedback!

Secure Desktop 6.80 is a free upgrade for any existing Secure Desktop
6.xx customer. To upgrade, simply visit
http://www.visualautomation.com, click on Secure Desktop and then
Download.

ColdKey Pricing

2005-09-19T15:26:00.000-04:00

We have just lowered our price on ColdKey 3.01 to $95.00 USD!

Other changes to the web site include discontinuing iLock and iLockNess. We may use the iLock name for future products, but we have decided to discontinue a product designed for Windows 95, 98, and Me only.

Also, www.mozilla.org has changed the name of the Mozilla browser to SeaMonkey, and we have stopped development on iLockNess anyway (in favor of Firefox), so we are discontinuing this product as well.

Secure Desktop 6.71

2005-08-03T09:50:00.000-04:00

We've just released a new version of Secure Desktop, as follows:

Fixed a problem related to the Window Wizard and very long window titles. There was a limit of 145 characters, which has now been extended to 256.
Extended the number of Window Wizard configurations from 10 to 100.
Fixed a small problem when typing into the command-line area of the classic setup.

Secure Desktop 6.70

2005-07-11T10:56:00.000-04:00

We've just released a new version of Secure Desktop, as follows:

Added Office 2003 to the existing Office 2000 and Office XP registry restrictions.
Added a checkbox to Options | Alarm to close Internet Explorer if not on home page after x minutes of inactivity. We recommend the "re-start if closed" checkbox be checked, when starting Internet Explorer.
Added Internet Explorer URL to the list of things logged when keystroke logging is turned on.
Fixed a small problem in the Shutdown wizard when configuring a program to launch when shutting down.
Fixed a small display problem with the tray icon portion of the Secure Desktop window.

Secure Desktop 6.65

2005-06-07T10:05:00.000-04:00

We've just released a new version of Secure Desktop, as follows:

Added a new toolbar icon to safely unplug a USB/Firewire device.
Fixed a problem with the background color in Supervisor mode, when switching tabs.
Fixed the detection of Terminal Services in Windows 2003 Server. Previously, Terminal Services was always detected, even if it had not been installed.

ColdKey 3.01

2005-06-07T10:03:00.000-04:00

We have just released a new version of ColdKey, as follows:

Added Ctrl-. to the list of keystrokes, in the Windows tab. This keystroke is used by some multimedia programs to exit.
Fixed a Range Check Error problem that happened when ColdKey launched for the first time, introduced in 3.00.

New ColdKey Data Sheet

2005-04-22T10:39:00.000-04:00

We now have a ColdKey Data Sheet too, in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. This is the same information that we have on the web site, but formatted nicely for printing too!

New Secure Desktop Data Sheet

2005-04-22T10:37:00.000-04:00

We should have done something like this a long time ago, but here it is! In addition to the web site data sheet, you can now view and print out a nice Adobe Acrobat PDF data sheet, which includes pricing.

ColdKey 3.00

2005-03-29T08:21:00.000-05:00

We just finished ColdKey 3.00! Based on customer request, we added the ability to have different configuration per user. Previously, you could only enable/disable ColdKey per user. Here are the details:

Added Left Mouse Button in the Mouse tab
Added Multi-User configuration support, by doing the following:
- Rather than using the coldkey.ini file for configuration, the data is now stored in a file called coldkey.xml
- This new configuration file is in \Documents And Settings\All Users\Application Data\Visual Automation\ColdKey\coldkey.xml
- Migration from the ini file to the xml file is automatic
- There is a new checkbox on the front tab, for saving the current settings as the default settings, for each user who has no configuration.
- The XML file is a hierarchy, with each user configuration a node. It can be opened with an XML editor, for viewing.

If you own version 1.xx or 2.xx of ColdKey, you can upgrade by contacting us with your existing serial number and ordering part number CKU-30-001 for $100.00 US per unit.

We also decided to re-design ePortal.com into a web log about eStuff. Take a look!

What's next? The Firefox extension!

Secure Desktop 6.63 and more...

2005-02-15T10:38:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm new to this blogging thing, and I missed a couple of posts. Instead of just putting the basic bullets of what has changed since the last version, which is already on the version page, I've decided to actually write a little...

So, in this version of Secure Desktop, we moved to a low-level keyboard hook for keystroke logging, rather than a regular keyboard hook, for NT 4 Service Pack 3 and later. This is when low-level keyboard hooks were invented. They don't exist in previous versions of Windows. This feature was put into the code to better support DOS programs. Yes, we have customers using DOS...

There is no change to the user interface. The software just detects what version of Windows you are running, and then chooses between the regular keyboard hook or low-level keyboard hook. It's automatic.

We are also working on a new version of ColdKey, and we really want to finish our Firefox extension. Are you using Firefox? Have you tried it? We're pretty excited about this product, for all of our customers using a browser in a kiosk situation. Please let me know any thoughts you might have about browsers.

Those of you who have placed orders in the last few months, directly from us, have noticed that we are doing digital delivery now. Yes, we want to get out of the CD business. Some of you really want CDs, so if you specify this, we will still ship, for now anyway.

So, I guess that's all for now. Drop me an e-mail with any ideas or suggestions. Thanks! - Duane

Secure Desktop 6.61

2004-08-19T15:25:00.000-04:00

We've just made a small improvement to Secure Desktop:

- Added Ctrl-Shift-Esc to the list of keystroke checkboxes in the options dialog for Windows 2000/XP. this is an alternate method of disabling the hot-key for the task manager, that can be enabled/disabled by the Supervisor mode.

- Tested with Windows XP Service Pack 2.

If you have Secure Desktop 6.00 or later, you may download a free update at

http://www.visualautomation.com

Please contact me with any questions or comments. Thanks! - Duane

--
Duane Fahey
Visual Automation, Inc.
http://www.visualautomation.com
517.622.1850 517.622.1761 fax
--
Secure Desktop | iLock | ColdKey | iLockNess | ePortal.com

Secure Desktop 6.60, ColdKey 2.10, and a New Web Site! Secure Desktop 6.60, ColdKey 2.10, and a New Web Site!

2004-07-20T13:11:00.000-04:00

We have just posted new versions of software and re-designed our web site.

New Features for 6.60

- Shell Setting Per User - Can now set Secure Desktop for some users, and the Explorer Shell for other users.
- Supervisor Dialog - Can now enable tray icon mouse clicks when logged in.
- Supervisor Dialog - Can now set icon background color when logged in (was fixed at Yellow).
- Options Dialog | Keystrokes Tab - New checkbox will check or clear all keystroke checkboxes.
- Options Dialog | Keystrokes Tab - Added Up Arrow and Down Arrow to list of keystrokes that can be disabled.
- Options Dialog | Startup Tab - Can now set icon background color (was fixed at Window background).
- Options Dialog | Shutdown Tab - Added Restart to the options to disable in shutdown dialog.
- Options Dialog | Shutdown Tab - Disabling shutdown options tab was removed in Terminal Services. Now the tab is there, but is only meaningful forAdministrators. Non-Administrators will see Logoff only.
- OS Policy Dialog - Renamed tabs to reflect appropriate versions of Windows OS.
- OS Registry Dialog - Renamed tabs to reflect appropriate versions of Windows OS.
- Non-Administrators in Windows 2000/XP can no longer edit non-specific user settings.
- Express Setup Dialog - Re-designed, now 4 steps instead of 5 and many more shortcuts are now available.
- New Uninstall program will check for the shell, task manager, and GINA settings to prevent uninstalling the software if the programs are in use via the registry.
- Fixed a bug related to retrieving the computer name and domain name from a network.
- Changed the drive hiding feature to display checkboxes for all drives, even those that do not currently exist. This way, if a drive is added via USB or Firewire, it could still be hidden.

New Features for ColdKey 2.10

- Added Access tab to disable StickyKeys, FilterKeys, ToggleKeys, High Contrast, and MouseKeys

New Web Site Design

- New features include a mainly text based design, Google translation into a few European languages, and a re-designed Kagi store page.

Please contact us with any questions or comments. Thanks! - Duane
--
Duane Fahey
Visual Automation, Inc.
http://www.visualautomation.com
517.622.1850 517.622.1761 fax
--
Secure Desktop | iLock | ColdKey | iLockNess | ePortal.com