Binary Fortress Software

I am very happy to announce the release of iTunes COM Fix 1.1. The new version of iTunes COM Fix adds the ability to manually select the iTunes executable. This should help out anyone that has installed iTunes to a non-standard location outside of the Program Files folder.

What does iTunes COM Fix do? Sometimes after updating to a new version of iTunes, programs that interface with iTunes (like iTunes Sync) will stop working. This is caused by iTunes failing to register itself correctly as a COM object. This problem can show itself in different ways, but in iTunes Sync you will usually see an error like this:

System.InvalidCastException: Unable to cast COM object of type ‘iTunesLib.iTunesAppClass’ to interface type ‘iTunesLib.IiTunes’.

Just download and run iTunes COM Fix to take care of this issue. It will attempt to register the new iTunes executable as a COM object so that any programs that rely on the iTunes API will start working again, without having to re-install anything. iTunes COM Fix is just a simple executable, with nothing to install, so it’s quick and easy to use.

For this week only, the excellent tech news site The How-To Geek is giving away 5 free DisplayFusion Pro licenses! The contest rules are simple. Just say one thing you like about DisplayFusion, and one thing you would like to change. I’ll be watching the giveaway very closely to see how I can improve the next version, and you can benefit with a free DisplayFusion Pro license! Here are the rules from the site:

So you want a copy of the Pro version? We have FIVE copies to give away, and we’ll be selecting them randomly from the comments. Here’s what you have to do:

• Grab yourself a free copy of DisplayFusion (you can get a free trial of Pro if you want, or stick with the free one).
• Leave a comment explaining one (or more) thing you like about the software, and one thing you think could be improved. Be sure to use your real email address.
• To cut down on accidental spam filtering, include the keyword DisplayFusion in your comment.
• We will announce the winners in the weekly roundup, so you have a couple of days to participate.

Head over to The How-To Geek today and leave your feedback for a chance to win!

Update: The contest is now over, and the winners have been contacted. Congratulations to the 5 winners, and a big thank you to everyone who left their feedback!

After updating to a new version of iTunes, sometimes programs that interface with iTunes (like iTunes Sync) will stop working. This is caused by iTunes failing to register itself correctly as a COM object. This problem can show itself in different ways, but in iTunes Sync you will usually see an error like this:

System.InvalidCastException: Unable to cast COM object of type ‘iTunesLib.iTunesAppClass’ to interface type ‘iTunesLib.IiTunes’.

Just download and run iTunes COM Fix to take care of this issue. It will attempt to register the new iTunes executable as a COM object so that any programs that rely on the iTunes API will start working again, without having to re-install anything. iTunes COM Fix is just a simple executable, with nothing to install, so it’s quick and easy to use.

Join me in celebrating the Windows 7 release with some serious DisplayFusion discounts! Did you know that DisplayFusion is fully compatible with Windows 7? Did you know that DisplayFusion fully supports new Windows 7 features like desktop wallpaper transitions and the new Windows 7 taskbar? To help celebrate the release of Windows 7, DisplayFusion is now 50% off! That means you can trick out your new Windows 7 PC with all the latest DisplayFusion features, and save a pile of money at the same time! For a limited time, a single DisplayFusion is now just $12.50! you can also apply these savings to multiple license orders as well:

• 2 Licenses: $10.00 each
• 3 or more Licenses: $8.75 each
• 5 or more Licenses: $7.50 each

If you have been waiting for a good time to pickup some DisplayFusion licenses for your computers, now is your chance! You can buy 5 licenses at just $7.50 each, for a total of $37.50. That’s under $40 for 5 licenses! This sale won’t last forever though, so join the Windows 7 DisplayFusion party today!

Update: The sale is now over. Thank you everyone for your support!

I am very happy to announce the release of DisplayFusion 3.1.5! This new version is jam-packed with changes, including some overdue cosmetic improvements and important bug fixes. After 1 month of development and endless testing by myself and the DisplayFusion community, it is finally ready for everyone to enjoy. Quite a bit has changed, but here are some of the highlights in this release:

• Added a “Middle-clicking a taskbar item opens a new application instance” setting for the multi-monitor taskbars (same feature as in Windows 7)
• Taskbar thumbnail previews now use the Windows 7 style slide/morph effect, instead of fading in/out (affects all versions of Windows)
• Taskbar now supports Aero rendering in Windows Vista
• Taskbars are no longer hidden by the “Aero Peek” feature in Windows 7
• Taskbar thumbnail previews now look correct when Windows font scaling is used
• Taskbar compatibility improvements: Visual Basic 6, ImgBurn, NewsLeecher, LexisNexis NoteMap, NuSphere PhpED, WinSCP
• TitleBar Button compatibility improvements: Skype, iTunes, Google Chrome, VMware Player, Console windows, PuTTY
• Mouse Hook compatibility improvements: SRWare Iron
• HotKeys and TitleBar Buttons can now position console-style windows correctly (command prompt, Putty… etc)
• The TitleBar Buttons feature now correctly detects the background/foreground images in Windows 7 and Windows Vista “classic/standard” mode
• Taskbar thumbnail preview tooltip no longer covers the first taskbar items when the taskbar is vertical
• Failed wallpaper updates don’t show duplicate tray notifications anymore (results in less duplicate tray notifications)

This is just a taste of all the things that have been added and improved in this release. If you are interested in checking out everything that has changed, I invite you to look at the full DisplayFusion Change Log. If you haven’t updated to this new version yet, I would encourage you to update today to take advantage of all the improvements.

I am very happy to announce the release of DisplayFusion 3.1.3! This new version takes care of a number of small bugs, as well as some long-standing issues. I would like to thank everyone who submitted bug reports through the DisplayFusion Online Support page, the support email address and even Twitter. Without everyone’s feedback it would have taken much longer to troubleshoot and fix these issues. Here are some of the highlights for this release:

• Added a “Use transitions when changing wallpaper (Windows 7 only)” setting
• Taskbar now works correctly in Windows 2000 in all situations
• Windows no longer redraw incorrectly after being moved with the middle-click mouse move in rare situations (Chrome 4 dev, for example)
• Taskbar shouldn’t show twice on each monitor in rare situations anymore
• Taskbar Buttons now correctly scale when font-scaling is used
• TitleBar Buttons now correctly scale when font-scaling is used
• Wallpaper changes no longer cause the desktop/applications to flicker/redraw
• Fixed an issue that caused the hooks to not be reloaded in certain situations after a full-screen application closed
• TitleBar Buttons no longer appear over-top of dialog windows in some situations

If you would like to see all of the issues that have been fixed in this release, please check out the complete DisplayFusion Change Log. I would encourage all DisplayFusion supporters to update to this new version today to take advantage of all fixes and new features!

I am very happy to announce the release of ASP.NET ViewState Helper 1.4! The 2 main changes in this release are Internet Explorer x64 compatibility and Firefox compatibility. ASP.NET ViewState Helper will now show an Internet Explorer or Firefox icon beside each item, depending on which browser the page is loaded in. Both browsers support all the features of previous ASP.NET ViewState Helper versions (like chunked ViewState, frames, iframes… etc). If you would like to see a complete list of changes, you can view them in the ASP.NET ViewState Helper Change Log. You can download the new version on ASP.NET ViewState Helper download page.

I am very happy to announce the release of DisplayFusion 3.1! This release brings a bucket-full of bug fixes, as well as some exciting new features. The most exciting new feature is the addition of optional TitleBar Buttons for all Free and Pro users. These TitleBar Buttons can be used to perform the same action as the built-in or customized HotKeys. This way, you can perform the HotKey’s actions with just a click of the mouse. The TitleBar Buttons look just like native Window’s buttons. Here is an example of what they look like in Windows 7:

Window TitleBar Buttons

Here are some of the other highlights in this release:

• Added a “Show images in alphabetical order” option for the local random image changer
• Wallpaper changes now fade from image to image in Windows 7
• Added a “Taskbar Position” menu item to the right-click Taskbar context menu for manually setting the position
• Improved fullscreen app/game detection
• Faster taskbar button & text updating
• Taskbar is much less CPU/memory intensive when updating buttons
• Taskbar corruption issues have been reduced/eliminated
• MDI child windows now snap correctly in their parent’s frame (ex: Excel 2003/2007)
• Error with FIPS no longer occurs: “This implementation is not part of the Windows Platform FIPS validated cryptographic algorithms.”

If you would like to see all of the changes in this release, just check out the complete DisplayFusion Change Log. I would like to send out a special Thank You to everyone who helped test this release! It was a long beta test, with 15 betas tested over 2 months, but everyone stuck with it and helped to shape DisplayFusion into what you see today. I would encourage everyone to update to this new version as soon as possible to take advantage of all the new features and fixes. Thanks everyone!