I made some good improvements since the last post, so I decided that this is good enough to call 2.5 done! So now everyone can easily use the latest code. If you're still running XP, that is. :)
I fixed a bug where stale values could get into the cache! I've seen this happen very rarely, like once a year, and was puzzled by it for a long time.... so hopefully that old bug is fixed.
And some minor stuff.... improved error event logging, service is more resilient against invalid path names, fixed bugs that were introduced since 2.4.
Basically, 2.5 should be faster, more correct, and more polished than 2.4, but no major changes in the core scanning.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Almost finished 2.5
Hey all, I've been using some of my Christmas vacation time to finish 2.5. I know a lot of XP users are finally switching to Windows 7, so there might not be too many people who can use this new version. But it should be released anyway!
I've made a few fixes in the control panel to handle errors betters, and fix clipped text in some languages with some DPI settings. With Windows 7, it's quite easy to change the system language, so I've gone through and actually looked at the control panel in all the languages.
I also changed the way the cache works for multiple users. With 2.4 and earlier, the service scanned the file system as the SYSTEM user. All users on the machine would see the results of that scan. This was a security problem, because I could see the total size of a folder whose contents I wasn't permitted to see! Also, I couldn't see the total size of my own folder, if I didn't also give SYSTEM permission to read it.
Now with 2.5, all scanning happens with the user's credentials, so you get the results you expect to see. This also means that if you log in with a few different users, a separate cache will be created for each user. This uses a bit more CPU/memory. But proper security instead of performance is the right way to go these days, right? Most PCs only have one user log in anyway.
So I need to do some final testing (make sure I haven't broken anything) and then post the new MSIs. Yay!
To clarify, NO this new version still does not work in Vista. Or Windows 7!
Yes, there are some standalone programs you can use to show total folder sizes. So try those if you want. I was trying to make folder sizes an intrinsic part of the file browsing and selection process, and running a separate program does not do this for me.
I've made a few fixes in the control panel to handle errors betters, and fix clipped text in some languages with some DPI settings. With Windows 7, it's quite easy to change the system language, so I've gone through and actually looked at the control panel in all the languages.
I also changed the way the cache works for multiple users. With 2.4 and earlier, the service scanned the file system as the SYSTEM user. All users on the machine would see the results of that scan. This was a security problem, because I could see the total size of a folder whose contents I wasn't permitted to see! Also, I couldn't see the total size of my own folder, if I didn't also give SYSTEM permission to read it.
Now with 2.5, all scanning happens with the user's credentials, so you get the results you expect to see. This also means that if you log in with a few different users, a separate cache will be created for each user. This uses a bit more CPU/memory. But proper security instead of performance is the right way to go these days, right? Most PCs only have one user log in anyway.
So I need to do some final testing (make sure I haven't broken anything) and then post the new MSIs. Yay!
To clarify, NO this new version still does not work in Vista. Or Windows 7!
Yes, there are some standalone programs you can use to show total folder sizes. So try those if you want. I was trying to make folder sizes an intrinsic part of the file browsing and selection process, and running a separate program does not do this for me.
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