January 17, 1991 Dear METZ Software User: ThreadZ Forms Alliance with METZ Software ThreadZ Software Design Group, Inc., developers of utilities for Microsoft Windows, and METZ Software, developers of shareware utilities for Windows, have announced the formation of a special alliance, the goal of which is to facilitate timely software development and provide easy access to solution-oriented products. The first result of this alliance is the incorporation of two of METZ Software's shareware programs into a retail product called ThreadZ File F/X. ThreadZ File F/X is a group of four utilities and a bonus of ThreadZ Task Manager, presented in an "a la carte" manner so as to facilitate ease of use: F/X File Manager, simplifies the create, delete, copy, rename and move functions in Windows 3.0 using an intuitive tree directory display. F/X File Find, a search program enabling users to locate files on any attached hard drive, provides for the use of DOS wildcards, specific file extensions, or even file creation dates as search criteria. F/X File Undelete provides a list of deleted files, states the likelihood of a successful recovery, and, when prompted, will attempt to undelete the chosen file. F/X Text Search allows users to search a file, path name, directory or an entire disk for a text string. A list of matching files is displayed and may be printed as a report. The ThreadZ Task Manager, a distinctive replacement for Windows' Task List, utilizes a menu which may be used to launch applications and lets you arrange your windows the way that works best for you! "A wonderful task manager and four other useful utilities makes this a must-buy for Windows users." PC Magazine, 1/29/91 ThreadZ File F/X retails for $129.95. Contact ThreadZ at 206-869-6292, or 1-800-767-6292, for the location of your nearest authorized ThreadZ dealer. Fax: (206) 867-9089 Sincerely, Art Metz METZ Software METZ Task Manager April 22, 1991 METZ Software Support (206)-641-4525 P.O. Box 6042 Sales 1-800-447-1712 Bellevue, Wa., 98008-0042, U.S.A. International (206) 641-4525 Fax (206) 644-6026 GEnie: A.METZ Compuserve: [73567,1637] Introduction After realizing how convenient the Microsoft Windows 3.0 Task List application was to access, and yet as to how limited it is in usefulness, we decided to improve on the concept, and thus created METZ Task Manager. METZ Task Manager has the basic tools found in the Microsoft Task List application as well as several additional features. For your convenience, the license number "MASCOT" will allow you evaluate this application for a limited time without the usual reminder screens popping up. We apologize for the lack of formal documentation or online help, fortunately, the ThreadZ File F/X applications do have both. Also, you can call METZ Software if you have any questions, problems, or suggestions (please use our support number: (206) 641-4525). We will be glad to help you any way we can. Overview METZ Task Manager is a comprehensive, yet easily understood replacement for the Microsoft Task List application. To install Task Manager, rename your old Microsoft TASKMAN.EXE to TASKMAN.OLD, then place the new TASKMAN.EXE and METZ.DLL in your Windows 3.0 directory. You can then access TaskMan by double clicking on your Windows background or by pressing Ctrl+Esc. Task Manager provides the same basic functionality as the Microsoft Task List app, as well as the ability to quickly run programs and files, and a customizeable Tools menu. Additional Task Manager features include a fully customizable screen display blanker (screen saver), Windows arrangement functions, directory tree display, file finder, point-and-shoot file manager, and system memory and disk space display. Task Manager uses under 30K of memory. Installation TaskMan should be installed BEFORE you run Windows since the system can lock up if TaskMan is already running when you replace it. Please rename or backup your original Microsoft Taskman.exe for safe keeping. Copy the new TASKMAN.EXE and METZ.DLL to your Windows 3.0 directory. Be sure to backup your Microsoft TASKMAN.EXE. TaskMan can be used in replacement of the Microsoft Program Manager. Change the 'shell=progman.exe' setting in the file SYSTEM.INI to 'shell=taskman.exe'. When you run TaskMan as the shell, you can still run an application when starting windows, i.e. WIN NOTEPAD. TaskMan will run the application and add it to the TaskMan Run box. Another nice feature is that TaskMan will leave you in the directory you were in before you ran windows, so the TaskMan File Manager will default to your current DOS directory. TaskMan will also launch the applications listed on the LOAD and RUN lines of your WIN.INI file. If you decide not to use TaskMan as your shell, add TaskMan to the load line of your WIN.INI file so that you can use the screen saver feature and to speed up TaskMan's own initialization process. When TaskMan is installed you can access it by double clicking on the Windows background (desktop) or by pressing Control Escape. Using TaskMan Some menu items are greyed while TaskMan is loading directory information in the background (while other apps are running). You can add TaskMan to the Load line of your win.ini to speed up this process. You can create a custom bitmap for the screen saver using the included application Clp2Disk.exe. Please read the CLP2DISK.TXT file for more information. IMPORTANT: Running Non-Windows applications from Task Manager may require an appropriate .PIF file (see the Microsoft Windows User's Guide). Non-registered users Use for purposes other than evaluation requires payment of the registration fee. Once you register and receive a license number you are automatically allowed to upgrade to future releases. It is important that you register this application to help insure continued support and development. Our intention is to provide useful, user-friendly applications at a low cost, and your support helps make that possible. All available functionality is enabled in this version to provide you the ability to effectively evaluate this application. Ordering information is included in the file METZ.ORD or available by contacting METZ Software. All orders will receive a disk containing the latest versions of our products. File Descriptions This release is a demonstration version and as such is not to be sold. Desktop may only be distributed for free (or at cost) as the following group of files: MTM.EXE or TASKMAN.ZIP - Archive file containing the following files: TASKMAN.EXE - The METZ Task Manager program. (required) METZ.DLL - METZ Software dynamic link library. (required) TASKMAN.TXT - This file. TASKMAN.TLS - Sample tools file. METZ.ORD - METZ Software order form. APPS.WRI - METZ Software application descriptions. CLP2DISK.EXE - Clipboard to Disk utility for screen saver bitmap. CLP2DISK.TXT - Clipboard to Disk documentation. METZTSR.COM - METZ TSR DOS program for screen saver support. METZTSR.TXT - METZ TSR DOS program description and instructions. THREADZ.TXT - Special announcement concerning ThreadZ File F/X. Release Notes METZ.DLL is a dynamic link library for Task Manager. It must be located somewhere in your environment path. We recommend placing it in your Windows directory. We have tried to be as consistent with Microsoft Windows interface specifications as possible. Please see the Microsoft Windows User's Guide for more information regarding the Windows interface. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome, and help make this application a better product. METZ Software relies heavily on user input, so be sure to give us your suggestions and comments. Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent any commitment on the part of METZ Software. No warranties of any kind are associated with this product. Thank you for your support. * This application has an implementation which will prevent screen saver timeouts while you are working in a DOS application under Windows. Other screen savers will timeout even if you are actively typing away within a DOS Window. Our the timeout will occur only after you are inactive in any DOS Window as well. Please read METZTSR.TXT and install the METZTSR.COM application if you wish to prevent timeouts while you are working in a DOS Window. * TaskMan saves up to 20 items for the run line in a combo box. You can select items in the list by pressing Alt down arrow or clicking on the down arrow with the mouse. The list is saved from session to session. * You can double click on files listed by the File Finder and File Manager to execute or load that file. * TaskMan uses the Program= setting in the WIN.INI when searching for applications entered on the run line that have no extension. For example, if you type COMMAND on the TaskMan run line and press enter, TaskMan will append each of the extensions listed in the program= section of the WIN.INI, in the order they are listed, in an attempt to find the executable filename. You can change the programs= setting in the Setup TaskMan dialog. For best results be sure that the program= settings are listed in order of your priority. We are recommending "programs=exe pif com", add "bat" if you wish to run batch files as well. * You can override the optimize default area by placing the following line in the file TASKMAN.INI: optimize=25,55,200,350 The values are the pixel positions of the optimization area and can be set to your preferences. In the example, 25 is the left position, 55 is the top position, 200 is the width, and 350 is the height. When you select Optimize from the Windows menu, these coordinates will be used to position the open windows. * Optimize can be set to Cascade the windows as well. Add the word cascade to the end of the optimize= line. optimize=25,55,200,350,CASCADE TaskMan will then Cascade the windows after optimizing them to your specifications. ------------ METZ Task Manager version history ------------------ Version 1.04 * The Screen Saver was very sensitive to slight movements of the mouse where a minor bump or vibration would deactivate the screen saver. A movement of more than a few pixels by the mouse is now required to deactivate the screen saver. * If the directory list in the file manager needs to be updated, i.e. some other application has changed the directory tree, simply select the drive letter from the menu, and it will be correctly refreshed. * The Task List now ignores Aporia 'icons'. * A few users experienced an occasional problem with the task list being empty, this has been fixed. * The End Task option has been improved to match that of the original Microsoft Task List application. * An infrequent Screen Saver timeout problem has been fixed. * Some performance improvements have been made and minor bugs have been fixed. * The METZ.DLL has been upgraded for future enhancement support. Version 1.03 * The File Manager can now be kept open while using TaskMan. * ALT+R would perform a Switch To operation if the task list had the focus. ALT+R now will always execute the Run contents. Version 1.02 * If a Tool had a fully qualified application path and a working directory, the working directory was overridden by the application path. This has been fixed. * The system would hang if you selected End Task for Microsoft Excel. This has been fixed. * The file manager was not properly handling the destination directory if it was longer than 20 characters. This has been fixed. Version 1.01 * The file manager was not properly updating the file list if the full source directory path selected was longer than about 20 characters. This has been fixed. Version 1.0 * First official release!