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Ici sont consignés les changements apportés à RA durant les derniers mois.

En tant que contributeur, vous pouvez gagner une licence gratuite et une version corrigée avant tout le monde si vous trouvez un problème dans RA. Grâce aux mises à jour gratuites, en nous envoyant des remarques pertinentes vous faites fructifier la valeur de votre investissement!

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(Veillez à vider le cache de votre navigateur Internet pour être sûr d'avoir la dernière version)

2007

14


RA v5.38.14 and DS v4.38.14 - Windows Patch workaround for Master, Slave and DS.

Master/Slave/DS
RA worked well on Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, XP, 2003 and Vista until this Windows patch. Here is a new RA patch for a new Windows patch which made RA crash on PCs updated by Microsoft.

9


RA v5.38.9 and DS v4.38.9 - Windows Patch workaround for Master, Slave and DS.

Master/Slave/DS
Yet another Microsoft patch, for IE this time, which made RA crash on newly updated machines. We implemented the workaround in Master and DS without waiting the same causes to have the same effects...

12


 
 
 



 

RA v5.37.12 and DS v4.37.12 - Windows Patch workaround for Master and Slave.

Master/Slave
Windows Vista cannot be detected like other Windows versions by the Win32 API and this was leading to erratic errors in Slaves. A workaround has been found and applied to Slave for this.
Windows Vista, for unidentified reasons, does not respond in the same way than the 8 previous abusively called "32-bit" versions of this operating system when the currently logged in user name is requested. This was leading some Masters to report a void user name, leading to an authentication failure with the DS.  A workaround has been found and applied for this too.
 
NB: Microsoft finally corrected the fact that only the DS was targeted by the weird service load order change (weird because the DS was moved in the list before critical system services like the TCP/IP stack, leading to a failure to start TWD Industries' service automatically at boot time). Now Slave is also targeted, something that we were surprised not to see in November 2006 because the service code and authors are strictly identical in both programs since year 2001. It is very reassuring to see that Microsoft is now getting more concerned about being coherent.

2006

1

 

 

RA v5.35.1 and DS v4.35.1 - Windows Patch workaround for Slave and DS.

Slave/DS
Some Microsoft 2000 machines, for unidentified reasons, did not let Slave start automatically at boot time while others worked just fine. No other Windows version was concerned. The cause of the trouble was a bug in the Windows API that did not save properly the 'RA Server' dependencies. Again, a workaround has been found to prevent Windows from blocking Slave before Windows is loaded.

19

 

 

RA v5.34.12 and DS v4.34.12 - Windows Patch workaround for Slave and DS.

Slave/DS
Microsoft decided to modify Windows in order move Windows services (well, not all of them) in the order they are started by the SCM (Service Control Manager). Guess what. They moved some services up in the start list -far before critical system services are loaded. Slave was untouched -but not DS (despite the fact that their service-related code and authors are strictly identical). This Windows-patch workaround resolves the problem (a recurrent but silent DS crash at boot time, courtesy of Microsoft).

12

 

 

RA v5.33.12 and DS v4.33.12 - Bug fix for Master/Slave/DS.

Master/Slave/DS
The calls that perform proxy autodetection are flawed under Windows 2000 and this version of RA/DS prevents the feature from causing a crash. Thanks for Bertrand Held from SITA for letting us know about the problem.

28

 

 

RA Slave v5.32.28 Bug fix for Slave.

Slave
The no-logged-user status was not properly reported, leading to an improper behavior of the "manual filtering" feature. Thanks for Jorg Zabel from Kreissparkasse Syke for signaling this issue!

NT4's implementation of the Win32 API calls to control the mouse cursor is flawed and caused a crash with the recent support for Slave-side real-time cursor shapes. Slave has been modified to disable this feature on NT4 in order to avoid this crash. Thanks from Thomas Obergasser from Progress Maschinen & Automation GmbH and Massimo Bovi from Barovier & Toso Murano for their input. 

1

 

 

RA Slave v5.32.1 Bug fix for Slave.

Slave
A system handle not released by a periodically called Win32 API function was leading to inevitable system troubles since Windows is designed with a limited hard-coded number of available handles -whatever the available physical memory your machine may have. A workaround has been found and applied. Thanks for Karl Klein from MCA GmbH for signaling this issue!

22

 

 

 

RA DS v4.26.22   The long awaited Mouse Cursor synchronization is now available.

Master/Slave
The Slave mouse cursor is now visible on the Master side and is changing accordingly.

Player
The RA movie player has been updated to handle the new RA features.

DS
The DS has been updated to handle the new RA features.

14

 

 

RA DS v4.26.14   Minor bug fix for DS.

DS
The ability to have a newly deployed renamed Slave (Folder#PC_description.exe) register under a given 'Network Folder' and under a given 'PC description' was broken in the previous version due to the code signing security verification which was enabled by error but could not authorize deployment since code-signing has not been enabled in the DS yet, due to administrative delays.

1

 

 

 

 

 

RA Slave v5.26.20 / DS v4.26.1   Major Compression improvements in RA, bug fix for DS.

Master/Slave
The Master "Compress" option now allows to achieve compression rates up to 500:1 with very large screens (1920x1200 and higher). That's a x6 improvement over the previous color compression option. This allows RA to be very responsive on very bad networks (like slow 56K modems, overwhelmed DSL or unreliable satellite Internet access points). This new compression scheme also allows to make much smaller RA movies.

Player
The RA movie player has been updated to handle the new RA compression scheme.

DS
The File Deployment feature was broken in the previous version due to the code signing security verification which was enabled by error but could not authorize deployment since code-signing has not been enabled in the DS yet, due to administrative delays.

22

 

 

 

 

 

RA Slave v5.25.22   Problème majeur de performances de Microsoft Windows patché.

Slave
L'option "Accélération Matérielle" (Panneau de configurationl / Affichage / Paramètres / Avancé / Dépannage) doit être réglée sur "Aucune" pour que le blitter de Windows fonctionne à vitesse normale. Tout autre réglage (comme Accélération Matérielle "Complète") ralentira Remote-Anything d'un facteur 10 ou plus et augmente énormément l'utilisation du CPU(!). La nouvelle version de Slave désactive donc l'option "Accélération Matérielle" au démarrage de Windows sauf instruction contraire de votre part.

Cela explique pourquoi certains utilisateurs ont trouvé Remote-Anything plus lent que Microsoft RemoteDesktop tandis que d'autres faisaient l'expérience du contraire. Les deux avaient raison, RA n'avait pas de problème, et Microsoft Windows avait sérieusement besoin d'un patch l'option "Accélération Matérielle" étant activée par défaut dans Windows.

Microsoft RemoteDesktop étant immune à ce problème, il est évident que Microsoft sait comment ne pas être pénalisé par l'activation de l'option "Accélération Matérielle". Il est pour le moins regrettable que Microsoft ne souhaite pas partager avec ses concurrents sa connaissance des mystères insondables de son système d'exploitation.

2005

4

 

 

 

 

RA v5.23.4   GUI and security Enhancements.

Slave
- The 'Proxy' button has been modified to be immediately visible for new users that setup a Slave
- Added a 'build' number (the release date) in the Windows Resource section of the executable

Master
- Now automatically expands the Network Folders TreeView at startup to avoid confusing users
- Added a 'build' number (the release date) in the Windows Resource section of the executable

DS
- Now automatically expands the Network Folders TreeView at startup to avoid confusing users
- Added a 'build' number (the release date) in the Windows Resource section of the executable
- Added the ability to assign a Network to Master users to block homonyms from other Networks

26

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RA v5.21.26   Enhancements and bug fixes. This version reuses the old user-data encoding (and not yet the secured DS protocol) so it cannot be used yet on USB disks that store Masters.

Slave
- Now automatically creates an exception in the Windows XP SP2 firewall to make updates work
- Slave can run on multi-homed machines that have more than 80 interfaces (a user request)
- Fixed a condition which could lock Slave after an auto-update (and make the update fail)
- Now checks for '.' and '..' system folders to be able to list folders that start with a point
- The Chat dialog no longer accept the ENTER key to split messages (it also blanked them)
- The general purpose (not for encryption) random generator is now faster and thread-safe

Master
- Now automatically creates an exception in the Windows XP SP2 firewall to make updates work
- Fixed a possible crash in a Windows DLL after Master auto-updated
- Fixed a command-line 'getfile' lock if the target file did not exist
- The File Transfer progress bar now should be more intuitive on slow links
- Now checks for '.' and '..' system folders to be able to list folders that start with a point
- The Chat dialog no longer accept the ENTER key to split messages (it also blanked them)
- The general purpose (not for encryption) random generator is now faster and thread-safe

DS
- Now automatically creates an exception in the Windows XP SP2 firewall to make updates work
- Fixed locked Slave when a Master with no rights to do it tried to reach a Slave via file transfer
- Fixed a possible index mismatch in deep recurrent calls to Network Folders mapping
- Fixed a condition which could cause the last Slave PC of the Credentials list not to be ticked
- Fixed a condition which could cause the a duplicate Master user in the PC Details dialog box
- The general purpose (not for encryption) random generator is now faster and thread-safe
- The Chat dialogs now signal to the other participants when they are closed by a user
- The DS now saves Credentials, PCs, and USers in a portable file for use in future versions
  (this version cannot use this file yet because it does not benefit from a private RSA key)

2004

22

 

 

RA v5.11.22   Enhancements for File Deployments and Tracking.

Slave
- Now responds much faster after Deployment/Tracking has been enabled (no more downtime)
- Slave no longer changes the Tray Icon for Deployment/Tracking operations (silent mode)

DS
- No longer requires Slave.exe in the DS folder to run inventories and other operations

12

 

 

 

 

RA v5.11.12   Bug fixes.

Slave
- NT4 failed to run Slave because of a Win32 API call incorrectly documented as supported
- Slave did not list the type of the connection properly in the log file (RC/FB/Track/Deploy)

Master
- Master did not list the type of the connection properly in the log file (RC/FB/Track/Deploy)

DS
- Stopping Tracking for an active connection required two clics on the checkbox -now fixed
- Fixed a possible cross-reference mismatch when importing old databases with DS v4.11.2
- Fixed a rare database record lock due to a bad index segment type for duplicated record IDs

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RA v5.11.2  Many small GUI enhancements, File Deployments and PC/User Tracking.

Slave
- Delays keystrokes, mouse events and updates until the remote-control session is initialized
- Fixed a possible remote-control disconnection when the logoff option was enabled
- The sMAC registry option was not used. This is now the case for better Slave PC tracking
- A new 'Test Proxy' button has been added to help users to configure the proxy settings
- The tray icon and menu items are grayed if the DS is unreachable or if Slave is not reachable
- Slave now stays alive until the last moments of Windows closure to deal with resisting tasks
- Fixed a rare case where the password could be corrupted when read from the registry
- Fixed an erratic crash due to the unstable Windows 9x API when listing network adapters
- Fixed a MSDN typos which prevented XP Home Edition from being correctly reported
- Delayed auto-updates (could fail if auto-update was triggered before Windows was started)
- Fixed the NT restore wallpaper feature which did not have access to the actual wallpaper
- When lowercase or uppercase the user name could lead to a failure of the Chat feature
- The 'Accept Connections' menu item option now works also when the DS is in use
- The Slave options are all grayed if the DS is in use to better respect the DS policies
- The IP address notification attempts to better deal with too brutal anti-SPAM filters
- Slave is now able to list active processes for the sake of the User/PC Tracking feature
- The Tray icon better reports the actual state when file transfer and remote-control are active
- The Slave uninstallation now only deletes Slave registry entries and keeps the TWD folder

Master
- A new progress bar has been impplemented to show how remote-control sessions start
- Master now supports automatic scrolling when the mouse cursor is close to a window border
- The file browser no longer updates the last write access file date during file transfers
- A new 'Test Proxy' button has been added to help users to configure the proxy settings
- The license dialog box now allows users to select the NIC used to license the program
- Better explains why a registration key may be wrong
- The SOS Call icon was not always displayed. Detailled messages tell which folder lists an SOS.
- Made it safer to close a movie if the remote-control connection is abruptely closed
- The Slave list was sometimes duplicated when using the DS. This will no longer happen
- The Ins key is disabled when using the DS to prevent users from creating network folders
- The Master log file now lists time stamps like the DS in order to better track problems
- The Slave MAC address is dumped into the log file for remote-control or file transfer sessions
- Fixed an erratic crash due to the unstable Windows 9x API when listing network adapters
- Fixed a MSDN typos which prevented XP Home Edition from being correctly reported
- When lowercase or uppercase the user name could lead to a failure of the Chat feature
- Prevented a possible message dialog box from being hidden by the 'Search PC' window
- The old progress bar has been improved to reflect the traffic in a more progressive way
- When the trial period is elapsed, no longer grays the Options button to avoid locking DS users
- Master now warns against the danger of running Master and DS on the same machine

Player
- Fixed a paint issue when the movie resolution was larger than the screen size

Uninstall_Slave
- The Slave uninstallation now only deletes Slave registry entries and keeps the TWD folder

DS
- Added the PC/User Tracking feature to create log or movie files for each Windows session
- Added the File Deployment feature to create packages that will be deployed on Slave PCs
- Integrated ODBC option with self-installation if the ODBC pack is located in the DS folder
- Master and Slave options are now pulled from DS rather than loaded from Master/Slave
- Added the 'Permissive Networks' option to allow access to unassigned newly deployed PCs
- No longer lists Slaves with a Gateway icon since this feature is not relevant for DS
- Each dialog box shows the icon associated with the feature exposed here
- The PC/User Tracking feature creates text log or RA movie files for each Windows session
- A new 'Test Proxy' button has been added to help users to configure the proxy settings
- The license dialog box now allows users to select the NIC used to license the program
- The PC description lenght is now properly limited to prevent listing garbage in the list
- The crypto library has been made multi-thread compliant for the coming soon RSA keys
- The time synchronization will now happen only once per call to prevent re-entrant issues
- The DS log file is now much more detailed regarding client sessions opening/closure
- All the PC states are now reset at startup to avoid false online PC reports at startup
- The delete PC feature now can be cancelled through the [X] button in the title bar
- Fixed an erratic crash due to the unstable Windows 9x API when listing network adapters
- Fixed a MSDN typos which prevented XP Home Edition from being correctly reported
- No longer reports existing SOS Calls issued by Slave PC that are no longer online
- Found a workaround for an erratic crash due to a bad object kernel synchronization
- The 'Credentials' dialog box now also allows to remove end users from the DS database
- The 'Credentials' dialog box now allows to list only authorized Master users if desired
July 2004  

5

 

 

 

 

RA v5.7.5   Major speed improvement for keystrokes in remote-control sessions. Bug fixes.

Slave
- Keystrokes are now processed in realtime -no more need to move the mouse cursor
- Windows 98 did not close the connection after remote uninstalls, Slave did not stop. Fixed.

Master
- Added an online contextual help for Slave icons in the Slave list (just go over an icon)

DS
- Added an online contextual help for Slave icons in the Slave list (just go over an icon)
- Added a per PC inventory in the 'Network Folder' inventories (right-click on a network folder)
- Fixed a rare deadlock in the code that attempted to automatically license unlicensed PCs

30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RA v5.4.30   Several GUI enhancements, multi-monitor Desktops are now supported.

Slave
- Multi-monitor Desktops are now supported, allowing Master to see 'giant' Desktops
- Added support and trace for Microsoft Terminal Service and Remote Desktop sessions
- Enlarged the default TCP connection timeout to prevent slow VPN authentications from failing
- Added an option to sign up with the DS only after a SOS has been sent (good for ISDN lines)
- Now restores the previous wallpaper (if removed) after a Master remote-control connection
- Fixed erratic behaviors (high CPU usage and blinking screen) for the blank screen feature

Master
- If a command-line connection failed, Master was still loaded in RAM. It is now fixed.
- The Gateway icon was sometimes not displayed appropriately. Now fixed.
- The online-help assigned to the license button is now much more detailled

DS
- Fixed a bug related to the way access rights were applied for Masters accessing Slave PCs
- Fixed a bug that prevented user "AB" to be stored if user "ABC" already existed
- Added the MAC in the Credentials dialog box to identify PCs that have the same host-name
- After the Monitor dialog was opened, it was sometimes impossible to open the Main dialog 
- The license violation is no longer blocking normal operations and now shows 'unlicensed' PCs
- Network folders that contained a comma were confusing Masters -now fixed.
- Slave PCs that also are a Master are now listed with a specific icon that shows both states
- Consecutive record updates have been corrected to properly update the current record
- Fixed a crash that happened only after the 30-day trial period expiration

30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RA v5.1.30    Avoided exposing RA/DS to a new critical security flaw we have identified in the
                      Windows NT Event log implementation. All the NT-based systems are concerned.
                      As Microsoft currently offers no fix for this security breach the feature is removed.
                      This buffer overflow allows to execute arbitrary code with the highest privileges.
Slave
- Removed support for the NT Event Log in NT-based systems to avoid a Windows vulnerability
- Hardened the Master/Slave challenge authentication to avoid grid-based precalculated attacks
- Found a workaround for a memory leak generated every time a dialog box was displayed
- Added support for "Home" and "Professional" Edition detection for more detailled DS reports
- Deployed Slaves called "Network#Decription.exe" are stored accordinglgy in the DS database
- Multihomed PCs keep the reference MAC in the Registry options for DS database consistency
- The "sAppMode" Slave option has been added to the Options dialog and Slave bound options
- Ability to post SOS calls & 'Show my Screen' messages from the command line (scripts, etc.)

Master
- Removed support for the NT Event Log in NT-based systems to avoid a Windows vulnerability
- Replaced buggy (scrollbars hiding the last item) ListView/TreeView captions by new windows
- Found a workaround for a memory leak generated every time a dialog box is displayed
- Fixed a bug that prevented demo users from entering the 'trial' password after Slave searches
- The BiosKey/UserKey license scheme calculation has been replaced by electronic signatures
- Multihomed PCs keep the reference MAC in the Registry options for DS database consistency
- Refreshed Master's DS settings so you no longer have to stop/restart it if you change the DS
- Blanked the main dialog fields after a connection so DS queries will not use them as filters
- Hardened the Master/Slave challenge authentication to avoid grid-based precalculated attacks

DS
- Removed support for the NT Event Log in NT-based systems to avoid a Windows vulnerability
- Replaced buggy (scrollbars hiding the last item) ListView/TreeView captions by new windows
- Found a workaround for a memory leak generated every time a dialog box is displayed
- The BiosKey/UserKey license scheme calculation has been replaced by electronic signatures
- Multihomed PCs keep the reference MAC in the Registry options for DS database consistency
- Slaves marked to be deleted are displayed with a new icon and are no longer listed by Masters
- Added support for Atomic Clock synchronization with 54 time servers around the world
- Added a new real-time chart in the DS Load dialog box and this info is dumped in the log file
- Added a new DS option to allow only Masters that are located on the DS-LAN (very secure)
- Added a new DS option to allow the DS to reach the Internet via a proxy server (Socks, Http)
- Enlarged columns and added the field 'PC Description' in the Credentials dialog box
- Added an item to the Network pop up menu to allow export the Hard/Soft Inventories
- The status bar of the DS main dialog now indicates the number of free/used licenses.

Note: These new versions use electronically signed license keys (no more UserKeys).

En développement:

Qu'est-ce qui a conduit la révolution du silicium? C'est vraiment très simple: rendre les choses plus petites, ou en termes d'ingénierie, réduction d'échelle. Durant les premiers jours des transistors, il a été observé que lorsque vous rendiez un appareil plus petit, vous obteniez le meilleur dans tous les domaines. Il fonctionnait plus vite, consommait moins d'énergie et chauffait moins, et comme vous pouviez en placer beaucoup plus sur la même plaque de silicium et que le coût de fabrication est le même quoi que vous placiez dessus, le prix par appareil chutait.

C'est ce que nous faisons à  TWD Industries -sur du logiciel. Les bénéfices sont évidents pour nos clients mais nous bénéficions également de la simplicité d'un faible volume de code à maintenir, à améliorer et à conserver portable. De plus, un produit qui peut être téléchargé en secondes se vend mieux qu'un produit qui requiert des heures.

  Fonctions futures de RA
Des version de RA pour Unix (Linux et Solaris) et Macintosh
La voix sur IP (téléphoner sur Internet ou à travers votre LAN)

Un répondeur téléphonique personnel pour chaque Master ou Slave

Une passerelle multi-protocoles

De nouvelles fonctions 'déconnectées': Envoyer un message, chercher un fichier, lancer des commandes, lancer des scripts, importer des fichiers dans la base de registre, synchroniser les horloges, et plus encore!

Gestionnaire de fichiers: trouver un fichier sur votre WAN, etc.

Journaux: entrées clavier, tâches, documents copiés sur disquette (rafraîchis après x jours)

Capacité à afficher le curseur de la souris du Slave depuis le Master

Changements dynamiques de résolution et plusieurs écrans distants redimensionnés

Détection automatique et affichage graphique de la topologie de votre LAN

Mises à jour d'écran plus rapides (oui, c'est encore possible et nous y travaillons dur)

Support des noms de fichiers en Kanji, Grec et Hébreu

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