Some minor suggestions for Hardware Identify 1.0.0!

[Tomas_Sweden]

I have only some minor text and color suggestions!

1. The button "Get Hardware" is a bit confusing to me, it sounds like that I'm going to download driver from internet or something like that.
 Maybe "Display Hardware", "List Hardware" "Show Hardware" or "Refresh List" is ok?

2. If I click on "Show All Hardware" or "Show All Hardware Except Standard System Devices" I get exactly the same result (Total Hardware found: 74), should it be so?

3. Also in "Improve Database" instead of "Get Hardware" maybe it could say: "Scan your Hardware" or "List your Hardware"

4. Then I check for updates the text are green there it says: "Update Available: No", maybe the text could be red if there is no update and then there is an update, the text could be green?
 Or the text "Update Available:" could be in a more neutral color and only the text: "No" could be in red and "Yes" in green color?

Fantastic program and everything worked  . I tried it on Win7 64-bit.
I like that I can copy 8 different list columns. Also that I can search for Drivers by Name and HardwareIDs.
It's also nice that I can click on the columns to sort the list.

Tomas

[Shane]

1. The button "Get Hardware" is a bit confusing to me, it sounds like that I'm going to download driver from internet or something like that.
 Maybe "Display Hardware", "List Hardware" "Show Hardware" or "Refresh List" is ok?

Good idea, I changed it to "Show Hardware"

2. If I click on "Show All Hardware" or "Show All Hardware Except Standard System Devices" I get exactly the same result (Total Hardware found: 74), should it be so?

The one thing i didnt think about during all my programming on this the last 7 days. Non English systems. It looks at the text "Standard System Device". I will see if I can find another way to do that.

3. Also in "Improve Database" instead of "Get Hardware" maybe it could say: "Scan your Hardware" or "List your Hardware"

Good idea as well, changed it to "Scan Hardware"

4. Then I check for updates the text are green there it says: "Update Available: No", maybe the text could be red if there is no update and then there is an update, the text could be green?
 Or the text "Update Available:" could be in a more neutral color and only the text: "No" could be in red and "Yes" in green color?

Maybe instead of Red, since red normally means warning I can have the text just be white when there is no update and then green when there is so it catches the users eye

Fantastic program and everything worked  . I tried it on Win7 64-bit.
I like that I can copy 8 different list columns. Also that I can search for Drivers by Name and HardwareIDs.
It's also nice that I can click on the columns to sort the list.

Thanks I wanted to make sure I added all the small touches like that, so that anything useful is there.

The one problem so far, non English systems. I added text to the top of the improve database window that says "*English Systems Only Please!"

I had 10 hardware files uploaded since last night, 3 of them where none english, but in them there was a few that where all English while some where not. It all depends how the hardware and drivers are installed. I am going to add a remove option to that list as well so people can remove items from it.

Also thinking about having the program check for updates when you start it. Reason why is I just put out a new version of the database and no user will know unless they go and check for it in the program. My original thought was to not have it check at startup since people could be using it on computers with no network drivers installed, but it shouldnt stop anything.

I think I will have it check for updates at startup and just put a little colored text next to the database info that there is an update.

Shane

[Shane]

Updated the exe with the changes, still same version till i release it so just redownload the zip file to get the new update.

And there is no other way to pull the standard system devices. It is set as the manufacture of the device in the registry and can be anything, that means non English Windows will have something different than what I have it look for.

Kinda sucks it is limited to only English. I could replace the controls with unicode controls and actually be able to read other languages, but imagine having 52 entires for the same device because each one has a different language.

I have to try and keep the database clean as it will get very big over the course of time. So I think i will just have ot keep the database English.

Shane

[Tomas_Sweden]

And there is no other way to pull the standard system devices. It is set as the manufacture of the device in the registry and can be anything, that means non English Windows will have something different than what I have it look for.

Kinda sucks it is limited to only English. I could replace the controls with unicode controls and actually be able to read other languages, but imagine having 52 entires for the same device because each one has a different language

I have to try and keep the database clean as it will get very big over the course of time. So I think i will just have ot keep the database English.

Ok I see!

In the button (don't know the name of it) there it says: "Show All Hardware Except Standard System Devices" feels like the word "Show" is repeated again then the other button says "Show Hardware".
Maybe it could say: "List All Hardware Except Standard System Devices" or "Display All Hardware Except Standard System Devices"?

And one thing in "Improve Database" after that I have clicked on "Scan Hardware" and I want to delete all entries that are swedish (none english), I have to select and delete one by one. Would it be possible to select many(by using "Shift" and "Ctrl" and then delete them?
Because I had 49 entries and one was english so I had to delete 48.

One question about "Device Lookup" (see attached picture) what does "Best Possible Match" means?
Does it have something to do with it prefer english systems or has it to do which driver would possible fit best?

Tomas

[Shane]

In the button (don't know the name of it) there it says: "Show All Hardware Except Standard System Devices" feels like the word "Show" is repeated again then the other button says "Show Hardware".
Maybe it could say: "List All Hardware Except Standard System Devices" or "Display All Hardware Except Standard System Devices"?

I changed it to "List"

And one thing in "Improve Database" after that I have clicked on "Scan Hardware" and I want to delete all entries that are swedish (none english), I have to select and delete one by one. Would it be possible to select many(by using "Shift" and "Ctrl" and then delete them?
Because I had 49 entries and one was english so I had to delete 48.

Multi select would be a bad idea because of the copy commands. What if I had it to where you could press the delete key on the keyboard to remove them? And/or add check boxes to the list. Not sure if the check boxes would confuse anyone. Also I have come up with an idea where I will have the program look for non standard chars and if there is any it would add the hardware to the list on the improve database screen. This way I can have it check for standard English chars. While others will go through fine as they still use the same chars it would at least cut down on the amount that show up

One question about "Device Lookup" (see attached picture) what does "Best Possible Match" means?
Does it have something to do with it prefer English systems or has it to do which driver would possible fit best?

This was something I came up with and it is a rather simple thing. If you look at the hardware IDs you will see the device has multiple. The longer the hardware ID the more specific it is for that device.

So example, my AMD FX(tm)-8350 Eight-Core Processor has these hardware IDS
ACPI\AuthenticAMD_-_AMD64_Family_21_Model_2
*AuthenticAMD_-_AMD64_Family_21_Model_2
ACPI\AuthenticAMD_-_AMD64_Family_21
*AuthenticAMD_-_AMD64_Family_21
ACPI\AuthenticAMD_-_AMD64
*AuthenticAMD_-_AMD64

The hardware ID *AuthenticAMD_-_AMD64 is shared with almost all the AMD processors, but the longer the ID is the more it is for that one device.

So I have the program take the results of the matches found and simply change the color of the ones with the longest IDs, since those are the best chance of it being the right one.

So in the screen shot you will see two different AMD processors listed because of the shorter IDs, BUT the one with the longest ID is shown to be the best match. So it was a simple little trick, loop through the results looking for the longest IDs :-D

Shane

[Tomas_Sweden]

What if I had it to where you could press the delete key on the keyboard to remove them?

Yes good idea! 

And/or add check boxes to the list. Not sure if the check boxes would confuse anyone.

Maybe it would. If I start deleting by using the delete key it will go as fast as take time to check the boxes I think.

Also I have come up with an idea where I will have the program look for non standard chars and if there is any it would add the hardware to the list on the improve database screen. This way I can have it check for standard English chars. While others will go through fine as they still use the same chars it would at least cut down on the amount that show up

Yes, it would reduce the number for us who don't  have English language.

This was something I came up with and it is a rather simple thing. If you look at the hardware IDs you will see the device has multiple. The longer the hardware ID the more specific it is for that device.

Ok I understand. That's clever!

If you look at my picture above, my ethernet card is Realtec RTL8111 and it haven't the longest Hardware IDs. So maybe not always the best match?


I notice now one thing I haven't seen before that if I press a letter on the keyboard, for example, the letter r, it goes there and if I continue pressing it continues to the next hardware with the initial letter r, I like that. 

Tomas

[Shane]

Just uploaded the new build, go grab it and see how it does with the changes
http://www.tweaking.com/files/setups/tweaking.com_hardware_ identify_portable.zip

Delete key works on all 3 lists. I have it check for non English chars on the improve database. And a few spelling changes.

If you look at my picture above, my ethernet card is Realtec RTL8111 and it haven't the longest Hardware IDs. So maybe not always the best match?

It is the best match as you can see at the top it is how Windows has it in the system.

Shane

[Tomas_Sweden]

It is the best match as you can see at the top it is how Windows has it in the system.

Ok perhaps eventually I will understad! 

If I select a row to delete the selection disappears, works but feels like I want to have the row highlighted (with blue colors, like now) if it is possible?

In "Improve Database" I now have 45 entries with the latest version instead of 49. So if I understand it right it wasn't so many "non standard chars" in my hardware info?

Tomas

[Shane]

On the improve database list right click on it and choose copy whole row and post it for me so i can see.

Right now I have it check these chars, and if a device name or manufacturer has anything other than these it shouldnt show up

CheckChars = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890 ~`!@#$%^&*()_+-=[]{}\|;:',<.>/?" & FrmMain.TextQuoteChar.Text

It isnt perfect but will help with a lot of the languages that use non English chars.

Shane

[Tomas_Sweden]

Here is the list!

Tomas

[Shane]

Yeah they still show up because if you look

(Standardsystemenheter)
(Standard-CD-ROM-enheter)

It still uses normal English Chars. So the program lists it. I dont have it check for spelling because then I would have to put in checks for all the spellings in different languages.

So the 4 the new version didnt list means those had at least 1 char that didnt fit in the search list it checks. But these other ones do. The check isnt perfect but it does help

If I select a row to delete the selection disappears, works but feels like I want to have the row highlighted (with blue colors, like now) if it is possible?

That should be easy, just have to put in 1 line of code that tells the listview to ensure the row is visible and it should highlight the one that is choosen after the delete

Will do that now and post when I put up the new build. Give me just a few.

Shane

[Shane]

New build uploaded

When you delete a row the new selected row will be highlighted now so you know which row will be next if you hit delete again.

Shane

[Tomas_Sweden]

When you delete a row the new selected row will be highlighted now so you know which row will be next if you hit delete again.

Brilliant! 

It still uses normal English Chars. So the program lists it. I dont have it check for spelling because then I would have to put in checks for all the spellings in different languages.

So the 4 the new version didnt list means those had at least 1 char that didnt fit in the search list it checks. But these other ones do. The check isnt perfect but it does help

If I just take some time to look after, it's quite easy to see what is written in my language (non English)!

Tomas

[Shane]

When people upload their hardware to the server and I grab the text files I look through them and remove any non English ones. Hopefully this new build will help keep it down a bit lol.

I like these changes and so far the program is looking good to be released soon. Even today maybe. But I will give it a few more days just to see if anything else needs to be changed. But right now I am not sure what else would need to be as it is looking pretty solid.

Shane

[Tomas_Sweden]

I think I will have it check for updates at startup and just put a little colored text next to the database info that there is an update.

It hasn't been an update yet? Have not seen any text about an update.

I like these changes and so far the program is looking good to be released soon. Even today maybe. But I will give it a few more days just to see if anything else needs to be changed. But right now I am not sure what else would need to be as it is looking pretty solid.

Yes look solid!  But give it a few more days, so others may find something!

Tomas

[Shane]

I just made the change, built it and put the new build in the zip file. Just redownload the zip file again to get it

Shane

[Tomas_Sweden]

I don't see any change, but maybe that is because I have database from: 2014.03.25?

Tomas

[Shane]

I didnt update the database. Only the main exe

I will get the new files that have been uploaded to me and make an update of the database soon. My plan is to do an update of submitted files about once a week, or more if I have time.

Shane

[Shane]

Just updated the program and database. Just redownload the zip file.

The trick I was using to look for non English chars had to be updated, some hardware uses more chars in them like ©® and such, so added those to it.

Shane

[Tomas_Sweden]

I didn't see any notifications that the database was updated, it was already downloaded. Was it downloaded in the background?
I'm curious how "Update Available: Yes" looks. 

Would it be possible to double-click top of "Hardware Identify" window to maximize it? And then double click again to get normal size?

Also would it be possible to right-click on taskbar to close "Hardware Identify" window?
I searched in the forum and saw that on "Registry backup" it was possible to close but not in "Windows Repair".
http://www.tweaking.com/forums/index.php/topic,1760.msg11377.html#msg11377

Tomas

[Shane]

I didn't see any notifications that the database was updated, it was already downloaded. Was it downloaded in the background?
I'm curious how "Update Available: Yes" looks. 

New database was with the zip file, just edit the hwids.dat file with notepade, just change the first line to a older date then open the program and it should say there is an update.

Would it be possible to double-click top of "Hardware Identify" window to maximize it? And then double click again to get normal size?

The titlebar is a custom control, I should be able to add that.

Also would it be possible to right-click on taskbar to close "Hardware Identify" window?
I searched in the forum and saw that on "Registry backup" it was possible to close but not in "Windows Repair".
http://www.tweaking.com/forums/index.php/topic,1760.msg11377.html#msg11377

This is a limitation of the borderless Window in windows. The trick I did on RB worked because I make it to where it isnt a borderless window and then use an API to remove it, tricking windows into thinking it has a border, so the right click controls work. BUT if I try to resize that Window it wont work and the border comes back. So on the ones I make that can be resized that trick wont work.

Shane

[Shane]

Program updated, grab the new zip. Added double click to the title bar as you asked

Shane

[Tomas_Sweden]

New database was with the zip file, just edit the hwids.dat file with notepade, just change the first line to a older date then open the program and it should say there is an update.

Ok, yeah haha, it was easy o try it myself! 

The titlebar is a custom control, I should be able to add that.

Excellent! 

This is a limitation of the borderless Window in windows. The trick I did on RB worked because I make it to where it isnt a borderless window and then use an API to remove it, tricking windows into thinking it has a border, so the right click controls work. BUT if I try to resize that Window it wont work and the border comes back. So on the ones I make that can be resized that trick wont work.

Ok I see!

Tomas

[Shane]

Ok rip into the program some more and let me know if you find any bugs or anything else.

If not my plan is to put v1.0.0 out tomorrow

Shane

[Tomas_Sweden]

If I click on Twitter - the site isn't found!

And if I maximize (by double clicking) the main window and open "Improve Database" and maximize it and then restore (by double clicking) the same window, "Improve Database" window will then be behind the other window. The same thing with "Device Lookup". Not a big thing!

Tomas