Compatibility with Windows 10

Windows 10 does not support activeX anymore.
So, if you receive an error message concerning Mswinsck.ocx, follow this instructions :
1) Download the mswinsck.ocx file on http://originaldll.com/file/mswinsck.ocx/7706.html
2) Copy the file on c:\windows\system32\
3) Copy the file on c:\windows\syswow64\    (only for 64bits Windows)
3) Open the task manager, click on "more details" if needed
    Click on the file menu and on "New task"
4) Enter "cmd", check the box "execute with administrative privileges" and click the ok button
5) In the new window, type the following command :
    regsvr32 c:\windows\system32\mswinsck.ocx
You should receive a message telling that mswinsck.ocx was successfuly registered.
Close all Windows and restart PrestoNotes.

Other solution : Download the portable version of PrestoNotes. Unzip it. Execute the batch file "Register mswinsck for Windows 10.bat" in administrator mode (important!)

Change of the packer

The old packer was buggy on Windows 64 bits when reading mail from the server. So I changed it to a new one : Enigma Virtual Box. It is free and compatible with all versions of Windows, and it seems to have less problems with anti-virus.
The main program (PrestoNotes) doesn't change (same version 4.9.7).

How to copy or make a backup of your notes

The notes are saved in the PrestoNotes folder. The files concerned are: PrestoNotes.dat, PrestoEvents.dat (your notes) and all .Ini files (configuration settings).
Warning: In Windows Vista / Seven, if UAC is enabled, your notes can also be found in C:\Users\.......\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\PrestoNotes. The last modification date will indicate what are the correct files.

Another good reason to disable this stupidity named UAC : if you uninstall PrestoNotes, or any other program, you have to go manually delete the directory that the UAC created in C:\Users\.......\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files because Windows does not!

Compatibility with Windows 7 / Vista

If PrestoNotes is installed in the "Programs" folder, the UAC (user account control) denies PrestroNotes from deleting notes and gives errors when saving the notes. To solve this issue you can :
- Either disable UAC (in the Windows control panel, icon "User Accounts" or read this). Anyway this pseudo-security that seeks confirmation for everything is so annoying that nobody cares about it!
- Or install PrestoNotes in another location (on another disk, on a USB key, or in the folder "My Documents")

New version 4.9

A new version is ready. It mainly corrects some minor bugs.
Here is the change log :
* new : More user friendly when choosing a program or a sound for the alarm
* new : By default, %Windows%\Media will be shown for the choice of a WAV file
* new : At first run of PrestoNotes, the "Setup" panel is shown
* bug : Reading mail could sometimes produce a fatal error 10055
* bug : The dialog box "Confirm delete" has been improved
* bug : Mails coded in UTF8 are now correctly read (accentuated characters)
* bug : First line of text of a note can now begin with spaces
* bug : Fixed a bug when setting or removing the "Always on top" property for a hidden note doesn't show the note
* bug : Sometimes, a note could not be hidden by clicking on his "X" button
* bug : Some adjustments in the French translation
* info : The installation package doesn't need admin rights anymore.
* info : Visual Basic libraries are now included in the program and doesn't need to be installed in the system folder of Windows

New version 4.8.0

PrestoNotes is now "portable".
It doesn't need to be installed and can be run from a USB key. It doesn't require "Administrator" rights and doesn't install anything in the system folder of Windows.

There is also a portable version for U3 compatible USB keys.

New version 4.7

A new version of PrestoNotes is available. No big changes, but some interesting enhancements and bug corrections.

Here is the change log :
* new : Finnish and Arabic translations
* new : Remind feature added for the alarm to sound a second time on the exact date and time
* new : When sending a note over a network, you can send your name, so the receiver can easily identify you.
* new : Notes sended over the network will have the same size, position and colour on the receiver
* new : Added a button to easily modify your list of network correspondents
* new : Support for multi-screens desktops
* new : Added an option to only check mail when an active internet connection is present.
* deleted : Option to refresh the icon in the taskbar is removed. The icon will be automatically restored if Explorer crashes.
* bug : Special actions that change the wallpaper or screensave doesn't erase text of the note anymore
* bug : When a frequency is specified, the alarm date will act as a "from date..."
* bug : In some case, the reading of a mail could freeze PrestoNotes

New German FAQ

There is a new FAQ translated in German by Clickfish (Many thanks to him). To see it, right-click on the "Hilfe" (Help) button. If there is a translated FAQ for the language chosen, it will be displayed. Otherwise, it is the English FAQ that is displayed.
For the moment, there are translated FAQs for Spanish, Czech and German languages.

Invalid Setup file ?

Today, a strange error occurs when I try to download the "PrestoNotesSetup.exe" file with Firefox. The size of the downloded file didn't match the size of the file in my web site. The problem occurs only with Firefox, not with IE.
So, for people having the same problem, here is the solution : flush the Internet cache (look in the options of Firefox, on the privacy tab).
The correct size of "PrestoNotesSetup.exe" version 4.6.0 is 2.246.818 KB.

Version 4.6 is out !

Version 4.6.0 :
* new : Czech translation
* new : Support for special characters from Arabic, Greek, Russian, Hebrew, Turkish, Asiatic, Baltic, East Europe alphabets
* new : A right-click on the "Help" button shows the FAQ in English or in the language choosen (if available).
* changed : For personnalized version, a click on the "Web Site" button opens the web site of the personnalized version.
* bug : Languages are now readable on computers with Windows 95/98
* bug : Sometimes, when opening the usual mail reading program, a message "Can't open the usual mail reading program" could appear.

This new version is released mainly because some users with Windows 95/98 could not have the translations working. (Translation were saved in Unicode format).
Translations are now saved in ANSI format. To preserve support for accented letters in exotic alphabets ;-) , I had to rewrite some part of the code.
This new version will theorically support accented letters from Turkish, Greek, Hebrew, Russian, Arabic, Asian, Russian and Eastern Europe alphabets.

I would like to thank all the people who sent me a translation :
Luca Gori for the translation in Italian
Klur for the translation in Spanish
Tagor for the translation in Polish
Leif for the translation in Swedish
Clickfish for the German translation
Mark for the dutch translation
And a very special thanks to LuRu for the Czech translation of the program and the FAQ

Version 4.5 is released

* new : Possibility to read mail on the mail server. Only the 100 first lines are red.
* new : Possibility to remove a mail from the mail server.
* new : Button on the list of mails to open your usual mail program.
* new : Better decoding of mail content : Quoted-printable, Base64, Unicode, HTML.
* new : New option in the context menu of a note : "Open file" when the selected text is an existing file on your computer
* new : New option in the context menu of a note : "Open folder" when the selected text is an existing folder on your computer
* new : New option in the context menu of a note : "Send mail" when the selected text is a mail address
* new : Better legibility of the notes with random colors
* new : Dutch language added (thank you Mark)
* new : Silent install available upon request
* changed : Removed the automatic disabling of mail checking when there was an error on the first connexion
Here is a web page with detailed description of what was added : http://members.chello.be/cr41007/NewsUK.htm

PrestoNotes description

PrestoNotes is a freeware for Windows that let you create virtual notes on your desktop. You can hide / recall them whenever you need them. The program start automatically with Windows and store himself in the system tray of the taskbar. Each note is easily accessible and may be entirely personalized (image, colour, transparency, font, with title bar or not, with scrollbar or not, always on top or not,...) You can also set an alarm to remind you birthdays, meetings, or anything you like. A function may warn you when you receive a new e-mail. You can send and receive notes on a local network. Other features like search text, print, auto-save, auto-refresh, auto-roll, auto-dim makes PrestoNotes one of the best post-it-like freeware.

Home page : http://users.telenet.be/cr41007/