Windows Hide Master: README
===================================
Copyright (c) 2002-2003 GigaMind Systems
All rights reserved.

Please read this file carefully (especially "Installation"
chapter) before installing the program to your computer.


Contents
--------

  Introduction
  Requirements
  Installation
  Localizations
  History
  Registration
  Copyright and license
  Technical support
  Known bugs and limitations
  Where to get the latest version
  Other GigaMind Systems products


Introduction
------------

Windows Hide Master is powerful but easy to use tool for hiding
windows and programs. Windows Hide Master allows you to hide
(and unhide) specified windows and groups of windows by pressing
a combination of Hotkeys. Also it allows you to hide (and unhide)
specified controls (buttons, comboboxses, listboxes, etc.) manually.
You can specify a lot of options for each registered program and group.
Windows Hide Master works in hidden mode so that a casual observer is
unaware of its existence. Program also can display its icon in the
System Tray area. Pressing the specified combination of Hotkeys
(or activation popup menu item) brings up a main dialog to configure
existing groups of windows and add new windows to the list of those
that can be hidden. Also you can manually hide/unhide windows and
controls in this dialog.

This program is very useful when you need to hide several windows
very quickly. Imaging: you are playing your favorite game on your
workplace... Suddenly your boss (or anybody else) is entering the
room... Earlier you have to press Ctrl-Alt-Del or Alt-Tab to close
the game, but now you can just press combination of Hotkeys for this
game and the game will disappear. Later you can continue your game
without any inconvenience. It is also very convenient way to hide
multiple windows (Explorer, for example) at the touch of a button
and work within another program. Pressing another Hotkey restores
the hidden windows.

The main module of the Windows Hide Master is written in Pure Windows
API, making it very small in size thus consuming less memory. Speed
and size of programs written in Windows API is comparable to programs
written in Assembler.

With WHM you are able to:

 - Examine the list of the all windows (visible and invisible) 
 - Control the visibility of the windows and controls (buttons, comboboxes...) manually 
 - Hide the parts of the windows 
 - Make visible any system window 
 - Hide the programs and windows by pressing combinations of Hotkeys 
 - Automatically hide any program on startup
 - Remove programs from Ctrl-Alt-Del list
 - Mute all sounds when hiding programs
 - Register more than one combination of Hotkeys for each program 
 - Organize programs into groups (the whole group can be hidden in one moment) 
 - Switch the activity of the programs and groups dinamically 
 - Monitor the windows which you have already hide 
 - Restore the visibility of the windows and programs at any moment 


Requirements
------------

 - Microsoft Windows 95/98/ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP 
 - Pentium 100MHz 
 - 16 MB RAM 
 - 2 MB Hard Disk 


Installation
------------

Important! If you've got WHM not from our web page, but from
the other source (magazine CD or some software library), please
visit our home page - you'll probably find the later version.

We recommend you to uninstall the previous version of WHM (if
you have one) from your computer before installing this one. You
can do this via "Add/Remove Programs" Control Panel applet.

But deinstallation is not absolutely necessary.

To install WHM, just run the "setup.exe" and follow the
instructions. You'll need to select the target directory
to install. We recommend you to select that folder,
where the previous version of the program was installed.
Thus you can save all of the program's settings
(groups, programs, checkmarks, etc...)


Localizations
-------------

See "local.txt" file.


History
-------

See "history.txt" file.


Registration
------------

See "order.txt" file.


Copyright and license
---------------------

See "license.txt" file.


Technical support
-----------------

See "support.txt" file.


Known bugs and limitations
--------------------------

 - WHM may not run correctly under Windows 95 if the new version of
   common control library (comctl32.dll) is not installed;
   the program requires version 4.72 or later. Please visit
   http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/ieplatform/ie/comctrl.asp
   for update.

 - Certain windows do not hide (or reappear immediately after being hidden)
   Usually this happens to the windows which are working with timer.
   This timer forces repetitive window update (repainting). When you
   are hiding a window like this, as soon as timer goes off it repaints
   itself and becomes visible again. Since window itself is controlling
   its hiding or painting behavior, it is not possible for other
   applications, including Windows Hide Master, to hide or to show it. 

 - Hiding problems with full-screen games
   If game uses graphic-engine based on DirectX or OpenGL technologies,
   there is a possibility that it won't be possible to hide it. It most
   of the cases it happens because of technical limitations of graphic
   engine (game simply blocks hiding or intercepts hot-keys).
   You can try to minimize game window (by pressing Alt+Tab or Alt+Enter),
   and then hide a minimized game.

 - Hiding problems with MS-DOS programs
   When you are launching MS-DOS programs in Windows, they are executed
   in special processes context. This causes problems with hiding. But
   it is still possible to hide it manually. You cannot add more than
   one program to hot-keys hiding list. Also you cannot add MS-DOS
   programs directly from the disk.

 - Hiding problems with certain MS Windows programs
   In most of the cases it happens with programs which uses non-standard
   system messages processing. It may also happen when program is unusually
   using its main window (for example, when main window is not the one
   where user is working).

 - You can't hide 16-bit applications using hot-keys combinations
   This happens becasue of the way Windows OS handles these applications.
   Nevertheless, you can hide them manually.

Possible, some of this limitations will be removed in future releases.


Where to get the latest version
-------------------------------

The latest version of WHM is always available from our web page
at http://www.gigamindsystems.com/whm/whm.php


Other GigaMind Systems products
-------------------------------

See "products.txt" file.


            Thank you for using Windows Hide Master.

                                            GigaMind Systems
                                            Web:    www.gigamindsystems.com
                                            E-Mail: info@gigamindsystems.com
