Copyright

Copyright ©1998, 1999 NeoWorx Inc.  All rights reserved.

NeoSpace Copyright 1999 NeoWorx Inc.

NeoLite Copyright 1998, 1999 NeoWorx Inc

Portions Copyright 1997, 1999 Lee Hasiuk

The NeoWorx and NeoSpace logos, icons and other images are Trademarks of NeoWorx Inc.

NeoSpace is not public domain software, nor is it free software.

All brand names and product names used in this document are trademarks, registered trademarks or trade names of their respective holders and are used for identification purposes only.


What is NeoSpace?

NeoSpace is a consumer version of technology used in our powerful and popular development tool NeoLite.

Think of NeoLite as liposuction for program bloat.  It takes an individual executable file, an .exe or .dll typically, and reduces its size.  This size reduction is completely self-contained.  Once the file is processed it is simply smaller, there is no special software required to use it, and there is no change to the performance of the program.  In fact in cases where software is being loaded from a slow or network drive the load time of the application may actually be reduced.

This differs from other ‘drive compression’ technologies you may have heard of or used in the past.  Drive compression requires software to be loaded on your system at all times, that software resides in system memory, taking up space and slowing down your system in return for the space that it saves on your drives.  That technology suffers from performance issues as well as reliability problems.

NeoSpace will safely and automatically apply the NeoLite space saving technology to a wide range of programs on your computer.

NeoSpace is unique.  You will save space on your computer without sacrificing reliability, speed or memory.


Using NeoSpace

Point and shoot, it is that simple.  NeoSpace knows what to do; you just have to take it through the steps.  Contained within the NeoSpace program is a dictionary of known programs, programs that have been tested and are known to perform flawlessly after being processed by NeoLite technology.

Scanning for Files

When NeoSpace first starts it asks you which drive to scan.  Select your C drive or if you have multiple drives select any other drive you would like to check for compression.

The program scans that drive looking for files.  Once it has located all currently known programs it then proceeds to the next step.

Please Note: The shareware version of NeoSpace limits itself to a total space savings of 16 megs.  The full commercial release does not limit the total space savings and will achieve the maximum possible.

Reviewing Selected Files

NeoSpace now presents to you all the files that it has found.  The files are separated into categories, Windows core file and installed programs, executables and DLLs.  Within each of these groups you can view the individual files and choose to not compress individual ones.

Normally you should just accept the files that NeoSpace has identified and move on to the next step.

Compressing Found Files

To begin processing the found files press the ‘Compress’ button on the toolbar at the bottom of the window.

When NeoSpace starts working it will add a new tab to the dialog window called ‘Results’.  Here you can watch as NeoSpace optimizes each individual file and the total space saved.

After the processing is complete you can exit the program or move on to another drive by going back to the ‘Compress’ tab.

Once the compression is completed you are done with NeoSpace.  The compression of the files that have been processed is permanent and needs no further action.  No software is installed to run every time, and no further configuration or performance changes will be made to your system.

From time to time you should run NeoSpace and check for database updates.  The updated database may allow you to compress further programs that were unknown to NeoSpace previously.  You can check for new files to compress by performing new scans after the database has been updated.


Reversing Compression

The process for restoring files is the same as compressing.  The restoration will put the files back in their original bloated state.

You may need to do this for any of several reasons.  If a program stops working properly this would be one cause.  You will typically see warning messages from a program indicating that it cannot locate a function in a DLL or that a file seems to be corrupted.  This should be very rare though, as NeoSpace processes only programs that are known to work.

The more likely situation where a file needs to be restored is during a patch or other upgrade process.  If you are going to apply a patch to a piece of software, the patch relies on the file being in its original state to be able to make the needed modifications.  In the case of upgrade software, the upgrade installer may need to determine that you have the original software installed first.  In some cases this check will include verifying the size of the original files, and could even check the state of the entire file.  These are circumstances where you will need to reverse the NeoSpace processing temporarily to make the upgrade.


Updating NeoSpace

There are two types of updates that can be made automatically to NeoSpace.  You can ask it to check for new versions of the program, and you can also ask it to look for updated data files.  The updated data files will increase the number of programs that are available to you for compression.  These updates are free of charge.

To perform an update check, bring up the ‘Select Drive’ dialog.  The buttons for the checks are in the bottom right corner of the dialog.  NeoSpace will not initiate a check for updates on its own.

Program Updates

Updated versions of the software may be free or a charged upgrade.  When you ask NeoSpace to check for an update either no update will be found or you will be taken to a web page explaining the update procedure.  No actual update to the program will be made until you follow the instructions given on the web page.

Changes to the database of programs NeoSpace will work with is automatic.

Database Updates

After you press the ‘Check for New Database’ button a dialog will appear.  This dialog allows you to enter a proxy server if you must use one.  If you do not use a proxy server, or if you are not sure, leave the text line blank.

If a database update is found you will be informed.  After the database is updated you must exit NeoSpace so it can complete integration of the new database.  Upon restarting the database will be up to date.


FAQs

Does NeoSpace install new software that will always be running on my computer?
NeoSpace does not use any device drivers, TSRs or other permanently running code to performs its function. You use NeoSpace to process files on your computer, and once those files are processed you no longer need to run NeoSpace at all. In fact you can uninstall it from your computer and everything will continue working normall.

How is it possible for NeoSpace to do what it claims?
NeoSpace modified each individual program. It optimizes the 'layout' of the different sections of the program, then it creates a new copy of the program containing a loader that is able to launch the program directly into memory from the new optimized and compressed version.

How does the Shareware Evaluation version differ from the Commercial version?
The Shareware version limits itself to a total space savings of 18 megabytes. The Commercial version offers compression for a very wide variety of programs with no limits and can potentially save you many megabytes more.

How does NeoSpace differ from NeoLite?
NeoSpace is intended as a general use application. Anyone can use it to save space on a single computer across a wide range of files.

NeoLite is for professional software developers who want to reduce the size of their installed programs and also gain a degree of protection against their program being hacked, decompiled or otherwise modified and abused.

NeoLite offers features that NeoSpace does not have, including a more aggressive encoding method that cannot be reversed. The method used in NeoSpace is designed for maximum safety and the ability to restore files to their original state in the event it becomes necessary.

The NeoLite user license includes permission to distribute files which have been processed with NeoLite. The NeoSpace license expressly forbids doing this. Permission from NeoWorx is needed in the NeoLite license because distributing programs modified with NeoLite involves distributing code developed by NeoWorx.

Is NeoSpace Safe?
NeoLite technology has been used on many professional software applications that are distributed commercially. If you count up all the individual people using these applications you will find that millions of programs compressed with NeoLite have been installed in the past year. In fact you probably already have at least one program on your computer which is compressed with NeoLite.

Can I use NeoSpace on my Corporate Network?
You can if you license it appropriately. When NeoSpace is available for purchase we will be offering large site licenses to companies that wish to save space across a large number of computers. These licenses will be much cheaper, and much less work than purchasing the additional hard disk space you may need.

What do NeoSpace and NeoLite have to do with NeoTrace?
Nothing. These products are completely unrelated to each other. The only minute intersection between them is that NeoTrace has been processed with NeoLite, like many other software programs today.

After I used NeoSpace I got a bunch of Virus warnings, what is going on?
No virus is present on your system, at least no new ones. Your virus checking software is just being over-protective. Updating to the latest version of your virus checker should alleviate the problem.


License Agreement

Shareware License

FOR DISTRIBUTION OF SHAREWARE FILES, USER GROUPS, BBS's, ONLINE SERVICES, SHAREWARE VENDORS, and OTHERS

A limited license is granted to copy and distribute our shareware software only for the trial use of others, subject to the following limitations:

1)    The software must be copied in unmodified form, complete with the file containing this license information.

2)    The full machine-readable documentation must be included with each copy.

3)    Our software may not be distributed in conjunction with any other product without a specific license to do so from NeoWorx inc.

4)    Vending of our software products in retail stores (by "shareware rack vendors") is specifically prohibited without prior written authorization.

5)    No fee, charge, or other compensation may be requested or accepted, except for a nominal disk duplication fee not to exceed two dollars.

License Agreement

NeoWorx inc. warrants that it is sole owner of the software and has full power and authority to grant this license herein without consent of any other party.

This software is licensed, not sold.  The fee you pay entitles you to use the software, not to own it.

The software contained in this package (hereafter referred to as "the Software") is copyrighted material owned by NeoWorx inc.  Payment of the single copy license fee authorizes one named person to use the Software on one computer provided this copyright is not violated and provided the rules outlined herein are observed.

One person may use the Software on any single computer. This license can not be transferred. You must pay for additional copies of the Software if more than one person uses it at one time, or if the Software is used on two or more computers. Neither concurrent use on two or more computers, nor use by more than a single individual on a network is permitted without authorization and payment of other license fees.

You may make copies of the software for backup purposes, as long as all such copies, along with the original, are kept in your possession or control.

You may not make any changes or modifications to the Software, including, but not limited to, de-compiling, disassembling, or otherwise reverse engineering it.  You may not rent or lease it to others.  You may not use it on a computer network if more than one user can use it on more than one computer during any one twenty-four hour span of time.

You may not distribute files which have been modified with this software.

NeoWorx hereby disclaims all warranties relating to this software, whether express or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. NeoWorx will not be liable for any special, incidental, consequential, indirect or similar damages due to loss of data or any other reason, even if NeoWorx or an agent of NeoWorx has been advised of the possibility of such damages.  In no event shall NeoWorx’s liability for any damages ever exceed the price paid for the license to use the software, regardless of the form of the claim.  The person using the software bears all risk as to the quality and performance of the software.

U.S. GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS

Use, duplication, or disclosure by the Government is subject to standard shrink-wrapped software restrictions.

Disclaimer of Warranty

THIS SOFTWARE AND THE ACCOMPANYING FILES ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OR MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED.