Options->Configure: General

This page has three sections, as shown below:

Response

PTFB Pro is not constantly active - it operates on a cycle. At the start of the cycle, it searches for targets and takes appropriate action (pressing buttons and executing macros). The rest of the cycle is spent "sleeping", in order to minimize the effect on your computer's performance.

This affects how quickly PTFB Pro can detect and respond to targets with a zero-second delay. For example, if the target appears while PTFB Pro is asleep, nothing will happen until the start of the next cycle. The default cycle length is about half a second, so some zero-delay targets may not be handled instantly.

You can change this via the Response setting on the General page. Note that a higher response speed comes at the cost of slightly higher processor usage. On most recent computers, even the fastest setting makes no appreciable difference to system performance, but it may be more of an issue if your computer is working flat out on a time-critical task.

Miscellaneous

This section presents assorted settings that change PTFB Pro's behavior.

Run at Startup

Tick this if you want your computer to launch PTFB Pro automatically when it starts up. If you disable it, you'll be responsible for starting PTFB Pro manually via the Start menu.

Show Tooltips

This option causes informative tooltips to be shown when you hover the mouse over PTFB Pro's main window. You can disable it if you find the tooltips distracting.

Defeat Screensaver

A running screensaver can interfere with PTFB Pro's activities. If you select this option, PTFB Pro will attempt to temporarily cancel the screensaver just before simulating a button press or executing a macro. There are two things to note about this option:

• It won't work if your screensaver locks your computer (i.e. if it requires you to login to regain access)
• On NT4, PTFB Pro can't accurately determine whether a screensaver is currently running or not. If you're running on NT4 and select this option, PTFB Pro will assume the worst and always take action to exit a running screensaver, which may make it slower to respond to zero-delay targets.

Defeat Icon Hiding

Windows XP has a feature called "icon hiding", which is on by default. It periodically hides system tray icons if they have not been updated recently, and may decide to hide PTFB Pro's icon. This can be confusing if you're not expecting it!

XP's icon hiding can be disabled for certain icons (or indeed for all icons) via "Taskbar and Start Menu" in the control panel. However, if you don't want to go hunting through the control panel you can just tick this option. PTFB Pro will make a point of periodically updating its icon, hopefully convincing Windows XP to leave it alone.

Sort List Automatically

By default, the target list is automatically sorted to maintain alphabetical order. If you disable this behavior, you will be able to order list items manually using drag and drop. There are a few advantages to be had from this:

• If you frequently enable/disable certain targets, you can have them near the top of the list for easy access
• The order of entries in the list determines the order in which PTFB Pro detects and processes targets. By carefully re-arranging the list, you can influence the "firing" order for your targets.

Hide When Choosing Target

PTFB Pro automatically hides its main window when recording a macro. If you tick this option it will also hide the main window when you're nominating the target - the first stage in the creation of a single-press item or window-based macro.

Wait at Main Screen / Edit New Item / Start Watching

This setting tells PTFB Pro what you want it do immediately after you've created a new macro or single-press item.

• Wait at Main Screen: This is the default setting, and just means that PTFB Pro will wait for you to tell it what to do next.
• Edit New Item: If you regularly have to tweak an items' properties after creating it, you can speed up the process by selecting this option. The moment you successfully create your next macro or single-press item, PTFB Pro will automatically open up the item for editing, saving you an extra step. (Don't forget though that you can also change the default settings that each new item receives - this might save you even more time)
• Start Watching: If your new items are usually ready to go as soon as you've created them, select this option. It saves you having to explicitly press "Start Watching" after creating a new item.

Unlock Computer to press targets

Use this option if you frequently lock your computer and/or use a locking screen saver and want PTFB Pro to handle targets even when the computer is locked. After ticking the box, don't forget to enter your logon password in the two edit boxes. PTFB Pro will use this password to briefly unlock then re-lock your computer when a target needs to be pressed.

Note that this option is only available on computers running Windows 2000, XP or 2003 Server, and requires the installation of the optional service component. Certain configuration changes may also be necessary for Windows XP. For more details, please see the section entitled "Working with a locked computer / locking screensaver".

This option is not available when running on Windows Vista, due to its increased security. For more details, please see the section on Windows Vista.