What's New in Auto Close Idle...

Software Updates:

To update to the latest version from version 3.8.32 or below, please see these instructions. If you are already using version 4.0.0 or after, please use ToolsUpdate from ACI Manager.

Date

Version

  Changes/Fixes
  Aug 18, 2023 4.4.52
  • Fixed a compatibility issue with ProcessPro.
Apr 12, 2021 4.4.48
  • Fixed a compatibility issue with Mastercam.
Oct 6, 2020 4.4.46
  • Fixed a compatibility issue with Sage 500.
  June 8, 2020 4.4.32
  • Added an option to close extra instances if the user unknowingly started a second instance, while having another copy minimized. In this case, the second copy is closed, and the first copy is activated.
  • Changed "Use the same Idle Time for all windows" option to "All EXE's share the same license", to reflect clearly what this option does.
  • Added an option to restrict logon to ACI Manager only from the same PC as ACI Server. This would hide "Enter Admin Mode" on the clients.
  • Security: Disabled Remote Control function and changed it to View only function. Using Keyboard/Mouse to control the target client no longer works. Remote viewing clients can further be disabled if needed by setting EnableRemoteControl INI entry to 0. See the help file under Using Auto Close Idle-->Using Auto Close Idle Manager-->Using the Remote View function.
  • Security: Hardened ACI Client/Server from unauthorized and carefully crafted messages.
  • Improved performance for users with hundreds or thousands of clients.
  • Improved ACI Client memory usage.
  • Fixed compatibility issues with Windows 10.
  • Fixed issues with ACI Client not starting in single published application sessions, which previously required editing shortcuts to work. This fix only applies to new installations. Existing installations either have to edit the published application shortcut, or reinstall ACI Client.
  • Pressing Ctrl+A to select all users might cause ACI Manager to freeze. This was fixed in this version.
Oct 18, 2018 4.4.24
  • When there are firewall issues preventing ACI Client from connecting to ACI Server, it may use 100% CPU time briefly. This was fixed in this version.
Sep 21, 2018 4.4.22
  • Added an alternative method to detect idle time to work around issues with some Internet Security software.
June 20, 2018 4.4.16
  • Fixed an issue with the ACI Manager login window appearing behind other applications.
  • Fixed an issue with the ACI Server not accepting connections after a while.
January 30, 2017 4.4.6
  • Fixed a connectivity issue in Windows 7 and after that could prevent some ACI Clients from connecting to ACI Server.
February 9, 2015 4.4.0
  • Fixed an issue with monitoring 64-Bit applications under Windows/Citrix Terminal Servers.
February 5, 2014 4.3.28
  • Fixed an update issue that was introduced in version 4.3.0 that caused ACI Server not to update itself. To update from version 4.3.0 or after to the latest version, just reinstall ACI Server. There is no need to reinstall the clients. ACI Server installation includes the client update files, so they would update themselves automatically. If you are using a version prior to 4.3.0, then you can update to the latest version by using ToolsUpdate from ACI Manager.
  • Added the ability to delete multiple users. In previous versions, deleting users was restricted to one user at a time.
June 5, 2013 4.3.26
  • Fixed an issue causing ACI not to click on Exit Messages in some versions of Infor ERP software.
April 24, 2013 4.3.24
  • If the administrator changed "Auto Close" to Yes, and some users were about to be closed in 30 Seconds or less, you get a warning that these users are about to be closed.
  • Under some circumstances, Navision may show a warning about a window being locked by another window, particularly on fast computers. This was fixed in this version.
  • Changed ACI Client icon clock behavior(if not hidden) when a multi-EXE app is being used. In previous versions, the clock icon was not showing the time left for the EXE that was about to be closed. This was fixed in this version.
  • Improved performance.
January 11, 2013 4.3.22
  • Added special handling for Exit Messages that some applications use that look similar to standard Windows dialogs, but ACI Client wasn't clicking them as normal. In this version, ACI Client would treat these exit messages like normal standard Windows dialogs.

September 5, 2012 4.3.16
  • Under Citrix and Terminal Servers, when you change one user settings, some or all other users would change to the same settings as the original user. This is caused by having users home folder set on the server to the same path, or if the path was invalid or inaccessible, in which case the OS would use a default user profile. In this case, all users would have the same settings and desktop appearance. In this version,  ACI was modified so whether the profiles were shared or not, individual users can be changed without affecting other users.
  • Added an Exit Message option to make ACI Client look for a match in either the Body or the Title of the Exit Message.
  • Added an Exit Message option to make ACI Client look for matches by using wildcards in addition to Exact and Partial matches.
  • In some applications, in particular those that show an initial window, such as a login window, and then show the real application afterward, ACI Client was treating the initial window as the main application window, and after it closes, it stops monitoring the application and just waits for the process to exit. This was fixed in this version.
March 27, 2012 4.3.14
  • On terminal servers, when the initial application is a logon process that logs on the user then starts the real application, then this logon process exits, ACI Client exits as well. In this version, ACI Client checks if the initial process started other processes and remain running to monitor the real application.
November 10, 2011 4.3.8
  • Fixed an issue with clients not finding ACI Server typically when ACI Server computer has multiple network adapters. In previous versions, ACI Server was reporting to the client the IP address of the first adapter. In this version, ACI Server would report the adapter IP that is on the same subnet as the client, making it possible to have clients from multiple subnets without having to specify the IP address to the client.
October 12, 2011 4.3.2
  • Fixed an issue with users who are using multiple copies of ACI with the second copy showing an error message about a language file not being found every time ACI Client is started.
September 20, 2011 4.3.0
  • Fixed an issue with clients not finding ACI Server typically when the computer has multiple network adapters.
  • Fixed an issue with the idle time resetting when the user minimizes the application or restore it, and when clicking and dragging the application main window or maximize it. In this version, clicking on the main window title bar and Minimize/Maximize buttons are ignored.
May 2, 2011 4.2.0
  • When using "Use the same Idle Time for all windows", ACI was still counting separate processes as using separate licenses, preventing the use of "Close clients based on the number of licenses left" feature. In this version, ACI counts all processes as using the same license when this option is selected.
  • When you change the option "When a Terminal Services session is disconnected, close the application within", the changes didn't take effect unless you are changing other options, such as the application title, or when the next time the user logs on. This was fixed in this version, and the changes would apply immediately.
  • When "Enable Navision extensions" is checked, ACI will monitor the following executables regardless of what is set in the application title or EXE Path option. It will also monitor these clients simultaneously:

    fin.exe: Classic Client
    finsql.exe: Classic Client, SQL Option
    Microsoft.Dynamics.Nav.Client.exe: Role-Tailored Client
December 29, 2010 4.1.0
  • Added an option to auto close the target application when a terminal services session is disconnected. If you use the terminal services feature to auto logoff the user when a session is disconnected or idle, the terminal server will only give the application 5 seconds to close itself, otherwise, the task is terminated. If the application shows a message box, such as "Are you sure you want to exit?", then the terminal server will kill the process after 5 seconds.
  • Added an option to auto close all users at a specific time. This is usually used to make sure that all copies are closed, so a nightly backup can be done.
  • Added an option to kill the target process when the application cannot be closed normally within a specified period.
November 8, 2010 4.0.5
  • Fixed an issue with "Close clients based on the number of licenses left".
November 1, 2010 4.0.0
  • ACI now runs as a service, and users can be managed from any workstation by going to ACI Client, and right clicking the icon on the task bar and selecting "Enter Admin Mode". The default password is "admin", all lower case.
  • Added "Close clients based on the number of licenses left" option. With this option, you can make ACI close clients only when the number of open applications exceeds certain value. For instance, if you have 25 licenses, and the number of open applications went beyond 23, ACI will close the most idle copy of the application so there is room left for users who try to log in. If the most idle copy cannot be closed within 10 seconds, ACI tries to close the second most idle copy and so on until a copy is closed.
  • Added "Default Auto Close for new users" option. Currently, when a new user appears in ACI, "Auto Close" always defaults to Yes. You can change that by using this option.
  • Added "Do not show the remaining idle time to the user" option. When selected, the user doesn't know when the time limit is up, so he or she doesn't click the application to extend the time.
  • Added "Hide ACI Client icon" option. When selected, the user doesn't see ACI Client icon.
  • Changed the way groups are assigned. Now you can select one or more users and drag them and drop them on a group list on the left side, or use the right click menu to assign to groups or manipulate them.
  • Added an update service. This update service does two things. First, it updates the software when you use ToolsUpdate from ACI Manager. Digital signatures are used without Internet access to make sure that updates are valid and not altered. Second, it auto starts ACI Client in terminal servers or Citrix environment when it detects that a session started in single application mode, so using /R command line option as was required by previous versions is not necessary. So ACI would work in these cases out of the box and no additional configuration step is necessary. The service accepts /noautostart to disable this option. If you were using a previous version of ACI, and were using /R command, the update service will not start another copy if it finds that ACI Client is already started. So you can leave /R command as it's for now, and remove it later when you have the time.
  • ACI was not closing Navision in some cases. When the user opens many windows, the user might see a message that says that Navision cannot be closed because certain windows are locked. In this version, the user will not see this message, and ACI would close it regardless of how many windows the user has opened that otherwise would show that message.
  • Added support for monitoring 64-Bit applications.
     
November 19, 2009 3.8.32
  • When "Close Most Idle User by others" is used, the correct application is closed; however, in some cases, the incorrect user is notified that an application was successfully closed. This was fixed in this version.
  • Added support for clicking on non-English buttons in Exit Messages. Previous versions only recognized Exit Messages that contain buttons showing English text, such OK, Yes, No and Cancel buttons. Virtually all localized versions of Windows operating system are supported.
June 10, 2009

3.8.10

  • Added a new option "Use the same Idle Time for all windows". This option is usually enabled for applications that use multiple processes or EXE's to launch different aspects of the same database application. When enabled, ACI will not close any window or process until the user stops working on all matching windows/processes. All processes in this case will show the same Idle Time and will be closed together. When disabled(default), ACI will close unused copies of the application independently based on how the user was working on each copy.
Apr 15, 2009 3.8.0
  • Fixed an issue when "Close Most Idle User by others" is used and the most idle user cannot be closed. In this update, ACI will wait for 10 seconds for the application to close, then moves to the next most unused copy and repeats the process until a copy is closed, either by ACI or manually. Once a copy has been closed successfully, the user is notified with a message "Another application was closed successfully. Try logging on now."
  • The delay to wait before closing a main menu EXE after closing all other windows is now configurable, instead of the default 5 seconds.
Nov 14, 2008 3.7.0
  • Added a command line parameter(/R) to ACI Client to use with Terminal Servers in single application mode. In this case, ACI starts the target application(specified in /R parameter), then auto exits when the target application is closed(whether by the user, or ACI), allowing the terminal session to end normally.

Sep 29, 2008 3.6.4
  • Terminating ACI Client process is now blocked for non-Administrators.
  • Added support for roaming users.
May 29, 2008 3.6.0
  • Added additional buttons to click on: "Terminate", "Continue", "Close", and "Exit".
  • The delay to wait for the CPU to become idle is now configurable instead of the default 30 seconds.
Feb 22, 2008 3.5.4
  • Added Unicode support to computer and user names.
  • Improved the performance of displaying and sorting the list of users.

June 14, 2007

3.5.2

  • ACI now can leave one application open and only close it after it closes all other matching applications. This is used for accounting applications that have a MainMenu.exe that starts other modules as separate EXE files. In this case, the application may require that all other modules to be closed before closing MainMenu.exe. In this case, MainMenu.exe is closed last after waiting a grace period of 5 seconds, to allow other processes to communicate with the main process if needed.
  • ACI was not closing Navision when a prompt to replace the ZUP file appears.
  • Fixed minor Vista issues.

Nov 22, 2006

3.5.0

  • Applications can now be monitored by part of the EXE path name, including wildcards.
  • ACI now supports monitoring multiple EXE's simultaneously that belong to the same database application.
  • Added support for multiple Exit messages/Dialogs.
  • CPU usage threshold check can be turned off by setting it to 101%, for applications that use 100% CPU time.

  • ACI was not closing Navision if it was left at the Logon dialog. This is fixed in this version.

March 1, 2006

3.4.2

  • In few computers with certain Office versions and certain service packs, ACI Client was showing an error at startup or using too much CPU time. This was fixed in this version.

May 6, 2005

3.4.0

  • Added "Enable Remote Control" option to the client for privacy reason. By default it's disabled.

Apr 6, 2004

3.3.8

  • ACI was not detecting some 3rd party applications correctly. This was fixed in this version.

Dec 15, 2003

3.3.4

  • Minor fix for supporting exit messages in some applications.

Dec 11, 2003

3.3.0

  • Added support for fixed exit messages, such as "Are you sure that you want to exit?".
  • Clients appear faster when you restart ACI Manager.
  • Removed group name change confirmation.

Oct 17, 2003

3.2.0

  • Allows you to manage users by group.
  • Shows CPU Usage, CPU Idle Time, and the application title being monitored.
  • Reduced screen flickering when there are too many users.

Oct 8, 2003

3.1.0

  • Some TCP/IP Error messages were not suppressed in the previous version. This was fixed in this version.

Oct 2, 2003

3.0.0

  • Added Remote Control functionality to enable the administrator to interact with the monitored application remotely and respond to validation dialogs.
  • Monitors the application's CPU usage (Windows NT/2000/XP Clients) and waits until the application finishes any pending tasks.
  • Minor changes to the way ACI closes Navision.
  • Remote update now can work with proxy servers that don't require user authentication.

June 27, 2003

2.0.0

  • Improved software stability.
  • Clients fail to reconnect sometimes. This has been fixed in this version.
  • Added additional checking routine to reject non ACI packets which use the same TCP/IP port as ACI.
  • Changed the server title to "Auto Close Idle Manager".

June 23, 2003

1.2.6

  • "Active Application Count" was not updated when a user is deleted.
  • When "Auto Close" is set to No, the clock icon does not change back to the default non-clock icon.
  • "Idle Time so far" does not show the idle time correctly if it's over 30 minutes.
  • Switching between terminal server session and local computer resets "Idle Time so far", even if the mouse or keyboard were not used.
  • Sorting by clicking on a column's heading doesn't work when certain columns are changed.

June 20, 2003

1.2.4

  • Added support for non-English versions of Navision.

June 18, 2003

 

1.2.2

  • "Close anyway?" window in Navision is not closed if the operating system is non-English. This has been fixed in this version.

June 12, 2003

1.2.0

  • Navision was not closing properly sometimes. This has been fixed in this version.
  • Added a clock like icon to show the remaining time before closing the application.
  • Added an option to prevent users from closing other users' applications if the most idle user is only idle for a short period of time. The administrator can specify this short period of time using this option.
June 12, 2003 1.0.5
  • Changed the remote update algorithm. Users who have version 1.0.2 and below will only able to see this version when checking for new updates. After updating to this version, you can update to version 1.2.0 or above.

June 05, 2003

1.0.2

  • Fixed a problem with remote update.

June 04, 2003

1.0.1

  • Added help file.

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