REVISION HISTORY Release 5.01 Fixes: * Immediately after logging to a Windows 2000 Server, a console window could start popping up over the desktop producing an infinite flash effect. This problem was not reported for other Windows releases. * In some cases, normally after logging in, the keyboard or mouse could not be used if no window on the desktop had the input focus. This problem was only seen in Windows 2000 machines. * The updating functions were not working reliably and we decided not to provide files for direct updating from 5.0 to 5.01 from inside AWRC. Users must download 5.01 from the site as usual. Release 5.0 Improvements: * Full-screen is now supported, i.e, when selected, the image of the remote desktop completely covers the screen area of the local computer. Also, the user can select from the Options to maintain the remote screen resolution aspect ratio. In this case, if the local and remote aspect ratios are different no stretching is made (rather an area of the local screen is left black to compensate for the different ratios). * Screen resolution changes on the remote system are automatically reflected on the local system. This is valid both in normal view and full-screen modes. * The remote service started on the remote system is now configurable from the Options. Configuration allows changing the binary name, which defaults to awrexec.exe, the service name and the service display name. The icon of the binary file has been removed as well. This is a security subject and contributes to the activity becoming even less noticeable, when this is a requirement. Of course, the latest AWRCAC release is still able to detect and stop AWRC (although we may sell, under special circumstances, AWRC special builds that circumvent the AWRCAC control). * AWRC supports manual (the default) and automatic updates. When an update exists, and the user accepts to proceed with it, the new software is installed directly from the web with no need to run any setup or install program. * AWRCAC has been updated in order to deal with cases where the service and binary names have not the default values. Fixes: * When connecting to a Windows XP remote, usually the first keystroke was not transmitted. * "Initialization at stage..." errors where not adequately fixed in release 4.7. This was more evident when you disconnected then started a new connection to the same system within less than one minute. * The exception at 0x00403038, which appeared occasionally during the disconnect stage, has been fixed. * Corrected remote Operating System identification of Windows 2003 Enterprise, Standard and Web variants and Windows NT4 SP6 vs SP6a. Release 4.7 Improvements: * The remote desktop image is now captured using a more efficient algorithm. Experiments have confirmed it is now faster in every case, including on a fast LAN, sending the image in compressed form so we have removed the option for sending it uncompressed. Fixes: * The remote system CPU usage has been reduced but the remote desktop screen updates are significantly faster. * Selecting Black and White desktop colors under Options is not anymore possible. We don't think anyone was using them. On the other hand 32-bit colours have been added. * Connections on Domains with heavy loaded servers could fail with "Initialization failed at stage..." errors. Some antivirus software scanning network drives contributed as well for the failure. * Errors appearing on the remote computer Event log when disconnecting. Release 4.6 Improvements: * Launching files through the popup menu of the File System tab can now be made either using the Local System account, like in previous releases, or any user account on the remote computer. When using either the account of the remote logged-on user or the account you have connected to the remote computer you don't have to provide the user name and password, you just selected those options from the popup menu. Using an user account provides access to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive of the Registry for that account. This works much like the Windows RunAs command. As a side note, programs launched from the AWRC Desktop page always run on the remote computer under the account of the remote interactive user. * A large number of network related information grids have been added, namely: - Connections and Listening Ports. - TCP statistics. - UDP statistics. - ICMP statistics. - Routing Table. - DNS Servers. - Persistent Routes. - IP Statistics/Settings. - Installed Protocols/Protocol Details. - Addressing Information Table. - Net to Media Table. - Interface Statistics/Settings. * When the mouse is disconnected on the remote computer, the local user can still see an arrow mouse cursor for easier navigation on the remote desktop (this is optional and can be disabled from the Options). * Now, you can select the Ctrl+Alt+Del keyboard shortcut with a larger freedom of choice. A suitable Ctrl+Alt+Del keyboard shortcut must have at least a pair of keys from Ctrl, Alt or Shift followed by a letter, number or function key. For example, Shift+Ctrl+F10 or Ctrl+Shift+Alt+3 are both acceptable. * AWRCAC (Atelier Web Remote Commander Access Control) has been updated in order to accomodate the new Network information features. Fixes: * When changing to the desktop tab from another tab, full screen refreshes could stall in some cases. * Increasing/Decreasing the Font sizes in some grids could cause an Access Violation. * On connections to a Windows NT remote computer, the "hand" mouse cursor tended to replace the "arrow" mouse cursor. * Attempting connections with the default credentials, i.e, without entering a user name and password, to a machine where a connection is not being possible could block the program for a very long time, even pressing the Abort button. Now, it is set to time out in 60 seconds and will respond to the Abort button. * The option "See remote mouse activity" was not consistently echoing the remote mouse movements. Now, it will (for as long as the local mouse pointer does not leave the desktop viewer area). * On the File System tab, selecting Upload Files then Cancel in the Open Dialog will not allow moving away from the File System tab. * Windows 2003 is correctly identified in the Sysinfo tab. 22nd January 2004 Release 4.0 Improvements: * AWRC can use strong encryption, Blowfish CBC with a 352-bit key length, impossible to break by brute force or other means in the current state of technology. The session key negotiation between local and remote is performed using Elliptic Curve 160-bit asymmetric key pairs (equivalent to 1024-bit RSA). AWRC encryption does not cover the Microsoft Networks negotiation itself. Shares and Services information are not encrypted as well, since they are retrieved locally using the Microsoft Networks mechanism. Other than these, everything else, from the remote screen to chat conversations are strongly encrypted and unretrievable by anyone watching the network traffic. * The Clipboard contents can be sent to the remote computer and retrieved from the remote computer. Unlike other remote control software which can manipulate only text, AWRC can send and retrieve most standard clipboards formats including pictures and sounds. Of course, private clipboard formats and OLE-aware formats are not directly transferable from system to system. * The remote desktop screen can be scaled from 25% to 200% of the orginal size. Scaling is passed through an antialiasing filter, so that most of the orginal details are kept. The user can select a default scaling under Options. * AWRCAC (Atelier Web Remote Commander Access Control) has been updated in order to control the new Clipboard feature. Fixes: * Mouse flicker can be eliminated in most cases. You must keep unselected 'View Layered Windows' in the Options (note that by doing this you will be unable to see the small tooltips in the remote desktop). 19th March 2003 Release 3.1 Improvements * Full support for AWRCAC (Atelier Web Remote Commander Access Control). AWRCAC allows a remote computer to block, filter and log AWRC operations. AWRCAC defaults to block connections from pre-AWRC 3.1 releases. An evaluation version of AWRCAC is included in the AWRC distribution. * The Help file has been converted from the old Winhelp format to HTML Help format. Fixes: * Connections were not possible to a remote computer using an Administrator's account without a password. * Connection timeout from the Options was not correctly updated. 6th December 2002 Release 3.0 Improvements: * Updates from the remote screen are now much faster, almost in real time. The updates can be received uncompressed (better for 100Mbps LANs and higher) or compressed (better for slow LANs and the Internet). The refresh rate can range from Fastest to Paused. The highest refresh rates are usually well supported by computers above Pentium 700 Mhz. * Palette-based as well as 16-bit, 24-bit and 32-bit true-color screen desktops are supported both on remote and locally, in other words, images are manipulated in a device independent manner. * When the remote is using a stock mouse pointer, this is reproduced on the local machine, otherwise the standard arrow pointer is used (as in previous releases). * Ctrl-Alt-Del can now be issued on the default desktop. Previously it could be issued only on the winlogon desktop. * Now every keyboard key combination is simulated on the remote system. This includes international keyboards, however the same key combination may have different meaning if the remote keyboard layout is different. Ctrl-Alt-Del has, of course a different key combination. * AWRC tabbed interface has been changed allowing for an easier integration of new features. * Remote mouse activity can be optionally monitored (monitoring is selected by default). Fixes: * Ctrl-Alt-Del issued on the winlogon desktop used to close the existing connection. * Uploading and downloading of large files used to close the existing connection. * Corrects wake-up from screensavers, including password protected. 9 October 2002 Release 2.0 Improvements: * Remote System General Information, including Operating System, Processor, BIOS, Memory, Display Adapter and Logical Printers. * Very comprehensive information on Hardware Devices. * Users and Groups detailed information. * Password hashes capture. * Physical Memory Viewer. * Ports Finder (mapping of applications to open ports). * Facilities for Chat with the remote machine. * Very comprehensive remote file system management, including file copy, move, rename, delete, create directory, zip and unzip as well as multi-files download and upload. * Request authorization for remote operations. * Option to clear all grids on disconnect or leave them untouched. Leaving them untouched is useful for post-mortem analysis. * Splitter between upper bevelled pane and bottom panel allows panes resizing. * A few enhancements for better integration with Windows XP. * Help file has been enhanced and integrated into application context by calling F1. Fixes: * Connection timeout can be adjusted from Options menu. This should solve spontaneous disconnects in low-bandwidth or very loaded systems. * All traces of AWRC operation should disappear on remote upon disconnection. Previously, this was not always the case. * In most cases data travels compressed between both systems. This allows a fast data exchange even when the amount of data can reach very significant levels, namely for the Hardware Devices, Ports Finder and Users and Groups. * Self-adjusting Refresh time. When the user selects Auto for the Desktop Refresh, AWRC will adjust it upwards if the network conditions do not allow the selected Refresh time. 3 December 2001 Release 1.1 Fixes: * Improved low-bandwith connections (e.g. Internet) support. * Downloading large files on slow-bandwith connections (e.g. Internet) used to break the link to remote. Improvements: * Image compression level can be set through Options. High-bandwith connections work better with low compression levels. The inverse applies to low-bandwith connections. 1 December 2001 Release 1.0 First public release.