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| Program Title - ActivIcons Software type - Freeware Publisher - Cursor Arts Download - Cursor Arts AI D/L Cost - free Function - stores and recovers desktop layouts, alters file and system icons, etc. Version - downloaded early 2001, no longer used Scores - utility  -
ease of use  -
manuals/help |
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My Review (I am not a reviewer - Its just one personal view)
I got this originally because I was fed up with Windows crashes resulting in cleared or rearranged desktop icon layouts. It has quite a lot of extra stuff which I never used or tried, so not mentioned further. This program allows up to 10 arrangements to be stored, but only by number, rather than named, and so quite difficult to recall which is which. Unfortunately sometimes the backups load mispositioned, which defeats the reason for having it. Also some of the system icons, such as windows close, minimised and resize buttons became altered, ticks for switching in dialog boxes, became red pennants, and generally the computer became weird and confused looking. I wasted quite some time, looking for the problems, and when I uninstalled this program, everything returned to normal, and my HTML editors, both of which were crashing on exit, are now much more stable. I have a feeling that this program steals memory from the system and does not return it. It is definitely bug ridden, but may very well have been upgraded. However, I have since used EZ Desk, which does the job very much better, but costs money; and now I have Windows XP, which recovers from a crash without losing anything that I've noticed yet! As one expects from an OS but, only DOS 3.1 or non IBM users are likely to recall. My advice is that you should not use the 'run at start-up' option, and don't depend on it to work every time. Even old backups may never come back. Which might be because its' files are in the system path. After use, a reboot is advisable, to force a file restore. The other stuff may be of use to you. I would advise using fileWATCH or an install monitor such as Norton Cleansweep as I don't know what it installs.. A 'Trojan' scan is prudent after every install. But 'free' does mean it's well priced! |
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Updated: 26 October 2002 . . . Checked: 10 June 2002 |