Volumouse v1.10
Copyright (c) 2004 Nir Sofer
Web site: http://www.nirsoft.net



Description
===========

Volumouse provides you a quick and easy way to adjust the sound volume on
your system - simply by rolling the wheel of your wheel mouse.
It allows you to define a set of rules for determining when the wheel
will be used for changing the sound volume. For example: You can
configure Volumouse to use your mouse wheel for volume control when the
Alt key is hold down, when the left mouse button is down, when the mouse
cursor is over the taskbar, and so on...
When the conditions that you define are not satisfied, your mouse wheel
will be used for the regular scrolling tasks, exactly as before.



System Requirements
===================


* 32-bit Windows operating system: Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT,
  Windows 2000, or Windows XP. (Windows 95 is not supported)
* Wheel mouse
* Sound card.



Versions History
================


* Version 1.10
  o New option: Display on-screen indicator while changing the sound
    volume.
  o New option: Mute/unmute the sound volume.
  o New Rule Conditions: Mouse cursor is over a title bar, BSPlayer
    is focused.
  o Non-Sound Components: Now you can also use volumouse to make your
    windows transparent (On Windows 2000/XP) or to change the brightness
    of the entire screen (only if you have a video card that supports
    this feature).

* Version 1.00 - First release.



Upgrading Volumouse from previous versions
==========================================

If you have a previous version of Volumouse, you don't have to remove the
old version before installing the new one. You can simply overwrite the
previous version with the new version. However, You must do it according
to the following instructions:
1. Exit completely from Volumouse. (The pink button)
2. Wait one or two minutes, to allow the vlmshlp.dll file to be
   released by the operating system.
3. Install Volumouse, as you did with the previous version.
4. If you get any error message related to vlmshlp.dll, restart your
   computer, and then do all this process again.



Installing/Removing Volumouse
=============================

There are 2 methods to install Volumouse on your system:
* Manual Installation: (For advanced users only !)
  In order to manually install Volumouse on your system, follow the
  instructions below:
  1. Create a new folder for Volumouse utility (Under your 'Program
     Files' folder, or anywhere else you like).
  2. Extract all files from the zip file (volumouse.zip) into the
     new folder that you created.
  3. Optionally, create a shortcut to volumouse.exe on your desktop
     or under your start-menu.
  4. Start using Volumouse, simply by running the executable -
     volumouse.exe

  In order to remove Volumouse from your system, follow the instructions
  below:
  1. To ensure that Volumouse is not running in your system, Select
     'Exit Completely' from the options dialog-box or from popup menu of
     the taskbar icon.
  2. Delete the folder that you created during the installation
     process. If you failed to delete the Volumouse helper dll
     (vlmshlp.dll), wait a little time (one or two minutes) to allow this
     file to be released by the operating system, and then try again.
  3. Optionally, delete Volumouse configuration from the Registry
     under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\NirSoft\Volumouse


* Automatic Installation (With self-install executable)
  In order to install Volumouse with self-install executable, follow the
  instructions below:
  1. Download and run the Volumouse self-install executable.
  2. Select the desired installation settings, and click 'install'
     to start installing Volumouse.
  3. After installation is completed, run Volumouse from the your
     start-menu.

  In order to remove Volumouse that you previously installed with
  ZipInstaller:
  1. First, you must ensure that Volumouse is not running in your
     system. In order to do that, select 'Exit Completely' from the
     options dialog-box (the pink button) or from popup menu of the
     taskbar icon. Wait a little time to ensure that vlmshlp.dll is
     completely unloaded from the system, and then continue to the next
     step.
  2. Go to the Add/Remove Programs module, choose Volumouse entry,
     and select to remove it from your system.




Using Volumouse
===============

When you run Volumouse, the main options window is displayed, in order to
allow you to configure Volumouse according to your needs. You can always
return again to the 'options' window by clicking on the tray icon of
Volumouse.
Volumouse allows you to define up to 5 different rules for determining
when and how the wheel should be used to control the sound volume. When
you run Volumouse in the first time, it defines for you 2 default rules:
When the alt key is down and when the left mouse button is down. You can
accept the default settings by pressing OK button, or change the rules
list according to your preferences.



Wheel Mouse Rules
=================

Each rule contains 4 basic fields:
1. Use the wheel when: This field represents the condition of the
   rule. For example: if your select 'Shift key is down', this rule will
   be activated only while the shift key is hold down. You can also
   disable a rule by selecting 'Disabled' in this field.
2. Component: This field determines that sound component that you want
   to control with this rule. The default and the most useful component
   is the 'Master Volume' of your system.
3. Channels: The default and the most useful option in this field is
   'All Channels' - which means that both right and left channels are
   changed to the same values. If from some reason, you want to change
   only one channel separately - you can use the 'Left Channel' and
   'Right Channel' options. Starting from version 1.10, 'Mute / Unmute'
   option is also available. If you select this option, scrolling the
   wheel down will mute the sound, and scrolling the wheel up will unmute
   the sound.
4. Steps: The number of steps added to the sound volume for each move
   of the mouse wheel. If you increase this number, the volume will be
   changed faster when you scroll the wheel.
there are also more advanced options for each rule, you can configure
them by clicking the 'More...' button of the desired rule.



Non-Sound Components
====================

Volumouse was originally created for controlling the sound volume with
the mouse wheel. However, starting from version 1.10, I decided to add 2
additional components that are not really related to sound, but they
might be useful for some people:
1. Window Transparency: (Works only on Windows 2000/XP)
   Allows you make any window transparent !
   In order to use this feature, define a new rule with this component,
   go with mouse cursor to the window that you want to make transparent,
   hold down the right keys or buttons according the the condition that
   you chose, and then scroll down the wheel to make the window
   transparent !
2. Screen Brightness: Allows you to change the brightness of the
   entire screen.
   Important Notice: Changing the screen brightness is achieved by
   setting the gamma ramp values into the video card. Unfortunately, many
   video cards don't support this feature, so the 'Screen Brightness'
   component may not work in your system.



On-Screen Indicator
===================

Starting from version 1.10, Volumouse allows you display an indicator on
the screen when you use the wheel for adjusting the volume.
You can configure the on-screen indicator by using the following options
in the 'advanced rule options' dialog-box: (click the 'More...' button in
order to get this dialog-box)
* Type: The type of the on-screen indicator. You can select vertical
  trackbar, horizontal trackbar, or 'none' - if you don't want to display
  any indicator.
* Size: The size of indicator - in pixels.
* Delay: The number of milliseconds that the indicator will be
  displayed on the screen after you finish to adjust the volume. The
  default value is 500 milliseconds.
* Position: the horizontal and vertical position of the indicator. By
  default, the indicator is displayed in the position of the mouse cursor.
* Transparency: Allows you to display the indicator as transparent.
  Only works on Windows 2000/XP.



Other Options
=============


* Mixer Device: The sound device that you want to use in Volumouse.
* Display icon in the system tray: By default, the icon of Volumouse is
  displayed in the system tray (taskbar). When you click the icon with
  the left mouse button, the main options window is displayed. If from
  some reason you don't want this icon to appear in your taskbar, you can
  hide it by unchecking this option. When this option is unchecked, the
  only way to access the options windows - is by running the executable
  of Volumouse (volumouse.exe)
* Load Volumouse at startup: If this option is checked, Volumouse will
  be automatically loaded after you reboot your computer.
* Display this window when you start Volumouse: By default, the
  'Options' window is displayed each time that you run Volumouse. If you
  want to avoid this, uncheck this option



Translating Volumouse to the languages
======================================

In order to translate Volumouse to other language, follow the
instructions below:
1. Run Volumouse with /savelangfile parameter:
   volumouse.exe /savelangfile
   A file named volumouse_lng.ini will be created in the folder of
   Volumouse utility.
2. Open the created language file in Notepad or in any other text
   editor.
3. Translate all string entries to the desired language. Optionally,
   you can also add your name and/or a link to your Web site.
   (TranslatorName and TranslatorURL values) If you add this information,
   it'll be used in the 'About' window.
4. After you finish the translation, Run Volumouse, and all translated
   strings will be loaded from the language file.
   If you want to run Volumouse without the translation, simply rename
   the language file, or move it to another folder.



License
=======

This utility is released as freeware. You are allowed to freely
distribute this utility via floppy disk, CD-ROM, Internet, or in any
other way, as long as you don't charge anything for this. If you
distribute this utility, you must include all files in the distribution
package, without any modification !



Disclaimer
==========

The software is provided "AS IS" without any warranty, either expressed
or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The author will not
be liable for any special, incidental, consequential or indirect damages
due to loss of data or any other reason.



Feedback
========

If you have any problem, suggestion, comment, or you found a bug in my
utility, you can send a message to nirsofer@yahoo.com