AB Tutor Control Release History

Version 6.4 as of Feb 2010

New Features:

• Added %DESKTOP% and %MYDOCUMENT% variable support to sending/collecting files. Sending files now defaults to placing the files in %MYDOCUMENTS%
• Added new option under 'Tools' - ' Settings' - 'View/show' to enable the capturing of Layered Windows. This was enabled by default in version 6.3 but caused mouse cursor 'flicker' whilst Watching remote screen some types of graphics cards. If you experience cursor flicker, then make sure this option is turned off.
• The Chat window now defaults to sending a message to all selected clients from the main window when first opened. Previously, it would only select the first item.
• Added new 'Server' computer type to Groups so Terminal Servers can be added directly and sessions are dynamically added/remove as they become available on that server.

• Fixed a bug when launching applications on terminal servers
• Fix a random crash when closing 'Show' sessions.
• Fixed bug that caused the 'Tabs' on the right hand side to become corrupted after restoring the Tutor program from minimised. (This was previously corrected if you resized the application again)
• Fix a bug where you can press the 'Alt+F4' keys to close a 'Show' session.
• Fixed problems with blocking network printers.
• Bug Fix: The Shutdown logging event did not work.
• Fixed a problem where the actual Terminal Server name would appear in the list after a while for Tutors even when the option to 'Hide' it was selected.
• Fixed bug when selecting 'Record Audio' during a Screen Capture.
• Fixed a random bug when creating a Policy and then clicking on the 'Policy' menu. The system sometimes crashed!
• Fixed a problem when blocking printers for a user on a Terminal Server, it would block all users on the server.
• Fixed a problem when detecting new users logging on when that users name was added to a group. (Windows Vista/Windows 7)
• Fixed a problem with background images (via Groups) when in Large Icon mode. The image is now lock to the top left corner.

Version 6.3 as of Oct 2009

New Features:

• You can now reorder the columns in the main AB Tutor list view (Click and drag the column heading)
• Dutch, Spanish and French translations added

• Fixed bug with using 'Find' on Vista/Windows 7 (using Multicast) that caused a message 'unable to bind to listening socket - access denied'.
• Fixed a bug when encrypting large ABControl.xml files
• Fixed bug with renaming a Group. This resulted in the members of that group being cleared.
• Fixed a backward compatibility issue with ABControl.xml and versions earlier than 6.3.
• Fixed problem with applying USB block policies when USB drives are already inserted.
• Fixed a problem with new 'Column' ordering when running on Windows Vista. They were not being restored correctly.
• Fixed a problem with sending keys when in 'Watch/Control' mode. Shift keys were not sent correctly.
• Bug Fix: If 2 Tutors watch the same computer and one stops then the other also stopped.
• 64bit Bug fixes: Some functions did not work on 64bit Windows. (e.g. Service/Process lists or showing the correct running applications)
• File/Folder names with none ASCII characters are displayed using their windows 'Short' name.
• Profile path on Windows Vista/Win7 only set to 'ProgramData' folder when installed and run from Hard drive. When run from memory sticks, the profile path defaults to install folder.
• Bug Fix: The Delete and Rename options to delete Capture files did not work (See 'Computers' - 'Screen Capture', then right click a Capture file)
• Bug Fix: Annotation now works on second monitor when showing both monitors during a 'Show'
• Bug fix: The settings for saving options in the 'Shut down' dialog box were not being saved correctly under the users profile.
• Bug fixed that caused a small delay when launching remote applications.
• Fixed a problem with using the 'Login' command when the remote machines was in Screen-saver mode. Previously you had to send the command twice.
• Fixed a problem with Screen savers being activated after a user logs in when using the 'Disable Screen savers...' option.
• Fixed a problem when using the 'Blank Screen' feature. This caused problems on some portables and also didn't work on Windows Vista/Windows 7.

Version 6.2 as of May 2009

New Features:

• New and enhanced 'Log File Viewer' has been created. This allows you to retrieve remote log files and store them locally. Once retrieved, you can filter and search all entries even when you are not connected to the remote machines.
• Process list refreshes every 4 seconds When viewing remote client Process information. (See Admin Tab - Processes)
• Added a new Security function to Groups. You can now set the computer names and/or usernames of those who can connect to a defined group.
• Added a new option under 'Tools' - 'Settings' - 'Advanced', to encrypt the ABControl.xml file. This secures the file from users viewing/editing the settings.
• Improved the readability of keyboard logging (via the Logging policy) by adding a option to only log visible keys pressed by the user.
• Added the ability to change the Active Directory domain name under the Group Manager (See 'Groups' - 'Group Manager' - 'Active Directory')
• We are now using a 'Windows Logo Approved' WHQL mirror driver enabling the mirror driver to be installed silently via Active Directory/Group Policies.
• Added the ability to clear events/violations from the events tab. This also clears the red event status message against a remote connection. Right click the mouse in the event list and select 'Clear' or 'Clear All'.
• Screen capture filenames are now back using meaning file names like in version 5. (e.g. 'Capture (ComputerName - Full Name (username) - Date time.jpg' )
• When you press 'End' during a question poll, all remote question popup windows are closed.
• Added an 'Export' command when you right-click in the Main window. This creates an html export file of the computers/users in the list which can then be printed if required.

• Tutors can now create and save Policies to the new v6 XML file. To restrict tutors from creating polices, you need to apply the group restriction 'Disable Policy Manager'
• Bug fix. In the 'Admin Tab' - Processes, the 'Kill Process' did not work.
• Fixed a bug when retrieving multiple inventories. The History list was not being filled correctly.
• Fixed a problem when running from a Memory Stick on Vista machines. The profile (ABControl.xml) file was not being picked up from the memory stick.
• Fixed problems with keyboard logging that added strange characters to the logs.
• Fixed a problem with keyword monitoring and copying large amounts of text to the clipboard. Only 255 characters of 'Context' text is stored as apposed to all the text which could be extremely large!

Version 6.1 as of Feb 2009

New Features:

• Added a 'Delete' question button to the Question Polling view
• Added a 'Poll question Folder' to allow a tutor/administrator to specify the folder to store questions.
• Added an 'Export' results button to the Poll Questions page to save users feedback to file.
• Added a 'Delete' menu item to the right-click popup menu in the Thumbnail view
• Added a 'Restart Client Program' option under 'Tools' - 'Client Maintenance'
• The Thumbnail views first tab is automatically filled with all machines in the selected Group, except when the is selected.
• Thumbnails are now stored in an XML file located in your 'My documents\AB Tutor Control' folder. This file can be edited if you want to re-order tabs or machines and also share with others.
• Changed the way Policies are applied to Sessions on a Terminal Servers. Previously, policies were applied to the machines and so were being applied to all new sessions created. Now they are applied to each session individually.
• Changed the way the Tutor program handles broadcast messages from remote clients. When a Group is selected, then broadcast processing from clients is not required.
• Added an option to Temporary Policies that will also remove the policy when the user simply logs off.
• also added an option to Temporary Policies that if a tutor removes it, it will get re-applied when the user logs off.
• Added a function to check for Winsock (LSP) errors and automatically fix any problems found.
• 'Allow duplicate Computer Names' options now added for terminal server clients.
• The Active Directory function in the Group Manager has been changed to allow for full AD browsing through OUs.

• Fixed a bug that caused the Tutor program to use excessive amounts of CPU.
• Fixed a bug when setting a Group of Policies (only the first few would get set)
• Fixed a bug with the Policy Active Times of Day not being saved.
• Fixed a display bug that showed a grey area beneath the list on computers in the main Window
• Fixed a problem on Vista and Terminal Servers where the client would broadcast the username over the network every 2 seconds instead of when the username changes.
• Fixed a problem with corrupt Annotation toolbar buttons.
• Fixed a bug when selecting previously saved poll questions. The wrong question was being displayed.
• Fixed a bug with thumbnails not refreshing when switching between tabs.
• Fixed a problem that displays an error message 'Invalid parameter'. This was to do with displaying the popup tooltip text for a computer where the amount of text to display was to long.
• Fixed bug where a 'System Action' policies shutdown message was not saved to the configuration file.
• Fixed a bug with exporting Polling question results to file.
• The Update download timeout was too short for slow connection to the internet. This has been increased to 4 minutes.

Version 5.6 as of Dec 2008

1: Fixed a problem when Copying or Sending files to a Network drive.

2: Fixed a problem with re-connecting when a remote machine is woken up from Hibernate/Sleep mode. This occurred mainly on Windows Vista machines.

3: Fixed a problem with the Chat window text being cleared unexpectedly. This only happen when you are using the Chat windows as an Administrator the 'All' group is selected.

4: Fixed a random problem with the Tutor showing 'Invalid Connection Password', but if you then pressed 'Connect' again, it would connect OK.

Version 5.5 as of Oct 2008

1: Added nComputing (www.nComputing.com) support

2: Fixed bug where 'Open Office' was not being picked up as a running application on the remote machines

3: Added the option to 'Disable' the Find button for Classroom Groups. This can be used to prevent teachers from selecting different Groups if you force the Group selection via the Command line.

4: Fixed a problem with 5.4.2 and Logging web sites

5: New feature to prevent the remote Service from being 'Stopped' has been added. (See 'Tools' - 'Connection Security' - 'Additional' tab)

6: Fixed a problem where remote users could get round the 'Internet Block' policy.

Version 5.4 as of June 2008

1: Added Netware User name support

2: Fixed a bug that causes a crash then Connecting to Terminal Servers via the '' group

3: Fixed a bug when clearing policies that are set to re-activate after X mins.

4: Added a fix to prevent the remote user pressing 'Alt+F4' keys to close the 'Shutdown' message box.

5: Fixed a bug with 'Logging' on a Terminal Server. Log files were not being created.

6: Fixed a bug when viewing log files from Terminal Server sessions. The computer name shown was not the correct Client computer name for the session being logged.

Version 5.3 as of April 2008

1: Added Printer logging support. See 'Policies' - 'Log' policy

2: Added the ability to set a remote path for saving Log files instead of the default install folder. This is to prevent programs like DeepFreeze from removing the log files on reboot. (Press and hold the Ctrl key and select 'Tools' - 'Settings' - 'Advanced' tab)

3: Added patch to prevent the Tutor Program from connecting to itself as it was possible to 'Lock' your own screen!

4: Fixed bug with v5.2 where a debug message was being written to the debug.log file which caused the file to grow massively.

5: Added a fix to prevent Terminal Server connections connecting to the wrong client machine.

Version 5.2 as of Feb 2008

1: Fixed bug with the client service stopping. This was an intermittent problem and was caused when the IP address was changed/refreshed via DHCP or the wireless connection is refreshed.

Version 5.1.1 as of Jan 2008

1: Fixed bug with setting restrictions to drives via the registry policies.

2: Fixed bug when remotely logging on and the CAPS LOCK key is pressed. The Caps lock is now remove before logging on.

3: Fixed bug with Logging web sites on remote Vista machines using IE7

4: Fixed a problem when connecting to a Terminal Server AND selecting a group of computers expected on the TS AND 'Auto-connect to found computers' option was set. Previously the system would try to connect to the machine added to the list directly and not find it on the TS and hence fail.

5: Fixed a bug with launching applications located on shared network drives.

Version 5.1 as of 12th November 2007

1: Fixed bug with Show mode showing corrupt screens the first time it is used.

2: Fixed bug when installing onto Windows 98/ME machines. The Setup would not find a required DLL.

3: Added an option under the 'Run Application' to allow an Administrator to launch a program even when no user is logged on.

4: Fixed bug when Tutors apply policies. The wrong policy was being applied.

5: Fixed bug when the remote machine is booted up without a network connection. The AB Client program did not start even if the cable is re-connected.

6: Fixed bug with 'Blocking All Sites Except' policy

7: Added function to stop users manually overriding the Mute policy

8: Added 'Ctrl+Alt+Del' support under Windows Vista

9: Fixed bug when controlling a remote computer with dual monitors. The mouse did not work in second monitor.

10: Fixed problem with access to shared network drives via the 'File Transfer' command

11: Fixed bug with version 5 clients running on Windows 2000 machines.

12: Fixed problems when using the 'Reboot' command. The tutor could not reconnect unless the tutor program was restarted.

13: Fixed a bug with using the %MYDOCUMENTS% variable for saving Screenshots when the MYDOCUMENT variable points to a UNC network drive.

14: Fixed bug with blocked Web sites not being cleared when the policy it removed.

Version 5.0 as of 10th Sept 2007

1: Added Windows Vista Support.

2: Added a 'Lock Message' history selection box (See 'Tools' - 'Setting' - 'Lock Message').

3: [ComputerName] and [Date] inserts added to the lock message.

4: Terminal Services support added.

5: Improved multiple-monitor support. when you make the 'Watch' window Full Screen on a secondary monitor it doesn't jump back to the primary monitor.

6: New option to keep the AB tutor Control application windows visible during a 'Show' command. Useful for teaching how to use AB tutor Control to other teachers. (See 'Tools' - 'Settings' - 'View/Show' tab)

7: New feature to allow the Tutor/Administrator to 'Blank' the remote screen during a Watch/Control.

8: New Policies added: Mute, Lock and execute Action policy. (Action policy allows you to Shutdown/Reboot/Logoff or run/close an application. Usually used in conjunction with the Activate based on time of day)

9: Added Policy Security. Administrators can 'Protect' policies so Tutors cannot Add, Edit or remove them.

10: Added a 'Reapply' policy after X mins function. If the Policy is removed by a Tutor, then it will automatically re-apply in X mins.

11: Added the ability to Activate/Deactivate policies based on time of day.

12: Policies can now be Applied/Cleared from the Remote view windows.

13: With the 'Shutdown/Reboot/Log off' commands, you can now optionally display a count-down window on the remote computer. You can specify the text to display, the number of seconds and the ability to allow the user to abort the command.

14: Enhanced connection security. You can now prevent older versions of AB Tutor connecting to your clients and also block un-registered copies from connecting.

15: You can now 'Close' remote applications. Either by specifying its filename or application title (or part title by using wildcards).

16: The active running application is now shown as the first Icon in the application list.

17: You can now customise the text for the message boxes that are displayed when a user is blocked from running an application or accessing a web page. (See 'Tools' - 'Settings' - 'Messages' tab).

18: We've developed a new way to monitor/block Web sites at a lower level. Previously this only worked on with IE. Now it blocks ALL access to web sites independent of browser.