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[nswint]

A nice feature would be to load automatically
at boot like a firewall or antivirus program.
Or load at startup but at boot would work in
the event of a power outage and autologin is
not enabled.  The icon program will be loaded
but can be accessed by the system tray.

[donald mcmow]

Put a link into your startup folder and it
will load every time you boot the computer.

[nswint]

Yeah I know of that.  The service or load at
boot workaround would be best.

[clarity]

The X10Pro application loads slowly and
pauses a few seconds to announce "all
software plug-ins loaded". Then it trys to
check-in with 63.211.210.21 I would prefer
it just controlled lights and appliances
rather than serving as an advertisement
platform for X10.

[donald mcmow]

I believe that is to check to see if there
is an update available - it is not for
advertising. You can turn the "BUY ONLINE"
ads on the modules off in Preferences/Show
Order Buttons. The "BUY ONLINE" on the AHP
main screen is there all the time.

[clarity]

Donald McMow
You may be right however there should be no
reason to turn off the X10 advertising nor
for the application to check for updates if
that is all it is doing. You can check
for "updates" under the help tab. I
personally don't need it dialing up the
internet each time it boots.

[donald mcmow]

The program makes the check so that it can
inform you that there is an update
available. It normally displays a little
X10 House logo notify you of the update.
This is probley only be an issue if you are
using a dialup internet account. I believe
that the X10nets program is also used to
keep track of module status and update the
CM15A interface clock when it is connected
but AHP is not running.

[clarity]

Donald McMow
Thanks again for your views. I don't
understand why X10Pro software would need
to automatically check for updates so
frequently. I suspect you may have only
part of the story.

[donald mcmow]

I would imagine that it would do the update
check everytime that you run AHP - since it
doesn't keep track of the last time that it
ran. A change of thought here - AHP would
do the check upon starting. X10nets would
be running to keep track of module status -
ON/OFF and if the module is dimmed (NOT the
dim level). It would also update the time
on the CM15A. I don't know what else would
be done.

Unless you have changed Windows settings, I
believe that Windows Update makes the same
type of update checking as well, which
makes sense - it's easier to have your
computer make the check-in rather than
having to notify upteen gazillion users
individually, or make you do the check
manually yourself. A lot of users just
wouldn't do it and not update thier OS.

[clarity]

Donald McMow
I am trying to use X10Pro many miles distant
from a high-speed internet connection. I can
manage bringing the computer into
civilization periodically (like now) but the
software seems to ask for web access quite
frequently. It would be more practical if I
could determine when software updates were
issued from here in civilization, burn the
software to CD or diskette and deliver the
updates to the remote sites. There are many
areas in Canada and the USA where high speed
internet access won't be available for years
and I am trying to use X10Pro in one of
them.

Fortunately, I can buy old CM11A's for a
song and its software is quite mature and is
distributable on CD.

I believe X10Pro is not suitable for remote
applications. I am just beginning to uncover
the limitations. But it sure is pretty.

[Observer]

 
Clarity:  I believe that Windows-XP provides
for automatically dialing out or not, based
on your preference.  You may have more
control over your computer than you think.

[clarity]

Observer: I am not worried about XP dialing
as there is no phone. But I am a tad
concerned that X10Pro tries to connect to
the internet without authorization of the
system owner.

[donald mcmow]

Actually when you come down to it you have
given AHP permision to access the Internet.
I know you aare going to say that NO you
havn't but YOU did download and install the
program. You knew that an internet
connection was required for the install and
you know that updates to the program
require access to the internet. SO IN THE
END YOU DID AUTHORIZE AHP TO ACCESS THE
INTERNET. Just as those people who have
gotten spyware on their computer by
downloading some "essential" little
shareware program and not read the license
completely to find out what is they are
also allowing to be installed.

[clarity]

Donald McMow: I am not a lawyer but I
believe I purchased X10Pro which is quite
unlike downloading a utility containing
spyware from the internet. And I don't think
the X10Pro software is spyware but maybe it
is. I just find it annoying that the
software trys to gain access to the
internet.

[roger1818]

Observer:  Windows does allow you to
specify your dialup options, but not all
software will use the options specified.

Windows' Critical Update Notification will
wait until you are connected to the
Internet before it will check for updates
but McAfee Virus Scan, for example, will
frequently try to connect to the Internet
to check for updates even if you have
update notification turned off.  Optimally
AHP should check to see if you are
connected to the Internet before it checks
for updates.