Changelog:

UPDATE Virtual Drive engine.
UPDATE Alcohol Command Launcher and Shell Extension Context Menu to support image files with Unicode file names.
UPDATE Language translations
FIX a rare incompatible problem with some external racks (Firewire and USB) while burning media.
ADD Support for more devices, you can find more detailed information on our development page at http://www.alcohol-soft.com/devsupp/
FIX some minor bugs reported by users.
ADD Win64Bit compatibility.
FIX DEP (Data Execution Prevention) conflict problem.
UPDATE 9 Improved. DPM for DVD media.
ADD Upgrading system
ADD log timestamp as the format user has set in their system.
UPDATE Help Files
ADD Selected speed logging during dumping image
UPDATE Improved reading\writing engines

I have just installed the update.

Anyone else having this weird non-alphabetical drivelisting (screenshot)? No major problem here, but somehow annoying when fiddling around with the images. Else, it seems to be working good, but I wonder what "Add: Upgrading system" means?

Anyways, thanks for the update!

Got a confirmation. Case closed.

The trial version contains an IE toolbar which very much looks like spyware crap. It is needed to get access to the trial support forum.
I tried the stand-alone toolbar (which can be downloaded on their forum), and when I uninstalled it had to re-arrange all standard IE toolbars back to their original position, even though I had them locked.

First online activation, now this toolbar.... All very similar to Microsoft, they too want to control everyone.

Oh, and the toolbar only works in IE, so if people want support they can't even choose which browser they use (the toolbar is needed to login to the trial support forum). Telling people what to do and which browser to use is NOT the way to gain customers. Did they actually think this through? What if all software developers start making their own toolbar which has to be installed to get support, then where will this end?

Spyware, whatever gives you that idea.
It is 100% adware/spyware free, please feel free to let us know if you know of something we dont.

Just because some vendors have given toolbars a bad name does not mean everyone does.
You forgot to mention through the toolbar you not only have support but you can search for which protections are on media.

Also in the new support forum we do not waste our time supporting people who have illegal versions, as they have taken the effort to install our toolbar.
Our customers do not require the toolbar to get support in the main forum (unless they have been banned or similar)
You get login details to a dedicated games server where you can play against the Alcohol Team and others.

When our users (legal owners or not) support us by installing the toolbar it allows us to repay them in other ways which you will see over the coming months.

First: When uninstalled, all files remain on your harddisk, the toolbar is only deactivated.
Second: The uninstall function screws up IE's Search button, setting it to an empty page, thus disabling the default MSN Search (I tried this 3 times with the same result).
Third: I found this string in basis.xml in the toolbar's directory: http://s.teoma.com/search?q=%Search&...;Search=submit
I guess this is the reason why using the toolbar supports Alcohol Soft. The Alcohol search (120search.com) is actually the same as ask.com.
Here's proof (look at the results for both searches, they're identical):
http://www.120search.com/index.php?term=alcohol (Alcohol search using toolbar)
http://search.ask.com/web?q=alcohol&qsrc=1&o=0 (ask.com search)

Kind of a lame way to get some income (since the search has sponsored results), by forcing people to use the toolbar to get support. If Alcohol was freeware I would understand, but it's not. A trial should be completely free, no strings attached. I bet the toolbar won't stop working after the trial period is expired

Moan, Moan, Moan ... Moan, Moan, Moan.

Did you even read Quinton's post?

The toolbar serves many purposes, but instead of focusing on the pro's it will bring to Alcohol's customers, you grasp as straws and complain how it uninstalls...

If you're an Alcohol customer you don't need to install it to get support. If you become and Alcohol customer, you can remove it. Only the trial requires to use the toolbar to get support in an effort to stop providing this support to the illegal versions out there. Why should we provide support to thieves?

I myself have spent countless hours answering questions only to find out that the user is ripping of Alcohol.

I don't know what engine Alcohol uses, but I suppose you want them to develop their own Google like search engine to?

I read Reefs post hours ago but did not think it was worth my while answering.
Toolbar is deactivated, thanks will look at removing left over folders in next update.
Did not realise it screws up MSN search as we all tested it and you are the first to post it.
Also you have been an Alcohol customer Reef for a looong time now, so you had excellent support until you where banned.

Cant really see how using an opt in toolbar totally adware/spyware free using a Major Search engine and lets users find what datatype to use is Lame, most of the top software do it these days.

We host 40,000 downloads a day of the "free" trial version download for our users legal or not, we know people use our software illegally.
At least this way they can support us at the same time by using www.120search.com at the same time.

We even offer the users free dedicated servers to play online, who knows what will happen the more people who login to our Community forum!

Fact is that the toolbar is adware. Many people don't like adware, especially if they are forced to install it to get any kind of support.
People have the right to know this, because on the Alcohol forum posts are being censored and even deleted to hide the truth. Sad but true.

We both know that there are much better ways to avoid the questions about illegal versions, and that is by requiring an Alcohol logfile with every support question. If I read it right this is already a requirement now, so no need for this toolbar.

And don't tell me the protections database is useful. I tried it with some of the last games I bought and none of them were found. Feel free to try it with these games: Crashday, LotR Battle for Middle-Earth 2, DTM/Toca Race Driver 3, Star Wars Empire at War. A-Ray does a great job on all these games, so again no need for the toolbar.
The protections database is nothing more than a website (http://www.120search.net/), so who needs a toolbar anyway?

So quit pretending this toolbar was made for the users, the only people that benefit from it are Alcohol Soft (because of the adware). Being honest to your (potential) customers would give you much more benefit than this.
Also the Softpedia label on the Alcohol main site (about no spyware/adware) is no longer true and should be removed.

Yes I am banned from Alcohol's forum, because I was sick and tired of all the lies and censoring there. If I need support I will ask my questions on this forum, at least then I will get an honest answer from neutral people (other customers).

It is a pointless exercise to be drawn into this debate... this is not a normal person pointing out their views and actualy being constructive doing so, this is Reefs lets bait Phoenix and knock Alcohol mode, since he has been banned on our support forum he is using this forum as his personal sounding off board.

Like alot of his posts here concerning Alcohol most people do not even bother to reply now as they understand he thinks its his crusade in life to knock Alcohol.

Its funny that he did not post similar comments concerning our sister company Dtools when they incorperated their searchbar, whys that Reef after all i am sure your post here has some form of constuctive argument or not as the case may be.

Why should we not incorperate a feature in our free trial version that is helpfull to our users ? what is wrong with offering users free access to our online gaming server ? What is wrong with offering trial users a chance to win a free full version of our software by using our dedicated search bar and copy protection database ?

Why should we continue to offer free support to non legal users of our software that drain time, money and recources that should be used to help legal users ?

personaly i think you have milked the knock Alcohol dry and i have only condecended to add a comment to this post to put our official view across, i leave it to the members of this forum to choose to believe us or you thats their right i know who my money is on.

END OF SUBJECT.

[quote=Reefke]Fact is that the toolbar is adware.
QUOTE]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adware Definition of Adware.
Sorry but you are totally wrong!
Bet you use google search, is that adware cause it supplies advertisements?


Sorry I take people at face value and I do not listen to what people say about others until i find out myself, but it is starting to look like I was wrong.

Actually it's the other way around I got banned because my posts at your forum got deleted or censored, so I posted them here. People have the right to know the truth before buying a product.
The big difference is that Daemon Tools is a freeware product. And also that they don't try to hide the fact that the toolbar is adware. They even have a separate forum for questions about the toolbar. And the toolbar is not needed to get support.
They are being HONEST about it, and that is the biggest difference.
There is nothing wrong with that, but an adware toolbar is the wrong way to do it. Can you imagine what would happen if every company would create his own toolbar to get support? Users would end up with a browser full of those toolbars.

What kind of games or am I missing something here

Daemon-tools might be free, but when was the last time you could create an image with it? Never. Don't get me wrong, I use DT. You can opt to support daemon with a toolbar, which does track your movement and deliver ads to you, and isn't only in IE, or you could pay 15 bucks and register to show support. Alcohol's toolbar is just like any other google/yahoo/ask.com search bar. And if somone uses it, it obviously helps them, and who gives a damn where they pull the search information? Just a simple google search pulls your IP and then stores information in a cookie, and then will track any clicks made in the search query. Alcohol can do whatever they want with their software. Sure, they use daemon-tools within their software, but they add to it. Don't like it? don't use it. Go use VSO-software, oh, wait, they only offer support to purchased users as well! I guess your up a stream w/o a imaging software. Your a smart guy, i'm sorry to see you bash a good company/software.

Alcohol's problem is that it's a good product and widely pirated, and everytime I go to the open forums, there is always a handful of posts from people that you can clearly tell they dl'd a copy from edonkey or bt and now want support from the same company they are stealing from! you've posted on cdfreaks for quite a while, how many threads have you read where a guy has 1 post, and "borrowed" a copy from a mate and then installed it on every computer he ever used? same thing... Alcohol looses all kinds of money from pirated copies, might as well have a alternative revenue stream, or try to prevent theft.

kalas: The Only game there atm is Battlefield Vietnam.

The games running at the moment are Battlefield 2 and COD
Our users can decide what games they want running as they can easily change.

Alcohol Software. It has been a long time since i used it. But now i wanted to try it again. So, i downloaded the trail, installed it, and it worked perfectly. Nice work.
Next thing i wanted to surd the internet again. WTF a TOOLBAR???
So i got VERY annoyed by it (oh my god, another software that says: we can also create a toolbar (while sucking their thumb)).
Nothing wrong with a toolbar. But it is the way HOW.
No warnings, nothing. And when I search the internet, I get to this form, and see that people of Alcohol (say with proud) u can use it for game bogus.

I install Burning software to Burn. Not to browse the Internet.

At first I was not that irritated by the toolbar. I must appriciate though, it was very easy to deinstall the toolbar. Sadly I don't know if it leaves something behind, or tracks me or something. So it Does hurt my trust in this software.

So I searched the internet, to see if i download software with ad/spy-ware. And come to this forum. Here I read the comments to "Reefke", and now I GET annoyed.
Seeing how "Phoenix" and "Quinton" give their arguments is disappointing.

Very disappointing to see that they refuse to see the side of user. I would like to hear them when something is installed when they don't expect it. Yes!! they they would get annoyed too. And even more with answers given in this form like:
Someone giving the Definition of Adware: Nobody cares what Wikipedia has to say about Adware. Everyone has it's own definition. Can you define "Burning Software" for me? or should i consult Wikipedia?

Please be honest like "Reefke" says. If you want to install an additional Toolbar, then say so. And then I'm more then happy to try it out.
It's not the Toolbar that is the problem now, but denying, that it IS a problem.

You do not have to install the tool bar it is optional .... it is no different from any other search engine that you use google\yahoo etc other than we have included our own protection data base so that you can easely find the protection used on a particular game. Helps to know what data type you need to select

Reef with his ideas on what is adware\spyware etc are way off the mark, he should research more prior to making unfounded statements. check http://www.softpedia.com/progClean/A...lean-5405.html

Definition of "burning software" any software that enables you to write data to blank recordable media Nero, Clone, Alcohol, Roxio .. etc etc etc

Sorry you have lost me what exactly are we hiding ?, http://www.free-downloads.net/programs/Alcohol_120_ did you not read that when you downloaded the trial version ???

This site states:
April 2005? That is almost a year ago, when there was no toolbar yet.
I already notified Softpedia about the toolbar, we'll see what the result will be once they performed another test

Thanks but we realy dont need you doing our job for us, we have already pointed out the error on their site to them and it will be alterd shortly to reflect the correct test date.

But at least you took the time and effort to go look. and the more you comment in this topic the more obviouse it becomes to everyone that my summary of you and your crusade is correct.

For that i thank you.

Alcohol staff: Stop being that self-righteously. You need even 3 people to shout a former customer down, which will - quite obviously - not bend? Poor...

Did you ever think about it, that people will be driven to use a cracked retail in the first place instead of installing a simply time-limited trial because of being sick and tired of people like you trying to invade the privacy of the people? I would call that a self-fulfilling prophecy. ^^ Did you ever think about your programming or do you just buy third party engines and give it a new finish? Referring to the bugs that are mentioned in your Bugs forum, which are not critical but so obvious make me even believe your "beta-testing" is utter bull, considering the given fact that several normal users found them within minutes and your people couldn't find it over months? This is so rediculous.

No one cares about your piracy problems as long as you a release a minor update once a year which comes bundled with non-user friendly activations, rootkit techniques and toolbars as the biggest innovations. It's time to do your job and stop being that levelless.

Oh, and noone that paid for your malware cares about your generosity of giving people password-protected game servers. You shouldn't complain of getting not enough money and then spend it for absolutely useless crap like Battlefield Vietnam servers.

Go ahead, I hope you will fail.

Thanks for your time.

A customer - yeah, I know, you won't believe it and you will try being sarcastic, but I don't care a cold poo. You make me sick.

[quote=Quinton]wikipedia is the authority on absolutely nothing.

I should also like to add my small ideas.
Alcohol-Soft provides the trial version for only 30 days. Apparently, the user has broken the agreement. By openly mentioning that, it verifies that the user has no consciousness of legality (and buying products).
Therefore this is not established. Illegal users do not buy at all regardless of the tool bar. Illegal users do not have the rights to complain about supplements.

Have you ever personally tested the tool bar and found out any viruses, etc.? Or do you just listen to what Reef's said? Your statement could be regarded as a slander unless supported by proofs.

Do you presume the cracked versions floating in the net are much safer than the official version? Well...

Moreover, it is all a matter of 'Trust'. Both of the trial and retail versions are products of Alcohol-Soft. If users do not trust the trial one, they do not trust the retail one either. If the firm meant to spread spywares to users, it could write such codes in the retail version too. The only difference you can point out is that the tool bar is bought (or hire) from outside of the company. However, it is also issued by Alcohol-Soft. Alcohol-Soft must be responsible for it as well. If trial users do not trust, it is all right, then just do not use it, no one forces them to use.

If you are a customer, then you just use the retail version. Why should you worry about the tool bar?
This is absolutely irrational. I should refer this as a bad manner. The game servers are freely provided as a benefit to users. If you find them not useful, you can stay away from them, you are not necessary to enter them. There are still some users enjoying them. This is absolutely Alcohol-Soft's own financial arrangement, users are not eligible to comment on and even insult it.

Regarding the bugs, yes there are some. However I am not a developer of the company, so I have no rights to comment on them.

Correction:
You have mentioned that you are a customer, if you are, then you just use the retail version. Why should you worry about the tool bar?

I know people that extend the time limitation to see if the packet really fits and which go buy a license if they are really satisfied. 30 days are pretty useless for people that do really work hard and have other things to do than testing a software in a hurry. Sure, many will agree that 30 days is a good timeframe (which is in many cases), but many people I know have to work, manage a household, have to care about their kids, which leads to the fact that time is an extremely limited factor for these people. And if you have a lot to do, the trial period has already ended before it has just started. As I am sure there will be people that will get it wrong, I want to make clear, that I am not into justifying piracy, as I wouldn't have bought my licenses in the first place.

No, I haven't tested it and I will never do that. Why should I? I have paid a lot of money for a software that nearly hasn't changed over the years, except for the bad things (like activation, toolbar, worst update frequency ever! We can discuss about the rootkit-techniques - but it is still a bad solution to the problem). Yeah we have good things too, a new engine that is still/already blacklisted ^^, better integration into XP's Luna, yada, yada... Nothing that is worth the hype A120s staff managed to occur years ago by smart marketing. And I won't compromise my computer with this toolbar crap as I am sure it leaves traces all over the machine for adserving purposes.

Exactly, that is the problem! It's trust. I have lost my trust in this company with the implemented activations. And possible trial users that see that this software comes with adware/malware/spyware or whatever will NEVER pay for the retail. In the end, this harms development to death and that just for greed in the short turn by A120 getting paid through search-engine clicks. And the people that won't trust the trial and know that retail are more or less harmless will get the retail without bothering about the infected trial.

As it harms the development and sales in the long turn. I paid for it to support their efforts and got slapped in the face by the activation. Trial users will pay with their privacy by the toolbar. And Reefke is right when he says, DT's toolbar is not that much of a problem, as they were honest and wrote it in big letters which can be read on their page. Regarding A120, it's written smallprinted and hidden from their homepage. May the trial-user overlook this privacy invasion, right?

True, it's their business and they can do whatever they want, but I am holding more than one license, that means I am an active supporter and it's another slap in the face to see them wasting (my) money on limited game servers while they are complaining about not enough income and while the development of the software stalls. This is just rediculous.

Hypocrites! YOU (my dear friends at A120) make THEM pay with THEIR privacy. This is disgusting.

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