This page is just for archive purposes - Aerofoil is now at version 1.5.0 please click this link to get it.
Aerofoil has been rated at 47th out of 100 best software for Windows Vista!
(That's just one behind BBC IPlayer, and ahead of iTunes at 50)
Aerofoil extends your Vista and Windows 7 notebook battery life by
- Allowing you to manually disable Aero Glass.
- Optionally managing Aero Glass user interface.
- Optionally managing the best two power plans.
- Optionally managing Windows Vista Sidebar.
- Optionally showing a quick hibernate button - hibernate and power management were greatly improved in Vista.
Benefits over earlier versions and similar software:
- Much more efficient - Aerofoil is 100% unmanaged C++.
- Much smaller than older versions and other similar software.
- UPX compressed meaning Aerofoil.exe is as small as it can be.
- No configuration file - everything is done with the installer.
Windows 7
Aerofoil has been tested in a Windows 7 virtual environment and no obvious bugs were found. "Windows Gadgets" - "Windows Sidebar" on Vista - seems to be managed correctly - at least started when on AC, as I can't simulate battery power I can't tell if its shut down when on battery. Please also note that if your Windows 7 graphics card driver doesn't support power management then the Aerofoil "Hibernate" menu shortcut won't work.
For most people Aerofoil should work just as well as in Vista, having said that... if you notice any problems with Windows 7 and Aerofoil please report them here since I don't have real hardware to do the testing on!
Downloads
Download Aerofoil 1.4.5 Installer (read the note below!)
If you receive the message "Side-by-side configuration is incorrect" you may also need a Vista update - the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable
If you find your settings are not being saved please read this post (they are saved, this is not a bug)
Download Aerofoil 1.4.5 Source Code (C++)
12 comments:
Ran into a problem on first startup - something about side-by-side configuration being invalid. Any ideas?
Probably has something to do with you not having relevant Visual C++ redistributable installed (I think these are usually included as part of Windows Update Service Pack 1 or recent updates) however you can also get them from Microsoft directly
I'll add this to the original posting - thanks!
That did it! Thanks!
2 new bugs, 1 annoyance:
- Every so often after coming out of sleep, Windows Explorer crashes. This has only started happening after installing Aerofoil.
- Aerofoil occasionally switches auto power plan back on.
- Aerofoil pops up a message indicating the status of Aero every time my machine comes out of sleep. Just annoying, really.
Hi Marc,
Thanks for the feedback. I think I've solved the Windows Explorer crashing (it was down to hibernate forcing explorer to respond to a hibernate request instead of waiting a bit longer - just a small fix and not a serious flaw).
As for the autopower plan issue I've not been able to replicate it but the code to use autopowerplan is only run when the application starts or on click of the menu item - it can't be done elsewhere. I don't doubt you've seen this, but I think Vista is somehow occasionally reinitialising the application after hibernate (caused by the above issue) so this bug may disappear on the next release.
I'll put out a build in the next week or so after some more testing.
Thanks again,
Benjamin
I can't believe that this was missed or if it's some huge bug I just discovered.
But Aerofoil will not remember the settings you put. Specifically the Auto Sidebar setting.
Everytime I turn off Auto Sidebar, shutdown the computer and unplug it, then start it up again, the sidebar NEVER loads. I either have to manually search for the exe file or plug it back in.
It's a shame because otherwise this program is perfect. But the sidebar not being there at startup when running off the battery is a bit of dealbreaker. Can you address this please?
Hi Jerzy,
Sidebar shouldn't run when the laptop is on battery - it's not an essential process which is why it doesn't restart (i.e. it uses extra laptop battery). If you plug your laptop back in on AC it should work. If you don't want to use sidebar management in Aerofoil, please run the installer again to configure Aerofoil and untick the "Manage Windows Sidebar" option.
Thanks,
Benjamin
I installed 1.4.5 upgrading from 1.4.2 and every time i manually start Aerofoil starts the sidebar and puts my PC on high power scheme.
I added the options to aerofoil.exe config file (--nohibernate --nomessages --noautoplan --noautosidebar) but still the sidebar is started.
Hi Anon,
Sorry to hear you're having problems - it could be one of two things:
It sounds like your old 1.4.2 install could be still partly active (possibly because it was running when you installed 1.4.5). Please exit Aerofoil (this is important), uninstall all Aerofoil versions using the Windows control panel, then look in the folders
C:\Users\**YOUR USER HERE**\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
and
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
and delete any remaining Aerofoil shortcuts or Aerofoil.exe files.
I've also noted you mention that you put the options in the "config file" - Aerofoil no longer has a separate configuration file. You can either run the installer again (and choose options) or change the shortcut manually (please see in the 1.4.5 readme - I've just noticed the 1.4.5 release has the old 1.4.4 version number in the readme - so thanks, I'll update it today - the info is exactly the same as for 1.4.4):
FAQ
---
* How do I save my settings?)
I don't think this is a bug in 1.4.5 because the code that changes the power scheme is (see comments):
// Only change the scheme if the auto plan menu item is set
if (notifyIcon->GetAutoPowerPlanEnabled())
{
// Choose a new scheme to set based on whether we are on AC
Aerofoil::SetPowerActiveScheme(&onAC);
}
Along with the sidebar starting with Aerofoil it (which again is a default without any configuration settings in 1.4.2 or 1.4.5) suggests it is a configuration issue.
Thanks again,
Benjamin
For users having trouble with Aerofoil 1.4.5 not using the settings selected in the installer please read this blog entry - it's not a bug, and it does work
Thanks,
Benjamin
Looks promising; I'm a VistaBatterySaver user though.
What I miss a lot is the options dialog window; to change an option, one has to reinstall aerofoil! It's be very easy to do anytime through an options window like in VBS.
Also, I use a custom power plan "Dell Recommended" while on AC. I can't see an option in aerofoil to set it while on AC.
My suggestion would be adding a options dialog, choice of power plan name, auto-update.
If you can implement these, I'm sure it'd be the standard in batter saver apps and I'd migrate to it from VBS and save some RAM ;-)
Thanks
The icon appears jagged at edges and not good enough. There are many web2.0-ish icons available out there. Please use a better icon, will look more professional and appealing to the eye.
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