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Macro Express Pro v 4.4.1.1 is now available from www.macros.com/download. This release of Macro Express Pro contains a few enhancements and bug fixes including:
A complete list of changes is available on the Revision History page.
The suggestion to run Macro Express as Administrator was discussed in the November 2012 edition of the Macro Express News.
When Macro Express is running with normal privileges it can send keystrokes and mouse clicks to other programs running with normal privileges. However, if a program is running as an administrator or, in some cases, in compatibility mode, Windows does not allow Macro Express to send information to that program.
That raised the question, “Is it possible to load Macro Express as administrator when Windows starts?” Yes, the solution is to use Task Scheduler.
Task Scheduler allows you to schedule tasks that run when certain events occur such as when Windows starts or a user logs on. Tasks can be loaded normally or with elevated privileges. The knowledge base article How to Run Macro Express as Administrator when Windows Starts contains a step-by-step example of how to load Macro Express or Macro Express Pro with elevated privileges when Windows starts without displaying the User Account Control (UAC) prompt.
If a user moves the mouse or types on the keyboard while the macro is running, unpredictable things can happen. Macro Express Pro allows you to protect against this with the Lock Keyboard and Mouse command.
But, what happens if something unexpected happens while the macro is running? This recently happened to me. A warning dialog came up and I could not dismiss it because the mouse was locked.
The solution is to press Ctrl + Alt + Delete. In all versions of Windows this unlocks the Keyboard and Mouse. In Windows 7 a menu of options is displayed along with a Cancel button. Clicking Cancel returns control back to the programs that were running and, in my case, I could dismiss the dialog.
So you can use the Lock Keyboard and Mouse command to reduce errors in your macros and still unlock the keyboard and mouse when the unexpected happens.
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