<b>Startup Doubler: Beta 3 feedback [Startup Doubler 1.0fc1 available!]

Flash! Startup Doubler 1.0fc1 is now available. It has two important fixes:

1. A fix for the bug that was causing random crashes in the Finder on some systems.
2. A fix for some low memory situation slowdowns.

Remove any previous versions, with the 1.0fc1 Installer, before installing the new version.

Feedback on Beta 3 version My email for the past two days has been dominated by readers' reactions to Startup Doubler. As you may recall from previous postings, this new shareware utility is designed to decrease your startup time. Currently still in beta, initial versions were disappointing for many users in that startup times appeared to be unaffected by the utility. The author claimed that the Beta 3 version, released on Monday, fixed this problem. Reports confirm the author's assertions and also address some new issues:

How much time does it save? While a few readers continue to claim that Startup Doubler had no effect on their startup times, almost all now report a noticeable savings. They remain divided as to whether the savings is big enough to merit using the utility. Here is a sampling that covers the range of reader comments:

Public beta 3 makes virtually no difference on my Power Mac 6100/60. Startup time is approximately 2:10 either way. (Peter Nau)

I have a Performa 6200CD that usually takes about 1 minute 10 seconds to start up. With Startup Doubler my Performa starts up in 1 minute 4 seconds. (Juan Gutierrez)

Without Startup Doubler, 2 min 34 secs to startup. With Startup Doubler, it takes only 2 mins (a saving of 34 secs). (Daniel Harlow)

Savings from 2:10 to around 1:20 on a Performa 6205. (Michael Graham)

Startup Doubler and TechTool report of damage Michael Simmons writes that Marc Moini (author of Startup Doubler) confirmed that Startup Doubler patches the System file. As a result, TechTool will report that the file is damaged. However, it should not be a cause for concern. TechTool is reporting the damage because it does not recognize the intentional patch created by Startup Doubler.

Update: Marc adds: "The Installer changes 1 byte in the System file to allow Startup Doubler to run on all machines. When you use the installer's Remove button, that byte is restored."

Disassembler file and load order Geoff Strickler asked Marc how it is that Startup Doubler's icon always loads first even though there is no Startup Doubler file in the Extensions folder (there is just the control panel file). Marc replied that this is due to an invisible Disassembler file installed as part of Startup Doubler.

Complaint about Disassembler file Two readers (Frank Van Alstine and Daniel Sandstrom) both wrote with the same complaint: After using Startup Doubler for a few days, they decided they did not want it and deleted it from their hard drive. Despite that, a few days later, a notice appeared on their screen warning that Startup Doubler had expired. Nothing they did could prevent the message from returning - until they did a search for invisible files and found the invisible Disassembler file in the System Folder. Deleting that file eliminated the message.

Marc Moini replies: "Sorry about that! This is because of a bug which I'm fixing for the next version." In the meantime, the Disassembler file will be deleted if you use the Remove button in the Startup Doubler Installer to uninstall the program.

Startup Doubler installation problem and Virex Peter Hill writes that he had problems successfully installing Startup Doubler until he completely disabled Virex (simply turning it off from its control panel was not sufficient). This too was confirmed by the author.

Startup Doubler and freeze at startup One reader claimed that his Mac froze at startup after installing Startup Doubler until he reversed the load order of Adobe Type Reunion Deluxe and Apple Menu Options so that Apple Menu Options loaded first.

Update: Marc replies: "I believe this is due to one of the bugs which are now fixed in 1.0fc1."