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Russian version of manual is here.
Introduction
Automatic mouse switcher consists of two applications written using Qt4
libraries:
- Background switcher amswitcher.exe - background process that
is switching mouse settings whenever it detects hardware changes. It will
pop up notification balloon in tray each time it happens. There is no tray
icon shown except for when balloon pops up.
- Configuration utility ams_config.exe - GUI configuration
application that allows you to adjust list of configured devices and
appropriate mouse settings. Once you change the settings, they will
be propogated to background switcher shortly, usually within 1 minute. You
should only run this application when you need to change settings.
If you followed default installation scenario, you should have automatic mouse
switcher background process started. It should also be configured to
automatically start this process when user logs in, and close it on logoff.
You can ensure background process is started by checking Windows Task Manager
(activated by Ctrl+Shift+Esc) - process names amswitcher.exe should
be launched with current user credentials.
You can check whether background process will be automatically started when
user logs in, or manually enable or disable it using configuration utility.
Do not forget to press Save each time to want to apply settings.
For advanced users - background process startup is defined in registry
HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run/Automatic Mouse Switcher.
Installation
It is generally recommended to accept default settings during whole installation
unless you know what you do. Note that if you do not install libraries required,
you must ensure that required libraries are available on your computer somewhere
else, and that they are in PATH.
Quick walk-through installation process is below:
Basic configuration
To configure automatic mouse switcher please follow next simple steps:
- Launch configuration utility - you can find shortcut to configuration
utility in your applications menu. Alternatively you should run ams_config.exe
application from disk. When it is started, you will get the following interface:
Interface contains two lists - lists of mouse devices that have speed settings
configured, and list of mouse devices that are currently present. Whenever
you attach or detach certain device to/from system, present devices list
will be updated to reflect current state.
Please note small ? button which allows you to get additional information
about each element.
- Add devices into configured list - select existing devices and add them
one by one to configured list using Configure existing button. Each device may
only be added once.
As you add devices, they will appear in configured devices list. Each device
will be configured with current mouse speed settings, and you may adjust it
later. If you detach device, it will not be removed from configured devices.
If you accidentally add device that should not be configured, you can select
it from configured devices list and use Remove configured button.
As a rule of thumb, you should add devices that you are going to use as mouse
devices. In this example only Bluetooth mouse HID-compliant mouse and
Touchpad Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad should be configured.
There is always Default mouse device present in configured devices list.
- Arrange devices priority - when background switcher detects new device,
it will look through list of devices from top to bottom and will select the
first configured device present. You can arrange configured device by priority by
by selecting one and moving it Up and Down with buttons.
As a rule of thumb, you should put devices that you are unplugging first.
In this example Bluetooth mouse HID-compliant mouse should be put
on top of Touchpad Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad. In this case Bluetooth
mouse's settings will be used when mouse is plugged, and Touchpad settings when
mouse is unplugged.
Note that Default mouse is always the last device. It will be used
if no other devices present.
- Configure mouse settings for each device - use Go to mouse config
button to open mouse configuration settings.
It will open system mouse settings windows where you can adjust mouse speed and
try it out immediately.
Once you feel that speed is exactly what you need for specific device,
use Apply or OK button to adjust system settings. Once mouse speed
settings are applied to system, you can assign them to selected configured device
by pressing Use current config button.
Note that Use current config button remembers active system mouse speed
settings for selected device. You should always apply configured settings to
system before remembering them for device.
- Assign friendly names - some devices might not have friendly names,
and you may rename any of configured devices by double clicking their names.
It is advised to do so when system-reported name does not explain the nature
of device. The name you have assigned will shown in popup balloon when
settings are changed by background switcher.
Note that only configured devices list is affected - same device in existing
devices list will keep system-reported name. This is "by design". You can
match configured and existing devices by their IDs.
In this example I renamed confusing name HID-compliant mouse to
Bluetooth mouse.
- Save or discard changes - no changes are applied or saved unless
you press Save button. Once you've done with settings, you should press
Save button which will propogate settings to background switcher and
will overwrite previous settings. If you want to close configuration without
applying settings you should choose Close button.
If you want to discard all the changes you have done and also force existing
devices list refresh, use Refresh button. Since existing devices are
refreshed automatically, you dont have to use this button.
- Try it out - once you've done with settings, you should wait
approximately one minute for settings to propogate to background switcher.
You can try to unplug/plug your mouse devices and verify that correct device is
selected. Each time background switcher detects new device it will look for the
first configured device that exists, otherwise it will use Default mouse.
When settings are changed, a notification balloon with configured device name
will be shown.
Configuration is kept in registry for each user separately.
Advanced settings
In addition to configuration described above, you can modify some parameters
via registry. Such changes might require you to restart background switcher.
You can add or alter the following keys into HKCU(HKLM)/Software/Automatic Mouse
Switcher/Automatic Mouse Switcher
- BalloonShowTimeout [DWORD] - time to show balloon in ms.
- BalloonHideTimeout [DWORD] - time to enforce balloon hide
after it was shown (sometimes Windows does not hide balloon as it should, and
removal must be enforced), in ms.
- BalloonActivateTimeout [DWORD] - time to wait for balloon to
appear in ms. If it does not appear in this time, icon and balloon is removed.
This occurs if there is another balloon stuck at tray.
- DeviceChangedEventDelay [DWORD] - timeout between device change
event occur and mouse settings applied, in ms. When you enable Bluetooth
controller, it creates dozen of devices at once and it makes sense to wait for
all devices to be created. It is 100ms by default and should be small enough
not to cause any problems, but should still fight offflickering effects.
- ConfigRescanTimeout [DWORD] - Registry rescan timeout for
background switcher, in ms. 1 minute by default. Lowering it will slightly
increase CPU load, but improve delay between configuration changes and their
usage.