Trial Version Issues

Andrew42
Active Albatross
Posts: 233
Joined: Thu Jul 15, 2010 2:43 am

Trial Version Issues

Wed May 27, 2015 12:56 am

1. When I boot up my computer Hideaway does not start automatically. Is this the way it should be?
2. When the trial version shuts down for five minutes, (which is does fairly often: too often for my taste), it does not start up again after its pause. I have to restart it manually, (reload the rules). Is this how Hideaway is meant to work?
3. As a trial I had routed all traffic through Egypt. That server crashed and as a result I lost all internet, email etc. After about 20 minutes of trying to see what had happened, including doing a complete reboot, I got a message from Hideaway saying that one of my rules had been disconnected because of a lack of response. From that moment it was easy to correct the issue:
a) Is this how Hideaway is designed to work?
b) why did it take so long to reveal that the rule had crashed?
4. Are there settings that I can use to prevent the above? For example if I have a second rule routing all traffic through a different server and server one crashes, instead of losing all connectivity Hideaway would simple route through server #2?

By the way while typing this note the trial version paused again, (second time in about twenty minutes) and again I had manually to reload the rules. This constant stop/start makes it very difficult to see if I like the software,
User avatar
nick.bolton
The Big Cheese
Posts: 2468
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:02 pm

Re: Trial Version Issues

Wed May 27, 2015 5:28 am

Thanks for your comments Andrew,

HideAway should start automatically when Windows starts, what version of Windows are you using?

When you start the trial it runs for 45 minutes, then pauses for 5, then runs for 15, pauses for 5 and so on. We're trying to find a balance between being a little bit annoying that the user will buy the software, but not so annoying that it puts them off. These are early days for Hideaway so we'll still play around with these things to find the optimum balance. So things like having to manually resume are part of that - but perhaps it can auto resume for the first 7 days. Or maybe the the active sessions start out longer and grow shorter as the trial goes on. Since it's very easy to signup, we're also trying to guard against people creating lots of fake accounts to be able to use it and get free longer sessions at the beginning.
But we'd be happy to receive any suggestions.

Thanks for letting us know about that server, I'll get our guys to have a look and see what happened - we've had it happen on this server a few times where as all others have been fine for weeks. Sorry it took so long for you to be notified of what had happened, we'll also take a look at that - usually Hideaway will notify you if the server goes down when traffic is trying to go through it.
Yes, you could try adding another rule to route traffic through another server - then it would take over when one of the servers is down. I've just tested this and it works.
Andrew42
Active Albatross
Posts: 233
Joined: Thu Jul 15, 2010 2:43 am

Re: Trial Version Issues

Wed May 27, 2015 7:34 am

Thank you for your response. As a user I find the 15 minute active period too short especially since we have to reactivate the rules after each period. I would prefer you kept the 45 minute active period but could live with 30.

I am using Windows 7. I will check tomorrow to confirm my impression Hideaway does not activate upon start up. I think I'm right, but now knowing that it does not reload the rules after hibernating I want to be sure. I will let you know.

Since I am interested in being anonymous I will try chaining servers as a fall back position.
User avatar
nick.bolton
The Big Cheese
Posts: 2468
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:02 pm

Re: Trial Version Issues

Wed May 27, 2015 11:37 am

Ok, we've changed the 15 minute to 30 minutes, so that's working now. Should give users a better chance to try it out.

Is this sleep or hibernation you're seeing the problem with? Perhaps you're seeing HideAway has gone in to pause mode so therefore the rules stop working.
Andrew42
Active Albatross
Posts: 233
Joined: Thu Jul 15, 2010 2:43 am

Re: Trial Version Issues

Thu May 28, 2015 12:06 am

Nick, Thank you for the change. That is much better.

When I booted my PC this morning I checked immediately to see if HideAway was running: it was. I think I was mistaken in my original thought. I will check again tomorrow.

I think I may be using the wrong term. What I was referring to was the fact that, in the trial version, HideAway does not reload the rules after it pauses for 5 minutes.
User avatar
nick.bolton
The Big Cheese
Posts: 2468
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:02 pm

Re: Trial Version Issues

Thu May 28, 2015 11:29 am

Ok, thanks. Yes it doesn't automatically reload the rules after pausing - it has to be done manually otherwise there's probably not as much incentive to purchase the software. It's a bit like a crippled free product where it keeps running forever but will pause for 5 minutes every 30 minutes

Return to “HideAway”