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Esc Close

Version 2.0.0

Dated 18 Dec 2013

Freeware, Portable

(c) 2013 Anand K Gupta

https://sites.google.com/site/escclose/

See Changes for changes history.

See Screen Shots for settings and tray icon images.

Description (of the application) :

From the time of MS-DOS and PC-DOS, we are accustom to using ESC key to close a box / option or go back one step. We could run a program and know that, to close or abort it, we have the versatile ESC key and it worked.

Now in the era of Windows, Microsoft decided that we must learn to use ALT+F4 key combination to close a window. How they got the idea of ALT+F4 is beyond anybody's imagination, I feel. They could have used ALT+X, say if they so wanted. Anyway, who are we to question M.S. So we mortal, learned a new trick on how to use single hand for pressing two far away buttons. I learned it and life just went by and no body complained.

Well then I got a brand new Laptop. Now like M.S., the laptop, ultra-book etc. manufactures decided that we do not need regular size buttons for functions keys. Some manufacturer even made them just like a single noodle cut in small pieces. Again they had their reasons of not enough space for the function keys.

The user, me, who was well trained to use ALT+F4 key without looking at the keyboard, even with single left hand, could not get it right in most attempts. Either I hit ALT+F3 or ALT+F5 but never ALT+F4. I had to take a close look at the function keys row to find the elusive F4 key to press it, for a simple job of closing a window.

Some programmers understood the pain and gave ESC key as an option to close their program, but mostly let M.S. do the job. Here again in some programs, ESC key do entirely different job instead of closing.

As a programmer I was finding it waste of time fiddling with function keys, when a simple ESC key could have done it.

I decided to make ESC key to close a window.

Benefits (of using it) :

You can close a program by just pressing a single key, ESC. You decide with program to activate it on. Also you can close a program or a browser tab by just pressing the ESC key twice or thrice.

Go to Settings to set the window title or window class name and action for ESC pressed twice or thrice.

Now Notepad can be closed with ESC key. Also GOM player can be made to close instead of minimize. Closing a tab in a browser is just so simple now. Old .HLP files used to close with ESC but new .CHM insists on ALT+F4, now it also abides to ESC key.

Reviews (of the application) :

DonationCoder : http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=36643.0

Softpedia : http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/Esc-Close.shtml

Install and uninstall (on computer) :

To install, extract the zip file in a folder, say "Esc Close", and run the "Esc Close" exe.

To uninstall, right click on tray icon of "Esc Close" and select 'Exit'. Then delete all files in the "Esc Close" folder and remove the "Esc Close" folder.

To make this program start with Windows, please check below link for the steps to add shortcut of a program into the startup folder in more details, each accompanying with visual image.

https://sites.google.com/site/aghappy/Home/shortcutinstartup

Anti-Virus reports malware (what to do?) :

Delete the exe and it's folder. There is nothing we can do as this is false alert and we do not have resource to request all Anti-Virus companies to update their database. Similar problem is faced by small developers worldwide, check below links,

Nir's Blog

DowloadSquad's report

You can see the last scan result of the exe from Virus Total web site and will find that Anti-Virus report is clean.

Similar applications (if any) :

None, which I could find. So I decided to make it.

Contact (for feature request, bug report etc.) :

Go to Feedback page to check latest feature request and submit your feedback.

You can also email me for sending screen shot of your problem with this software..

Freeware (why?) :

As a developer, we work for commercial ventures in our day jobs, and code something more personally interesting in our spare time. We get more pleasure in making the application, which in turn helps us in our day to day activity and may also benefit others. We use freeware software made by other developers, so we feel happy if we are able to make small contribution to this freeware community.