GNag
Intro, Splash and Nag Screen Remover
By Schadenfroh <quako33ATcomcastDOTnet>
About It
GNag is opensource, free software under the GNU General Public License.
The goal is to eliminate splash screens, forced intro movies,
advertisements, non-browser based pop-ups and nag
screens from installable applications. By removing these
annoyances, launch times and interruptions can be significantly
reduced. GNag accomplishes this by editing the registry, altering
file
system permissions, moving and renaming files (even those inside
archives). By not cracking or reverse engineering the
executables,
GNag can remove these annoyances from games without the risk of being
kicked by anti-cheating measures that detect modified software.
If one wishes to view the intro movies, splash screens, etc. in the future, GNag can undo the changes made with a
click of a button. For more information and a list of supported applications, please examine the readme. Select screenshots are available for viewing. Other information regarding this program can be found on the summary page.
Get It
GNag was written in C# and thus requires Microsoft's .NET Framework 2.0 or above. Windows Vista users need not concern themselves, as it ships with a compatible version of .NET. To get GNag, download it from SourceForge and decompress it. For Windows 2000 users that might not have a decompression utility, the freeware 7-Zip is suggested.
Use It
An online copy of the readme (instructions)
is available; a copy of this file is also included inside the "doc" folder once
GNag has been downloaded and extracted. The "bin" folder contains
the application itself, along with dependent files. No install is
needed, simply open it as an administrator. Most applications
should
be discovered automatically upon startup. If supported
applications are installed in a non-default location, the automatic
search
tool should find them upon request. There is no need to keep GNag
open once blocking is enabled, all
changes are passive and GNag does not need to be running in order for
blocking to work. GNag
uses a definition based approach, so be sure to use the automatic
update utility in GNag to make sure one has the latest definitions.
Please consult the readme for a list of
supported
applications and do not forget to contribute one's own definitions (see
Help It).
Help It
Since
GNag uses a safe definition based approach, a definition must be added
for each new application supported. The best way users can
contribute is by providing instructions on how to block an application
that can be implemented using the capabilities of GNag. Most splash
screens and intro movies are simply movie files or BIKs. Search the nagging
application's install folder for such files and checkout GNag's
built-in definition editor to see if one can create a working
definition or simply contact me with what needs to be done. As one can see by
reading over the supported applications portion of the readme, credit
will be given to the person who discovers a method for blocking an
application. I do not own every application, therefore GNag is
dependent on the community. Also, please inform me of any bugs or
improvements to existing definitions that might exist.
Hurt it
I
will remove any supported application from the definitions and prevent
entry (should no definition exist) upon request from the publisher or
developer of the supported
application. Simply contact me (preferably from one's company's
email to my address above) and I will remove it from the definitions as soon as possible and prevent it from being reintroduced.
Discuss It
GNag has a discussion forum generously provided by SourceForge.net. There is also a discussion going on over at the AnandTech forums. I welcome feedback either
by forum or by email at quako33ATcomcastDOTnet
(mind the anti-spam measures).