Tray Buddy Desktop Sticky Notes.

Tray Buddy is a FREE Desktop Notes application released for the Microsoft Windows (Windows 2000 and above) platform under the GNU GPL.

Download v2.0 Now!

Tray Buddy requires Microsoft .Net Framework v2.0. If it's not already
installed, please download and install it before you install Tray Buddy. Click the appropriate link below to download the Microsoft .Net Framework v2.0.

• Microsoft .Net Framework v2.0 (for 32 bit Windows)
• Microsoft .Net Framework v2.0 (for 64 bit Windows)

Current Developers: Hemal Harindaka Athulathmudali. http://harindaka.blogspot.com
Project Page: http://code.google.com/p/traybuddy

When executed Tray Buddy lives in the System Tray. Right click the icon to access
the application menu.

Desktop Sticky Notes

Tray Buddy lets users keep sticky notes on the desktop. Standard note features such as exporting, formatting, reminders, etc. are supported. See illustration below.

 

Automated detection of Autorun files (Autorun.inf)

The MS Windows uses the Autorun feature extensively to execute certain programs i.e. Setups, Demos, etc., upon insertion of removable drives such as a flash drive or a CD, DVD, etc. A file named 'Autorun.inf' found in these drives is used to inform the operating system about what should be done upon insertion of such a drive. Additionally these files can be used by anyone to instruct the operating system to execute a binary such as a software setup program upon a user action i.e. double clicking the drive, opening the drive for browsing via the right click menu, etc. This Autorun feature is turned on by default in Windows.

The The danger in this well known Autorun feature is that most of the time the user does not know which program will be executed upon opening or inserting such a drive since Windows does not prompt for the user's consent prior to executing it. Although with the introduction of User Access Control (UAC) in Windows Vista where this desirable prompt is partially implemented, the XP users have not been catered to even under the recently released Windows XP Service Pack 3. Since this is probably the final service pack for xp these users will have to depend on third party utilities such as Tray Buddy to detect such autoruns.

This shortcoming in windows has been greatly exploited by virus creators to spread their viruses mainly through flash drives by directing them to automatically copy themselves (exes) into any connected removable drive along with such an 'Autorun.inf' file which instructs the operating system to execute the virus executable each time the user connects the drive to another PC and clicks or opens it. These 'Autorun.inf' files and virus executables are often hidden with the 'System' attribute set so that users will not even be able to see it in windows explorer. Hence unknown to the user, the virus executable will keep spreading to all PCs which the removable drive comes to contact with. It has become more imminent in corporate environments where the number of PCs and the value of data stored is high.

Another similar flaw is that most users log into their PCs as members of the Administrators group. Hence viruses executing under these accounts will also have Administrator privileges which allow them to do a lot of damage without any restrictions getting in their way.

Enter Tray Buddy. Tray Buddy will scan all drives upon insertion/removal of any removable device and warn the user if such an autorun file exists. The user will then have the option of viewing the contents of the 'Autorun.inf' (recommended for advanced users only) or of deleting it. See illustration below.

Please wait till Tray Buddy displays either of the following two messages when you insert/connect a removable drive.

Tray Buddy only detects and allows deletion of the 'Autorun files' which may make users execute malicious code unknowingly. Therefore any virus executables will still remain in the drive afterwards. Hence it is strongly recommended that you scan such a drive using a well known virus scanner immediately.
 

FAQ

1. I have a Virus Scanner. So why would I need Tray Buddy?

Since the Autorun feature is a standard in MS Windows, most virus scanners only prompt the users if a pattern which matches an entry in their virus definitions databases is found. Hence if its a new virus or if the scanner is not up to date, the user is not made aware of any such existing Autorun files. Therefore its always better to be safe than sorry.

2. Does Tray Buddy support Vista 64 bit?

Yes it does.

3. I'm a developer too. How can I help?

Please visit the project page at http://code.google.com/p/traybuddy