I used to use the full blown Microsoft developers tools, but lately I’ve been using the express versions along with some open source development tools. In general, I don’t miss much about the Microsoft compiler. But I have to admit that I miss some of the tools.

A few weeks ago, I started getting a mysterious error message on my computer. It was a dialog box complaining about the flash installation. There was no hint of which program was complaining though. I thought about running Spy++ — the Microsoft utility for looking at on screen Windows — and realized this computer doesn’t have a full load of Visual C++!

What I did find is Winspector. This is like a souped up version of Spy++ and its free. Winspector can show hidden windows or not. It can filter and buffer messages. It can watch messages to a window class from the Window’s creation. In short, it does everything Spy++ does plus more.

So, what was the offending program? System47, my Star Trek screen saver. Reinstalling it did the trick. I guess a recent flash upgrade broke it. Should have realized my screen saver wasn’t running. If you are a Star Trek fan (or even a science fiction fan) you really ought to download this free screen saver. It is quite the conversation piece.