Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.9 — official stable Z-order repair

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.9 — official stable release

Status: OFFICIAL_RELEASE_ACCEPTED_R295. Public immutable stable release, published 2026-10-29 UTC, with one intentionally unsigned per-user installer and exactly seven verified assets.

This release fixes intermittent taskbar monitor occlusion behind Windows taskbar windows. Persistent Z-order drift is repaired without stealing focus, with two consecutive checks and a three-second cooldown to protect Start, Search, Settings, fullscreen apps, and menus. Normal and Glass modes are supported.

The official v1.7.8 to v1.7.9 update was executed in place on the owner's Windows 11 machine, preserving configuration, autostart, sensor backend, and one canonical per-user root. Installer exit code was zero and the installed Main and Setup hashes match this release. Hosted independent Windows 2022/2025 native Explorer Start/Settings/Glass tests, protected upgrade/crash recovery, and exact-source reproducible Build all passed. A separate user-driven personal Windows 11 Start/Settings interaction witness is still not independently recorded; hosted tests must not be confused with that missing evidence.

Source commit: 479ee78a214c7ae58177016d59468e50e815f54b
Installer SHA-256: 3AE5E2AC7428C3443FF7768C543117AF864E7C73F68D32EFAD4AB40B30FB5B0E
Installed Main SHA-256: 04776E870A492733BBA33A550F732F5DB688A6585FC6533224A56687F1A6D88E

Seven public assets have been independently downloaded and verified against the release Manifest, SHA256SUMS, and GitHub digests (G16 PASS). Build and publication workflow; current public tracker.

Installation: Download only TaskbarMonitorEnhanced_Setup_1.7.9.exe, verify SHA-256, close the running app normally, and run Setup to update the same per-user installation. Do not uninstall or create a second copy. Windows SmartScreen may warn because the installer is intentionally unsigned under the owner's existing waiver. Optional PawnIO is external and is not silently installed.

Limitations: Real physical AC power-cut testing was excluded by the owner; no independent malware clearance, machinewide singleton, or guaranteed physical-speaker audio/banner delivery is claimed. Reporter-specific WinRing0 origin evidence remains open in Issue #6; do not bypass Defender.

The immutable RELEASE_NOTES_v1.7.9.md asset is a build-time snapshot containing a superseded "staged candidate" status sentence. This Release page and the independently verified immutable published asset set are the current publication authority; the historical asset is deliberately retained byte-for-byte.

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.8 — optional thermal warning sound

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.8 - optional audible thermal warning

Temperature warnings

• Adds an opt-in Play Windows warning sound option under Settings > Alerts.
  New installations and upgrades default to sound off, unless you explicitly
  enable it. The existing Windows temperature notification preference remains
  separate and unchanged.
• When both Windows notifications and the sound option are enabled, a real
  CPU/GPU/disk temperature crossing requests Windows' current Exclamation sound.
  The existing per-device transition latch, 3 C hysteresis, ten-minute cooldown
  and user quiet hours/snooze continue to apply: no repeated sound every poll.
• Test warning sound in the same Settings page previews the Windows sound
  once on a deliberate click, without heating the CPU or moving thresholds.
• Uses the user's Windows sound scheme and system output volume. Sound can be
  muted/disabled by Windows, so a request log is not evidence a speaker was heard.
  The existing glass zero-alpha background and red hot-temperature text/charts
  are unchanged.

Existing safe upgrade

• One intentionally unsigned Setup, same per-user installation root.
  Exact SHA-pinned official v1.7.7 predecessor is supported transactionally,
  including the previously verified crash recovery of updater-owned .restore.
• Preserves user config/history/autorun, GPU/disk sensor services, and all
  existing themes, settings, focus and Start/fullscreen handling.
• No new driver; external signed PawnIO policy remains distinct from Setup.
• Physical AC-mains-loss testing is excluded by the owner; global machinewide
  singleton and independent security signing-lab claims are not made.
• Original reporter-specific WinRing0 SHA/download origin remains pending in
  GitHub Issue #6. Never disable or bypass Defender.

Status and evidence

• Released and accepted: immutable public v1.7.8 (exact source 9960a06), seven verified assets and supply-chain G16 PASS.
• Hosted Build and native Windows A/B Setup/crash-recovery tests PASSED. The owner installed official v1.7.8 in place from v1.7.7, preserving user config, Glass state and protected sensor services.
• On the owner PC, opt-in sound preview and natural CPU temperature-warning requests were observed with at least 10-minute spacing and zero recorded sound-play exceptions. A separate Windows audio-route and isolated Exclamation test confirmed a non-muted digital output signal; this is not proof of physically audible speaker sound.
• Actual on-screen Windows banner delivery has not been independently witnessed. External WinRing0 reporter sample provenance remains open in GitHub Issue #6. The installer is intentionally unsigned.
• The immutable RELEASE_NOTES_v1.7.8.md asset is a publication-time snapshot and still contains the superseded private-candidate status line; the completed release status and acceptance evidence above are authoritative. The original asset is retained byte-for-byte for provenance.

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.7 — interrupted Setup recovery

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.7 — interrupted Setup recovery

Reliability fix

• The v1.7.6 Setup could leave an incomplete updater-owned .tbme-upgrade/old/<managed-file>.restore scratch if its own process was terminated mid-rollback. A later update attempt failed with IOException: file already exists.
• This build removes only known temporary .restore scratch files, after the journal owner marker and index have been validated; it then recreates them from the SHA-verified prior managed snapshots.
• Unknown, reparse-point, user-owned, or unrelated files are never erased. Existing rollback guards and preserved user settings remain intact.

Compatible upgrades

• Same per-user root; SHA-pinned official v1.7.6 predecessor is supported for transactional in-place upgrade. One versioned installer, no duplicate application root.
• Glass with true zero background alpha, red hot CPU/GPU/disk warnings, thresholds, chart readability, themes, and settings are retained.
• Optional signed external PawnIO sensor service remains separate. No new kernel driver is bundled.

Trust and qualification

• Setup is intentionally unsigned under the existing explicit release waiver. A valid hash/CI is not an independent malware certification.
• Reporter-specific WinRing0 driver attribution in Issue #6 remains open.
• Physical AC-interruption testing is out of the accepted scope and has not been performed.
• This release is a candidate only until exact-source build, native upgrade, regression, and public asset gates pass.

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.6 — Glass thermal alerts

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.6 — glass thermal warning hotfix

Bugfix

• On user-enabled fully transparent Glass mode, retain the red thermal warning text, chart and card border when a valid CPU, GPU or disk temperature meets the configured threshold.
• Normal metric glyphs remain theme-adaptive and visible, while background alpha stays 0%. No new driver or sensor dependency.

Notification behavior

• Thermal highlight and Windows notification balloons are separate features. In Settings > Alerts, enable Show Windows notification when a threshold is crossed for notifications; previously disabled preferences are preserved.
• Existing default alert thresholds CPU/GPU 85°C, disk 60°C, hysteresis and cooldown remain unchanged.
• No audible OS notification is promised when Windows Do Not Disturb or notification policies mute alerts.

In-place update

• Same canonical per-user installation root and existing SHA-pinned previous releases supported; v1.7.5 added as an exact 22-file + signed-off Setup SHA ancestor.
• Keep config, config.bak, history, user assets and HKCU autostart. Journal and recover interrupted upgrades; no forced process termination, no duplicate root.
• v1.7.5's cross-user privileged task safety guard retained. No claim of machinewide singleton or physical AC outage recovery.
• Intentionally unsigned under established waiver. Defender WinRing0 Issue #6 remains open and unrelated to this visual bugfix.

Verification

• Exact source build and 49 × 2 pixel warning proof plus hosted Windows full CI; real v1.7.5 -> v1.7.6 install/rollback on two disposable Windows required before publication and owner's update.

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.5 — Cross-account sensor safety (unsigned)

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.5 — cross-user sensor-layer safety

Critical fix

• Prevent one Windows account's elevated sensor setup/uninstall from unregistering the machinewide sensor Scheduled Task, terminating sensors, or removing shared Program Files sensor payload owned by a different account.
• Before any shared mutation resolve the target SID, verify the existing task principal and all observable broker/supervisor process owners; on foreign or unknown ownership, fail closed and leave protected sensors unchanged, while allowing the current user's main app and independent settings to work with unavailable protected readings if necessary.
• Fresh no-task installs and same-account repairs remain permitted. This is a safety guard, not global single-install enforcement, task per-SID migration, or permission to disable antivirus.

Installer and delivery

• Single 64-bit Windows per-user Setup; exact SHA-pinned immutable official v1.7.4 22 managed rows supported for same-root v1.7.5 update with atomic rollback. Existing v1.6–v1.7.3 official upgrade sources retained.
• Preserves Glass alpha-zero mode, separate On/Off state label, Start/Settings/fullscreen, user's config/previous backup, startup registration and uninstaller state.
• Intentionally unsigned under prior publisher waiver. Microsoft genuine vulnerable-driver WinRing0 Issue #6 attribution awaits the reporter's exact driver SHA/install source and independent review. Physical AC power loss and cross-account actual full protected-sensor cohabitation are not claimed.
• Release only after exact merged source Build/metadata/security/rollback and independent two-host Windows A/B official v1.7.4→v1.7.5 and fresh install maintenance tests; verify and redownload all 7 public artifacts before owner in-place upgrade.

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.4 — Fresh install maintenance fix (unsigned)

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.4 — fresh-install maintenance and protected upgrades

Fix

• Prevent the redundant root-level TaskbarMonitorEnhanced.cs file during fresh install while retaining the canonical Source/TaskbarMonitorEnhanced.cs file. This resolves the genuine fresh v1.7.3 same-version maintenance defect, independently reproduced on Windows 2025 and 2022.
• Include SHA-pinned official v1.7.3 as a supported source for same-root v1.7.4 in-place upgrade, regardless of whether it was installed fresh (redundant root source present) or upgraded from v1.7.2 (root source absent). Any present legacy root source must match the official SHA before managed removal.
• Glass transparency, separate On/Off switch status label, protected user config and backup, native taskbar geometry and CPU optimizations remain as accepted in v1.7.3.

Release gates and scope

• Do not release until exact code head builds reproducibly with its own verification tests and two independent fresh Windows instances cover actual fresh 1.7.4 install/maintenance, official v1.7.3 fresh and upgraded to 1.7.4, native Start/Settings/Glass/fullscreen and protected user canaries with rollback.
• The public v1.7.3 release remains immutable; no silent binary replacement and no duplicate per-user installed root.
• Intentionally unsigned; SmartScreen reputation is distinct from antivirus vulnerability detection. Microsoft vulnerable WinRing0 Issue #6 attribution is unresolved. Never disable Defender, bypass quarantines or claim malware-free status. Physical power cut, HKLM multiple-user and external signing/lab are not accepted merely from these CI tests.

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.3 — CPU and Glass UI fix (unsigned)

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.3 — CPU efficiency and verified in-place update

Changes

• Reordered existing Start/Search native-window geometry filters ahead of expensive Windows process-name enumeration; no layout behavior change intended.
• The separate user-controlled Glass Mode ON uses zero-opacity background while metric ink remains visible. OFF restores the saved 1–100% background opacity; Start is pinned to the actual taskbar and never intentionally floated.
• Glass Mode switch visual repair: the switch and its On/Off label are separate opaque controls, with no double-painted native text on the thumb. The Display preview no longer overlaps its explanation. All nine Settings pages have a layout-collision regression guard.
• One SHA-pinned Windows Setup updates an existing official v1.7.2 installation in place, without uninstalling or creating a second per-user root. Existing official v1.6.0/1.7.0/1.7.1 compatible paths remain guarded.

Verification and scope

• On one owner Windows PC, actual 4 × 60-second BASE–TRIAL–TRIAL–BASE whole-program CPU observation measured 23.37809% versus 6.65184% of one logical core (71.547% lower in those tested conditions), exact prior v1.7.2 Main restored.
• The owner's quiescent 442-file data-root ZIP passed SHA checks and byte-exact isolated restore; this does not establish physical AC power-loss resilience or restore a deliberately damaged owner HKCU registry.
• Candidate verification (Commit 690cef8d6883e7811913a394343fa0e304ccb87a): independent Windows A/B protected v1.7.2 → v1.7.3 in-place upgrades, journal rollback, idempotence, downgrade refusal and four native Start/Settings/fullscreen/presentation modes passed; standard Build and Verification, exact binary/SBOM, and nine-page no-overlap UI suite passed. Public promotion requires equivalent merged-main exact-head CI, asset provenance and uploaded SHA-256 acceptance.
• The installer is unsigned by maintainer choice. Unknown publisher/SmartScreen messages are not proof of malware; actual antivirus detections must not be bypassed or dismissed. External vulnerable-driver issue #6 attribution remains unresolved, as do formal signed labs, physical power loss, and machine-wide multiuser/HKLM collision proof.
• Public immutable v1.7.2 assets are not altered by this new release.

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.2 - Official Stable (Unsigned)

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.2

Glass and taskbar corrections

• Glass is a separate pill-shaped ON/OFF control with a circular thumb. ON forces zero background opacity and disables the percentage control; OFF restores the previous value.
• Ordinary background opacity remains continuous from 1 to 100 percent without changing theme ink or adding a Glass halo below 31 percent.
• The monitor follows actual taskbar visibility, including a covered fullscreen taskbar. Start, Settings and context menus retain their positions; the monitor is owned by the taskbar rather than reparented during Start.
• Compact rendering respects the exact native window dimensions.

One installation, protected update

The same versioned Setup installs or updates the single per-user TaskbarMonitorEnhanced root. Official 1.7.1 is recognized by the exact published Main, Setup and managed payload hashes. Version 1.6.0 and recognized 1.7.0 ancestors retain their guarded upgrade paths. Close the running monitor normally before updating; do not uninstall first. User configuration, backups, sensor backend, arbitrary files and Startup preference are preserved. Unknown or edited managed files fail closed.

The installer remains unsigned by explicit owner decision. A SHA256 match proves file identity, not a publisher signature or absence of malware.

Acceptance boundaries

Consumer-PC sustained CPU, exclusive-fullscreen applications, hardware power-cut testing, and external antivirus reports require their own evidence. A successful build is not visual acceptance. This file describes the versioned changes and does not itself prove that 1.7.2 has been publicly released.

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.1 - Official Stable (Unsigned)

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.1 — Stable

Release channel: Stable (October 2026). Publisher: GOD13emad. License: GPL-3.0-only.
Installer: TaskbarMonitorEnhanced_Setup_1.7.1.exe — one canonical per-user installation.

What's fixed

• Fixed taskbar position: the monitor stays in its original taskbar row when Windows Start/Search opens. The previous upward lift is disabled.
• Visible over ordinary windows: the transparent taskbar monitor keeps its nonactivating, topmost position when applications gain foreground; changes in the safe available taskbar width are handled without lifting its Y coordinate.
• Reachable Settings: Settings is an independently activatable, foreground-capable window and does not disappear underneath the taskbar overlay.
• Independent Glass switch: Settings → Display → Glass mode (OFF/ON). ON makes background opacity exactly 0% and disables its percentage control while leaving metrics, labels and graphs visible. OFF restores the previously selected 1–100% opacity; switching modes does not overwrite the saved value.
• Compatibility: maintains the 49 themes and existing hardware, sensor and workspace functionality; no separate second installation.

Installation and updating

For a new installation, launch the single installer above. For an existing Taskbar Monitor Enhanced installation, use the update offered in Settings → Updates or run the new installer as an in-place upgrade. Close the currently running monitor normally before updating if prompted. Do not uninstall first. Existing configuration, its backup, external sensor dependencies and user-owned files are preserved by the guarded transaction. An unexpected or edited managed file causes the installer to stop rather than replace user modifications.

The in-app updater obtains the latest official GitHub Release and validates the release asset and published SHA256 digest. The released file is the same versioned installer used for new installs and upgrades.

Independent verification

The exact release-candidate source and runtime were tested on two independent, disposable GitHub-hosted Windows systems. These checks include public v1.7.0 → v1.7.1 in-place upgrade with no duplicate root, idempotence, downgrade and edited-file guards, native Start positioning, an interactive Settings window, and real screenshots showing the Glass monitor while two ordinary windows receive actual mouse input. Image hashes and foreground HWND/position were independently verified. Historical CI and receipt links are retained in the repository's audit history.

Security and limitations

This installer is not Authenticode-signed, by the product owner's explicit release decision. Windows SmartScreen may display an unknown-publisher warning; do not claim a signature that does not exist. Confirm the installer SHA256 against SHA256SUMS_v1.7.1.txt from this official GitHub Release.

External signed-laboratory acceptance and a destructive, physical power-outage experiment have not been established; passing hosted rollback simulations must not be described as those external tests.

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.0 - Official Stable (Unsigned)

Taskbar Monitor Enhanced v1.7.0 — Official Stable (Unsigned)

Windows x64 download: TaskbarMonitorEnhanced_Setup_1.7.0.exe (single installer for new installations and in-place updates).

Installer SHA-256: 148827212B716238DDB270309F393140EBE3CB935CD0E80D36233220A4BE611E

Important — this is an officially released but UNSIGNED installer. The project owner explicitly authorized distribution without an Authenticode publisher signature. Windows may display Unknown publisher / SmartScreen; compare the entire SHA-256 before making your installation decision. No public-trust code signature is claimed.

Install only once / update without uninstall

• New Windows user: run the installer once. It uses the sole canonical per-user %LOCALAPPDATA%\TaskbarMonitorEnhanced directory.
• Already have v1.6.0 or official unsigned Preview1: close Taskbar Monitor Enhanced normally, then run this same installer. The existing installation is upgraded in place, without Uninstall/Reinstall or a second copy.
• Silent existing-install update: TaskbarMonitorEnhanced_Setup_1.7.0.exe /update /quiet; it refuses unrecognized or missing prior installations.
• Your configuration, backups, user files, sensor data, Startup setting and Wallpaper state are protected. Unknown modifications to managed program files fail closed instead of deleting user data. Running this exact update twice is idempotent.
• The optional protected PawnIO sensor prerequisite is external and is not bundled or silently downloaded; unavailable temperatures show N/A without it.

What was independently tested

• Real native UI, Start, Shell and true protected sensor Health: 8/8 on each of two separate disposable Windows hosts with exact Main SHA and original desktop/taskbar display restoration.
• Real transactional update from actual immutable public v1.6.0 and Preview1: both PASS on separate fresh Windows hosts, with original config/backend/user-file SHA, Startup preservation, no duplicate root, edited-managed-file rejection and idempotence.
• CI at merged main source commit d35cb62e48c7ec9256b2db23b3643b1ef26fb545: SUCCESS. Local rebuild Main + Setup reproduces exactly the hosted candidate hashes.
• Source archive, SPDX 2.3 SBOM, manifest, acceptance report and SHA256SUMS attached. Seven release assets; check their published SHA-256 digests.

External signed laboratory G13/G14 witnessing and an actual physical mains-power-loss test were not completed; these are not represented as certified PASS. Earlier immutable public releases remain unchanged.

Source commit: d35cb62e48c7ec9256b2db23b3643b1ef26fb545 (main). License: GNU GPL v3.0. Maintainer: GOD13emad.

Please use the official release and the exact installer name above, not any historical test-only candidate ZIP.