The General tab of the Application Settings window controls the behavior of the program when it is first started, power and screen saver options, the general appearance of the program, and logging options.

General Application Settings

General Settings

The General Settings area includes the following options:

Launch Application in minimized mode:

If this option is selected, Security Monitor Pro starts as a minimized button in the Task Bar. If Hide application in system tray when minimized is also selected, the program will be shown only in the System Display Area or Tray.

Hide application in system tray when minimized:

When this option is chosen, Security Monitor Pro will only be displayed in the Task Bar when its window is maximized or restored. When minimized, the Task Bar button is hidden, and only its icon in the Tray is visible.

Disable low power schemes (Standby, Hibernate, Sleep, etc.) after Application Launch:

Many computers are set to automatically go into a suspended mode, or turn themselves off, if they are left idle for a certain amount of time. When the computer is controlling a surveillance system this is usually undesirable, so check this option if your PC will be used for this purpose.

Disable screen saver during monitoring with alerts:

If you will be monitoring the camera feeds in the Preview area, you may wish to disable screen savers to avoid having the monitor erased or blanked while you are observing.

Cycle multiple cameras in preview window every x seconds:

If you have more than four cameras installed in Security Monitor Pro, and you wish to observe the feeds using the Preview, you can check this box and pick a cycle rate. Security Monitor Pro will automatically swap the cameras at the interval you select, letting you keep an eye on all your cameras.

Event Logging Options

These Event Logging Options are available:

Save and Clear Event Log Every 2 Hours:

To avoid producing Event Logs that are extremely long and difficult to search, you can select this option. Every 2 hours, the current log will be saved with a name that includes the date and time (to make finding the record of a particular event easier) and a new log will be opened.

Disable event logging to improve performance:

If you will not be using your Event Logs, you can check this option. No event logs will be created, which can reduce the load on system resources.

Auto delete media files on startup

Security Monitor Pro can delete both video/audio recordings and photos automatically when the program starts. Note that if the program is not restarted, the Auto Delete files older than option will have no effect. You can choose either or both of these deletion methods:

Auto delete files older than x days:

This method is a good choice if you know that any file of interest will be looked at (and copied to a new location) within a set time after it is recorded.

Auto delete oldest files if x GB left on drive:

In order to avoid completely filling up a hard drive, you can choose to delete the oldest file whenever Security Monitor Pro is started, and only the set amount of free space is available.