Window Elements Missing During Remote Access

Getting Windowblinds and VNC to work

from Stardock Forums
I use Ultr@VNC (http://ultravnc.sourceforge.net/) to remotely access my home computer from work. My computer at home has WindowBlinds installed. Everything always worked great until I upgraded to 5.0. Now, whenever I remotely connect to my home computer, all of the key Windows elements are missing from my windows. Essentially, anything that is skinned won't show up. I'm currently using the Aura skin.

This always worked with WindowBlind 4.x. Any way I can get things running smoothly with 5.0?

Thanks for any help.
Skadar
3,189 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Does the same thing happen with non-per pixel blended skins?

Posted via WinCustomize Browser/Stardock Central
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Im not sure, but when ever I Radmin or Remote sdesktop I always get a weird 8 bit or 16 bit look....So I would asume since you are looking at a skin that would look invisible because its bit depth and per pixel blending will be affected on a large scale.and therefore would probably not show up, it should still be there, just not visible...can you click on the areas where the buttons should be and still get a proper response, or do they not work at all?
TouchTasks - Access tasks with ease on Windows touchscreens.
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
Drop125... in fact, you are correct. That is exactly what is happening. I can click the spots where the window elements *should* be and I get the proper response.

I suppose it just has to do with the skin that I am using. I'll test it with a non-alpha skin.
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
Drop125... in fact, you are correct. That is exactly what is happening. I can click the spots where the window elements *should* be and I get the proper response.

I suppose it just has to do with the skin that I am using. I'll test it with a non-alpha skin.
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
Still doesn't work. Any skin that I choose gives me missing Window chrome when I access the computer via VNC. Damn... WindowBlinds 4.x never had any problems with this.

The problem isn't just cosmetic either... it is critical. For example, right-clicking doesn't work because the right-click window remains invisible.
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

I too am having this same issue. I use TightVNC to connect between about 6 different PC's that I use remotely, and TightVNC uses the same remote control engine as Ultra VNC and Real VNC, I believe. This happens regardless of the skin, and regardless of whether the skin uses per pixel blending.


I have noticed however, that using a remote connection to change the skin causes all of the skinned elements to momentarily appear until the new skin is applied. This may be a result of the "please wait" dialog taking a screen shot to display overlaid on the desktop while the new skin applies each element, but I'm not sure. Either way, it seems that every VNC connection experiences this.
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
I was experiencing the same symptoms using WindowBlinds 5 and UltraVNC. I was able to restore title bars and context menus during VNC sessions by doing the following:

On the server (in this case, your home computer), double-click on the WinVNC icon in the system tray. Its icon is an eye on a blue background. (I'm assuming that UltraVNC server is already running.) This should open the WinVNC: Default Local System Properties configuration window. In the Misc. section in the lower-right corner, check the Capture Alpha-Blending checkbox and click OK.
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Apps which capture the screen without thinking about alpha (mostly designed in the 9x days) will have problems like this.

If the app has options to enable AlphaBlending / Transparency capture (and they should, its just a single flag on their bitblt call) then make sure they are on.