Just bought WB -- couple of questions

from Stardock Forums
Hi everyone

I've been using the trial version of WindowBlinds for a couple of weeks and think it's great, so have just shelled out for the paid version. Everything is working well but I have a couple of questions I hope you can help me with.

In the Config Window under Basic Settings, I don't have the "Skin Advanced Controls" section shown in the Help file. I thought this would be added when I upgraded to the registered version.

Also in Help > Support, it says:
"Suggested WB update method: open the config window, disable Run WindowBlinds automatically on startup on the Startup Settings & News Page, and then reboot the computer."

I don't have a Startup Settings page. . . should I have? I know how to unload WB but I would like to know how to stop it from running at start-up in case I need to.

Is there anything wrong with my installation, or are these two things in the Help perhaps referring to previous versions? Here's my info:


WindowBlinds 5.1 System Information Report:

STATUS : WB+ SRV+ HLP+ UI+ TRAY+

WindowBlinds is installed correctly on this PC.

WindowBlinds appears to be activated on this PC

Your machine does not support per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins.

This is because :

Your computer graphics hardware does not support acceleration of per pixel alpha. WindowBlinds requires this for per pixel alphablended borders as without it performance would be poor. Please see if you can obtain new drivers for your graphics hardware. Recent ATI & NVIDIA boards should support this feature. Onboard graphics tend not to.

You have one monitor in total.

(HYUNDAI ImageQuest L72D Digital) 1 is attached to RADEON 9200 SERIES

Wblind.dll 2006/10/09 11:24:20
Wblind64.dll 2006/10/09 12:51:37
Wbsrv.dll 2006/10/09 11:40:18

Thanks for any help!
windowblinds
3,635 views 13 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Wblind.dll 2006/10/09 11:24:20
Wblind64.dll 2006/10/09 12:51:37
Wbsrv.dll 2006/10/09 11:40:18


if that's your full list, you're screwed.

you should also have:

Wbconfig.exe
Wbload.exe
Wbhelp.dll
Wbui.dll
Tray.dll

If you had the trial - did you uninstall and reboot prior to installing the paid?

did you install the paid via standalone download or by using the (personally preferred) Stardock Central browser/download manager/installer/archiver/etc?

In the Config Window under Basic Settings, I don't have the "Skin Advanced Controls" section shown in the Help file. I thought this would be added when I upgraded to the registered version.


Me either. It disappeared on one of the updates - Help doc is a little behind

Also in Help > Support, it says:
"Suggested WB update method: open the config window, disable Run WindowBlinds automatically on startup on the Startup Settings & News Page, and then reboot the computer."


What the...? 3 yrs... never saw it.
Stardock Central Browser is the best way to keep updated.
Register your serial (tools > register )

To keep it from running at startup, in 'skins' pick a windows default skin. or unload, the in regular display setting pick a default skin. If you're running a default skin, WB isn't running.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
It may be that pyewhacket missed what I missed the first couple of times I visited that System Information page: there is a scrollbar on the right and the entire contents may not be visible in the dialog window. If you swipe/copy just what you see on the screen, you may be missing information that is actually there, just not showing. The absence of a border on the "window" inside the dialog is what threw me at first - you don't necessarily see the scrollbar over on the right when you're focused on the list on the left.

Scroll to the bottom, then swipe up the window contents & copy that, paste here again. It sounds like the trial version wasn't uninstalled before installing the paid version.
Elemental: Reforged
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
there is a scrollbar on the right and the entire contents may not be visible in the dialog window.


never seen that either. WB config comes up at a locked size, all info showing on the system page, for me.
Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top
Thanks very much, Bichur and Daiwa, for the replies.

Daiwa, I don't have any scroll bars; the WB System Information window is a fixed size and has a border round it, as Bichur said.

Bichur, I did uninstall the trial version. First, I unloaded WB. Then in the Registry I went to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Stardock\ObjectDesktop\WindowBlinds and altered Startup to 0, to stop it from loading at boot, and rebooted the computer. I then uninstalled using Control Panel/Add/Remove Programs and I'm pretty sure it worked because it completely removed my WB folder, including the extra skins I'd downloaded (I thought it wasn't supposed to do that!)

I do have the other files in my WB folder. They all show Date Created as 13/11/2006 05:11 (UK date format) and their "modified" dates are:

Wbconfig.exe 10/10/2006
Wbload.exe 21/12/2005
Wbhelp.dll 18/09/2004
Wbui.dll 06/12/2005
Tray.dll 28/04/2006

I installed the paid-for using the link from the acknowledgement email Stardock sent me. I don't know what Stardock Central is. . .

Did I do something wrong? Thanks very much for your help, I do appreciate it.
Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
and altered Startup to 0, to stop it from loading at boot


Switching to a windows default skin unloads WB and keeps it from running at start.

The files above do not match what is in WB History file. for 5.1.009

Stardock Central (SDC)

I suggest You unload, uninstall, reboot, download Stardock Central, install it, then in tools > register products enter your WB serial and register, then use SDC to download and install WB. Reboot. Run WB. Post the system info again.

Maybe the stand a lone is different, I don't know.

SDC will also let you know of any updates to your products that you may be entitled to. Also works great for archiving and restoring archives. It also works as a browser and chat.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I just updated to 5.49, so I can't double check right now, but I know that not all of my information displayed in the fixed window - maybe there wasn't a scrollbar & just scrolling down with the cursor inside the window revealed it, but somehow I had to get down to the bottom line to be able to select it all.

I'll check on my other XP rig at home this evening just out of curiosity. Memory tells me that seeing so little in the information dialog prompted me to mess around looking for what wasn't there & somehow I figured out that there was more there to be seen by scrolling down.

My res on this rig is a bit unusual - 1400 x 1050 - although I wouldn't think that would affect the sizing of the Config dialog window.
Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top
Daiwa, you are right! After reading your reply I had another look at the System Info window, and found that if I placed my mouse cursor on the file info section then used the down arrow, it scrolled, revealing extra entries

Here's the full list:

Wblind.dll 2006/10/09 11:24:20
Wblind64.dll 2006/10/09 12:51:37
Wbsrv.dll 2006/10/09 11:40:18
Wbconfig.exe 2006/10/10 17:39:13
Wbload.exe 2005/12/21 01:04:47
Wbhelp.dll 2004/09/18 16:37:07
Wbui.dll 2005/12/06 22:29:06
Tray.dll 2006/04/28 19:27:49

I don't know why the window doesn't show all that information to begin with -- I'm using 1280 x 1024 resolution and there's plenty of room. Oh well, never mind.

Bichur, thanks for your reply too. I'm not sure exactly what version I'm running: the validation email from Stardock only says "WindowBlinds 5" and some of the files appear to be different versions; wbconfig.exe says it's 5.1.0.0, wbload.exe 5.0.0.0 and wblind.dll 5.0.0.2, for example. Perhaps the standalone version is different?

On the unloading issue, forgive me if I double-check: just choosing an XP default skin is enough to stop WB loading at bootup? Only I seem to remember seeing somewhere some post saying that choosing a default skin in WB was more efficient with regard to system resources than using XP's own engine -- so I thought WB was still running if you did this.

Thanks to both of you for your interest and help.
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
In WB Config's horizontally oriented skin preview "bar", scroll all the way to the left and select either Classic or Luna & apply it - that "unloads" WB.

Thanks for confirming my suspicion about the info dialog - most people don't know it but I'm not crazy.
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I can tell you that the 5.49 Config dialog does the same thing - no scrollbar, but if you click in the area of the text & use the arrows, it will scroll. Just happens to be big enough to include all the lines of my info now, but might not be the same for others. This is very disconcerting behavior since there are no visual clues that this is a scrolling window - I consider it a definite design failure that SD should rectify. Not a show-stopper, but needlessly misleading when it shouldn't be.
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
orgive me if I double-check: just choosing an XP default skin is enough to stop WB loading at bootup?


Choose an MS default In WB and when you apply, it unloads. For me it's a modified classic, then I choose an XP default in display - far as I know, WB doesn't run at startup - no reason for it to = you want the MS default theme skin to run. Unless it's changed in the last couple of builds.


I'm running 5.1.009 :

Wblind.dll 2006/10/09 09:24:20
Wblind64.dll 2006/10/09 10:51:37
Wbsrv.dll 2006/10/09 09:40:18
Wbconfig.exe 2006/10/10 15:39:13
Wbload.exe 2006/03/13 16:54:14
Wbhelp.dll 2004/09/18 15:37:07
Wbui.dll 2005/12/06 20:29:06
Tray.dll 2006/04/13 16:29:23
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Wbload.exe 2005/12/21 01:04:47

Tray.dll 2006/04/28 19:27:49


I show those as being from the trial version.

did you uninstall your trial version & reboot before installing the paid?

Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The standalone installers include older versions of those 2 files.  The difference is the ones included with SDC are digitally signed and the ones in the standalone are not.
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Ah... I can see clearer now... thanks Neil.