WB 5.5 on XP Professional 64bit

from Stardock Forums
I just bought and installed WB 5.5 after checking that it is compatible with XP 64bit. I also looked inside the Program Files folder and was able to find 64bit versions of WB's files.

Before reporting my problem here is the system info created by WB:

WindowBlinds version : WindowBlinds 5 (5.51 (build 97 x86)) - 64 bit OS

WindowBlinds is installed correctly on this PC

WindowBlinds appears to be activated on this PC

Your machine supports per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins.

(Lenovo L191) 1 is attached to NVIDIA Quadro FX 1500

Wblind.dll 2007/06/19 10:39:20
Wblind64.dll 2007/02/13 18:35:08
Wbsrv.dll 2007/02/24 17:51:05
Wbconfig.exe 2007/06/19 10:43:03
Wbload.exe 2006/03/13 16:54:14
Wbhelp.dll 2004/09/18 16:37:07
Wbui.dll 2005/12/06 22:29:06
Tray.dll 2006/04/28 19:27:49
Wbload.dll 2007/05/26 12:32:33

The problem:
After applying any theme except the Windows XP default (Bliss) WB fails to paint the toolbar and menus (left or right click) of any not WinXP window (e.g. Firefox, Directory Opus, Internet explorer, Adobe Reader etc) as shown in the screenshoot below.

Any ideas?? Thanks for the support.

windowblinds
4,926 views 20 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
I can verify this, I am using WinXP64. Outlook 2007 and Project 2007 are two programs I've noticed so far which are affected and are unusable with WindowBlinds activated.

WindowBlinds version : WindowBlinds 5 (5.51 (build 97 x86)) - 64 bit OS

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.

(Plug and Play Monitor) 1 is attached to RADEON X800 Series

Wblind.dll 2007/06/19 10:39:20
Wblind64.dll 2007/02/13 18:35:08
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I am having the same problem after a fresh install of 5.51 on Windows x64 professional fully updated from Windows Update.
I did not have this problem with a previous install of an older version.

Some programs are being skinned and some are not.
http://img466.imageshack.us/img466/1667/wb551notworkingor0.jpg



WindowBlinds version : WindowBlinds 5 (5.51 (build 97 x86)) - 64 bit OS

WindowBlinds is installed correctly on this PC

WindowBlinds appears to be activated on this PC

Your machine supports per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins.

(Plug and Play Monitor) 1 is attached to Radeon X1900 Series
(Default Monitor) 2 is attached to Radeon X1900 Series Secondary

Wblind.dll 2007/06/19 10:39:20
Wblind64.dll 2007/02/13 18:35:08
Wbsrv.dll 2007/02/24 17:51:05
Wbconfig.exe 2007/06/19 10:43:03
Wbload.exe 2006/03/13 16:54:14
Wbhelp.dll 2004/09/18 16:37:07
Wbui.dll 2005/12/06 22:29:06
Tray.dll 2006/04/28 19:27:49
Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I don't know if its an oops but all of the above I noticed one thing:
WindowBlinds version : WindowBlinds 5 (5.51 (build 97 x86)) - 64 bit OS

64 bit OS using an x86 build? Something isnt right there.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Greetings everyone. What I noticed is that when the application is 32-bit, WindowBlinds does not apply the skin. The skin is only effective to 64-bit programs.

Try this, open the 32-bit Internet Explorer (C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe) and the 64-bit version (C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe) and you will notice the difference.

I am not sure if this is a bug of WB, but it would be great if somebody from Stardock can verify this.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Sent an email to Stardock's Technical Support yesterday. No replies yet. Will keep you guys posted.
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Greetings. Since I was a bit impatient, I tried to find a workaround. Before I bought WindowBlinds, I tried the trial version for a day. I remember that it was working even for 32-bit apps, on almost all the apps installed on my machine. Thus convincing me to purchase the licensed version right away. So I tried to look for the program that may be responsible for skinning the 32-bit apps, found it. Now WindowBlinds is able to skin all my apps again. Finally it worked.

This is what I did (I sent the same info to Stardock support, and also requesting from them some additional information or the proper solution to this issue with XP x64):

1. Uninstalled the enhanced version (5.51).
2. Installed the trial version (5.51) and took a copy of the file wbload.dll from C:\Windows\SysWOW64.
3. Uninstalled the trial version.
4. Installed the enhanced version and overwritten C:\Windows\SysWOW64\wbload.dll with the one from Point 2 above.

So far most of my 32-bit apps are now skinned properly. Once I receive the reply from Stardock support, I will update this forum.

Hope this helps.
Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top
Greetings everyone. Stardock support has replied a couple of days ago, and they have elevated the ticket to Priority "Raised." Still waiting for the official investigation result though...

Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
any updates on this? bought it yesterday and having the same problem, and cant fix it with the method above because i cant uninstall the trial as there isnt an uninstaller for it.
Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Can you check the directory where WindowBlinds is installed (e.g., C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\WindowBlinds), if you can find the file UNWISE.EXE... run this and it should uninstall WindowBlinds...
Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top
PENGUIN - Download Stardock Central and login with the email used during purchase of WindowBlinds. You will then be able to uninstall by selecting ObjectDesktop in the left column and WindowBlinds in the right window. Stardock Central
Reply #18 from Stardock Forums Top
thanks, ill install that too. I fixed it by using the wbload i had backed up when first trying it, and unloading wblinds and replacing and then reloading it.
Reply #19 from Stardock Forums Top
Has anybody found a solution other than installing the trial version, then un-installing it, then installing enhanced version?
Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hi,

This is the reply from Stardock support:

Posted On: Sep 19 2007 12:08 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello ...,

There was a problem with the build that was put onto Stardock Central previously.

The next build that becomes available through Stardock Central should work better for you.


I apologize for your trouble.