Wallpaper disappears after reboot.

from Stardock Forums

Having installed the WindowBlinds trial, I'm finding I can change wallpapers as usual, however whenever I restart the computer, although whichever wallpaper I've set is displayed initially (along with the however-many-days-remaining WindowBlinds popup), after a few moments it disappears to be replaced by a blank background. Bizarrely, even afterwards, when I open Control Panel/Display/Desktop, the wallpaper is still listed as selected. Oh, I should mention also that this happens regardless of whether I selected the wallpaper from within WindowBlinds or externally.

I'm running Windows XP Pro. (SP2) with an AMD Athlon X2 4800+ Dual Core Processor and CrossFired Radeon X1900s. To the best of my knowledge, all drivers, DirectX etc. are up to date.

Any help would be appreciated.
windowblinds
1,815 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
George the problem probably has to do with whether or not the WB has a wallpaper associatated with it and if you are trying to apply a different one.

Go into WB config and click settings under WindowBlinds make sure the the box Apply the wallpaper included with the skin is not selected. Reboot and see if that corrected the problem. Come back and post how you made out.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hi there - no, 'Apply the wallpaper included with a skin' wasn't selected.

The problem specifically seems to occur as the ATI Catalyst Control Center loads up; possibly as a result of one of the graphics card settings it applies? (for example, having Crossfire enabled).

Bizarrely, I can still see part of the wallpaper behind my (slightly transparent) taskbar - it's just vanished from the rest of the desktop.

I'll test out various combinations of graphics card settings over the next few days, to see if I can track down the source of the problem.
Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The way you explained the problem in the OP wouldn't lead you to the drivers or the card. It maybe the control center, people who have nVidia cards have had trouble with their control center also. Post back and lets us know if find a solution.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Okies, after a little testing I've confirmed that enabling Crossfire (basically, the use of two graphics cards) in the ATI Catalyst Control Center is causing the problem.

It's a shame though, as short of leaving it disabled, I can't really think of a work-around, and as much as I like WindowBlinds, I can't really see myself using it beyond the trial with this problem.

Anyway, thanks for the help.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well don't let it end there, I know it's the weekend but why not send an email to support@stardock.com. You won't get any reply until Monday but they may have a solution for the problem. It's worth a try. If you do send an email link them to this post.