Fences - Icons "fall out" and overlap (Win7 x64)

I just installed Fences after having some issues where I needed to go into Safe Mode, which reset my resolution and moved my icons all over the place. Having something to restore them is nice.  I'm using Windows 7 x64 Pro with the latest free version of Fences.

However, I'm having problems, specifically with Fallout 3. I run my desktop at 1600x1200, and Fallout 3 in the rather nonstandard resolution of 1280x960 (higher than 1024x768, still smooth, and proper aspect ratio). The Fallout 3 icon is on the upper-right side of the screen in a "Games" fence. Almost every time I've exited the game (with one exception; I don't know why), the Fallout 3 icon has "fallen out" of its fence and moved to the left (where Windows moved it when resizing the screen).  Also, if I have any icons that are near the bottom or right side of the screen that are NOT in Fences, they get moved, sometimes underneath fences.

Before installing Fences, none of the icons jumped around after playing this game.  Right now, it appears that, in attempting to find a solution for an occasional problem, I've created a frequent problem.

1 - Is there a known issue with some icons falling out of a fence after being run? Is there something I can to do fix it on my end, or do I have to wait for an update?

2 - Are there any plans to include basic collision detection to prevent Windows from putting icons behind fences?

I've quickly tried running a couple other full-screen programs that run in resolutions other than 1600x1200, and so far, I haven't seen any problems, but I've only been running Fences for a day.  I have run and exited Fallout 3 quite a few times, and the behavior has been consistent.

39,371 views 33 replies
Reply #1 Top

Hi,

1- We've had some complaints of this, however to this date have been unable to reproduce in order to diagnose and repair. we are however taking the issue seriously & acknowledge there is some sort of a problem - as soon as we can figure out what is happening there we will fix!

2- have you tried during on auto-arrange or align-to-grid on the desktop? if either of those are set, new icons won't be created underneath fences. if they are, let us know.

Reply #2 Top

JMB - I do have icons set to align to a grid, but when the resolution changes (specifically, when exiting Fallout 3), it moves icons outside of fences into positions that are occupied by fences.  If a new icon gets created (e.g. I just tried saving a webpage as a test), the icons do indeed get created outside the fences, in the first upper-left-hand spot with an open space.

Reply #3 Top

I've had icons fall out when exiting a game...typically the game icon I was running....though this seems to cure itself - probably after/due to a system reboot.....in other words they no longer fall off.  [likewise win7 64]...;)

Reply #4 Top

Same problem occurs pretty regularly with Dragon Age: Origin. It's definitely not limited to Fallout 3 (which has other issues in Win7).

Reply #6 Top

i was having the same issue with the recyle bin icon. i had it set as excluded from showing/not showing. when right-clicking on it to empty the bin, it would move. i ended up uninstalling fences and just hiding all desktop icons

Reply #7 Top

I am also having a problem where all my icons fall out of the fences so I have empty fences on my desktop with the icons sitting next to them.

Fences is a great utility but having to keep putting the icons back into the fence areas defeats the point of having it.  I can't pinpoint exactly when this happens for me but it may have something to do with having two screens and switching between displaying on both and then on one, then rebooting.  Or it might have somnething to do with loading windows updates or installing other software and rebooting.  Or a combination of events.  I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate & the latest version of Fences on a Dell Insipion 1720 laptop with a separate dual 2nd monitor.

 

Reply #8 Top

I too have had multiple instances of my files, shorcuts, etc. falling out of my fences.  This has only occured on my Dell Studio XPS 16 running Windows 7 64 bit.  I have another laptop (Toshiba) running Windows Vista 32 bit and have never had this happen on that machine.

Reply #9 Top

The only time I have this problem (W7 64bit) is when a game runs at a lower resolution than my desktop.  In this situation it moves the icon for the game out of its fence and it is positioned near where I would imagine the edge of the screen would be if I overlayed that resolution over my standard.  Standard res is 1680x1050, but I have some games that will only run in 800x600.

Reply #10 Top

I think that's it. The icon escapes every time I play 'Lord of the Rings online' which runs in panel native resolution - but I think the splash screen shown on loading is in a lower resolution.

It would be great to see a fix for this, it happens so often and with many programs.

Reply #11 Top

I'm having the same problem but it's with random icons.  It seems that either the last exe, document or folder opened falls out of it's particular fence.  Also, if I delete something off my desktop that wasn't inside a fence, it goes to the recycle bin then the LAST icon accessed from within it's fence falls out.  For example, if I delete "noname.txt" off my desktop, my "Internet Exporer" icon falls out as it was the last icon clicked.  This happens for every last icon clicked.  Another one.....I keep going to my "downloads" folder on my FOLDERS fence and it's gone.  I scroll down my other fences and find it in my VIDEO EDITING fence.  At least now I know where to look....lol.  But it keeps re-arranging my icons for some reason.

I'm running Win7 32-bit, AMD dual-core 7750, nVidia 9800GT @ 1280x1024, 2GB ram

Awesome program, would just like to keep the pigs in the pen...:)

Reply #12 Top

I am having the same problem as WinTekkie007. I am running Windows 7 64-Bit, AMD Phenom 2 quad-core 965 3.40 GHz, 2 SLIed 9800GT @ 1920 x 1080 & 4GB ram

Reply #13 Top

I just got a new computer with Windows 7 Professional 64.

I am having this issue of icons falling out, and also my fences don't fade away like they did on my Vista(32) computer.

Both are minor, but still annoying issues. :(  

Reply #14 Top

also my fences don't fade away like they did on my Vista(32) computer.
End of quote

can you describe this a bit more?  What specifically are you referring to?

Reply #15 Top

i can't see the fence itself even tho all icons are inside their fences. its as if the fences borders are invisible even tho i have not set them to be that way.

i also have a game icon inside a fence and after i'm done playing the game, the game icon is outside of its fence.

Reply #16 Top

Quoting strwbrymochi, reply 15
i can't see the fence itself even tho all icons are inside their fences. its as if the fences borders are invisible even tho i have not set them to be that way.

i also have a game icon inside a fence and after i'm done playing the game, the game icon is outside of its fence.
End of strwbrymochi's quote

Same system setup, or is this a different OS?

Reply #17 Top

Quoting Shirley, reply 14

also my fences don't fade away like they did on my Vista(32) computer.

can you describe this a bit more?  What specifically are you referring to?
End of Shirley's quote

 

I figured this out... I chose "Exclude this fence from quickhide" when I should have chosen "Exclude This Icon from Quickhide" for each of the icons I want to show all the time.

So that is why I thought the fence didn't fade away.... My mistake  ;)

 

About the icons "falling out"..... I can get it to do it every time when I right-click an icon.

 

I can Email some screenshots I put together, if it would help.

 

Reply #18 Top

I can Email some screenshots I put together, if it would help.
End of quote

If possible could you create a screen capture video of this happening.  anything you can get aim at support@stardock.com

Reply #19 Top

I experience a similar issue with icons falling out, but mine is not caused by changing of screen resolution.

I use Fences on my company laptop where some of the programs are installed through Novells Zenworks. It seems that the desktop icons for these programs are refreshed every time I login to the computer and that these refreshes causes the icons to "fall out of" the fences.

On my private computer I experience "fall outs" when having shortcuts to programs in my Live Mesh folder.

Perhaps some of these games, which previous messages mentions, do some kind refresh to their desktop icons as well ?

 

Reply #20 Top

We've been able to reproduce the single icon fallout issue, and Jeff is working on fixing, but the complete "icons go haywire" issues we have not.  Anyone with the latter issue who can get me a screencast of what is happening please post or PM.

Reply #21 Top

Ok i'm having the same problem as well.

I installed some of my old games and ran them in fullscreen mode Like zuma

Basically my screen res is 1920x1080 and the game uses a lower resolution 1024x768 I guess

So here is a video showing the icons overlapping and falling out problem PLUS Icons even magically disappearing from the fences(Initially I was getting a scroll bar in my fences)

 

http://www.screencast.com/t/NDdjYTgwMzMt

Uninstalling solved the problem.

 

 

Reply #22 Top

I wanted to mention my case regarding icons slipping out of fences:

I am running Windows XP. I have dual monitors, with different resolutions. The fences are all located on the secondary monitor.

The icons that fall out of the fences seem to be applications I've used. I don't play any games, but most of my icons have fallen out at one point or another.

I am using other customization software as well: I am using DeskSpace and TopDesk from Otaku Software.

In my case, it seems that switching desktops has something to do with the icons falling out. In fact, it seems that upon switching desktops, the most recently used icon falls out of the dock. This likely has something to do with the issue of resolutions changing, as others have mentioned. I suggest you test the software against these cases. I would bet that simply putting the Command Prompt into fullscreen mode (CTRL+Enter) would cause the change too.

Hopefully there will be a resolution for this issue soon.

 

 

 

 

Reply #24 Top

I also have this problem where all my icons fall out of the fences and I have empty fences on my desktop with the icons sitting between them. I running Windows 7 64 bit home on an Asus G72GX. unfortunately I cannot capture it except as a before or after it happens only when I do a full shutdown. It could possibly be after a game played. I have not had the issue with icons under fences.

Reply #25 Top

I am losing patience with Fences too. On my Win 7 32 bit Toshiba laptop I keep putting the icons back in place but the next time I use the machine all the icons have fallen out of their fences. It's fine on my Win 7 64bit decktop pc. Like the above poster it can't be captures as it's before and after booting up. I have emailed support twice and no answer.:annoyed: