Super Disappointed!

So, I installed Fences this morning and it has been so glitchy I had no choice but to uninstall it after only a few hours. I love the look and simplicity of it but here are some of the issues I had.

  1. I created a programs fence to add all my programs that I access regularly. This was the first indication that something wasn't right. I was renaming them and as I got halfway through I noticed that numbers started appearing after the name I entered. So for example, I renamed "Google Chrome" to just "Chrome" but when I hit enter it was named "Chrome (2)" as if there was another Chrome in the bunch. Turned out there was! The program I renamed before it was also named "Chrome". The only problem with that is that program was Microsoft Word, which I had just renamed to "Word".

    At first I thought maybe I did something wrong but as I continued on it randomly renamed icons that I had already renamed to whatever I was currently renaming in the moment. So I had a OneNote shortcut named Excel, Outlook named Skype, etc. etc. When I went through and renamed them all again they stuck but a really annoying glitch. 

  2. Using the programs was also glitchy as I had to click each icon 2 or 3 times before the program would actually launch. Clock. Wait.... Nothing. Click again. Wait.... 50% chance the program opens. If not, nothing. Click again. Wait... Wait... Then my actual windows task bar would disappear and the whole computer would freeze up. Occasionally the screens would all turn white and I'd get a message that windows explorer wasn't working and I had to restart the program. It took about a minute for my computer to rebound each time. 

  3. I created another fence for website links. I opened Chrome using the link in the Programs folder I created. When it opened I grabbed the link to some websites I have loading at launch and dragged it into the links fence. Then when I went to rename that link and hit enter two links would appear in the Links fence with the same name and the Chrome link in the Programs fence disappeared. When I clicked on the two links, one would go to the link I just added and the other would just open a new instance of Chrome. This happened every time I dragged a link into the Links fence. 

  4. After playing around with the links for a while I went to go open a different program that I have pinned to my task bar and use daily. I had already added this to my Programs fence (I'm sure of it because I remember renaming it a couple times). When I went to open it the shortcut was not there. I then went to my task bar and didn't initially see it so I searched using the start button. The reason I didn't see it in my task bar was because the icon had disappeared! It now had a generic icon for some unknown reason. I had to uninstall and reinstall the program to get the icon back, then add it back to the programs fence and rename it. That time the name stuck but I had to reboot my computer and it was gone from the programs fence again. 

  5. Double clicking to hide the fences only partially worked. Either it wouldn't hide them or it wouldn't unhide them and trying multiple times to get it to do one or the other froze up my system the same as above.

  6. Probably not so much a glitch but an annoyance is the multiple desktops. First, the Alt+Left or Right keyboard shortcuts just don't work, nor did clicking and dragging on my desktop to switch. The middle mouse button + mouse drag worked but the big issue was that I have a multi-monitor set up and it had to slide across all 3 of my monitors to go back and forth. Clicking on a fence to get it onto a different desktop also required the same action. I had to drag it all the way across 3 monitors to either put it on a different "desktop" or take it off, depending on which direction I started with.
     
  7. By the tme I got through all of that and just tried to use it, it simply took forever for it to respond or open my documents and repeatedly froze up my system. At that point I just uninstalled it. 

So, this was basically completely unusable to me. I am not sure what the problems is but I found it to be utterly painful and useless. Perhaps someone will have some advice because I really wanted to like this. 

4,671 views 5 replies
Reply #1 Top

You would want to start a support ticket with Stardock here:

https://esupport.stardock.com/index.php?/Tickets/Submit

and include a link to this thread so that you don't have to type it all up again.

You should receive an automated response in your email almost immediately or at least quickly. If you don't see it check you spam folders.  Don't reply to it.  Wait for another email from a Support person, should be within a day or two.  Don't send any emails other than replying to the Support people - each time you send an email it puts you to the back of the line.

In the meantime someone might see something in particular they can help you with.  ;)

Reply #2 Top

Also add which Windows system you are using.

Reply #3 Top

How did you get the icons into the fences? Portals? Or drag and drop?

If it's portals, try renaming said shortcuts in the actual folder, rather than in the fence.

Reply #4 Top

I'm using Windows 7 Enterprise.

I dragged and dropped them into a fence because I didn't want a portal to my entire Program Files folder, just a few key programs. I created shortcuts and added them to the fence.

Reply #5 Top

Which version of Fences do you have installed?