So does it mean that if my corporate PC has Websense installed, then Win-D will always crash Explorer with Fences installed? No solution?

Go to your iT Dept. let them know your problem,

chances are they can make a security change that 

will allow your program to download and run .. this happened with another Client

and iT dept fix it .. 

So what am I supposed to ask them to allow?

Tell them what you want to do and ask if they help you to get it done.

If something is blocking you they will be in the know .

your software is downloading and running though, the issue is it crashes every time it runs.

Hello,

If it crashes every time it runs, it show that something is blocking it to run properly. We can't tell you what it is. Only you can do that.

I would suggest you to try the clean boot steps https://forums.stardock.com/486084/fences-support-faq#cleanboot

and carry on from there. BTW it is better to open a new tread so we can respond to you properly.

Hi,

Any fix from Stardock regarding the issue reported here?

This is the reply i got from Stardock regarding the issue, after 2 weeks of annoying support.

Hello,

I have forwarded your report to our Development Team for their review and recommendations.

I cannot, however, provide a timeline for a response or resolution. You will be notified when one is available. 

I have to mention that my ticket was closed once the Issue still exists, without any any resolution or at least clear timelines for its resolution.

This is really frustrating, please be careful with Fences 3 upgrade as its compatibility with Win10 desires additional testing and bug fixes.  

Hello,

Could you please start a new thread on your problem. Please detail out your problem. Including your OS version, your hardware and anything that maybe relevant to your problem. Thanks.

BTW, I have failed to find your previous forum post regarding your problem please post the link to that forum post you mentioned above.

Please keep this thread. People are subscribed to it for updates and it also shows how many people have the problem. 

Also: previously Stardock support suggested that Websense blocking may cause Windows Explorer crash and so they suggested to talk to a corporate/organizational support organization. But here is what not so clear:

1. If Websense does not block Fences as an application, why it may cause crash upon Win-D (and other methods to show desktop)?

2. Is it even normal/acceptable to crash Windows Explorer instead of notifying user of blockage via log or pop-up message?

Stardock will easily return your $10 to get rid of annoying customers, but are not willing to seriously try and solve this problem.  

-----------

Stardock,

People who were able to reach this forum are technical enough to understand your explanation on why Explorer crashes. If you are still convinced that it is not your fault, please explain the mechanism of this happening. 

While we feel for all clients that have issues with any of our products, it does indeed show how many have the issue - very few.  It goes back to 2016, and if you exclude our support replies, there are very few that are experiencing it - if you compare it to the millions (literally) that have Fences installed, it is but a fraction of a fraction.

I get that everytime that this is pointed out, that very very few people have this issue, people think we don't care, that they are being dismissed, or that it is ignored - it is not the case.  What is does say is that we (you and us, not just us), need to find out why its not working on your PC, not necessarily why Fences may be 'broke'.

That said, there are a number of things support has asked here but I will again summarize them.  They will take work on your part:

• Is this a PC used in a corp environment
  • If so, do you know if they have rolled out any new policies or apps
  • Are they using WebSense
• If you are not using WebSense, are any of you using the Windows native slideshow:
  https://images.stardock.com/support/2018-05-15_13-10-12.png
  And if you shut it off, does Fences no longer have the issue
• Have you tried the purge:
  https://forums.stardock.com/486084/fences-support-faq#reinstalling
• Have you tried the clean boot if you still have the issue after:
  https://forums.stardock.com/486084/fences-support-faq#cleanboot

You still have not answered (that I can see) that you know that you do or do not.  All can tell you is that most that have WebSense have this issue.  If it can be solved, it would mean working with one of the IT people that use it to see what possible restrictions may be relaxed to allow it to function.  It would (likely) start with disabling it altogether to see if it works and going from there.

I'm not using WebSense either slideshow

 Yes I did without any success, however it's not a solution rather work around provided by Stardock avoiding upgradability bugs fixing

Yes I did, however the Issue still exists 

Dear Stardock,

Exhausting Customers with annoying work arounds is not a solution of the Issue.

I would suggest investigate and resolve compatibility issues instead.

In addition, I would suggest to improve the technical skills of your support team. I did not see any qualified reply about any of aforementioned  problems except reposting forum conversations as of now.

If it works, or does not, how is that a 'work-around'?

Again, can you point out where we ever cited a 'work-around' as a solution to the very few that are seeing this issue? To be perfectly honest, I wish we did have a work-around for it.

As for the issue at hand, I will try to put it in a way that may be more relatable.

There are 1 million X phones that work flawlessly with Type A battery, but very few don't work with Type B battery.  Battery B works fine in other phones.  What product has the issue: X phone or battery B?  In this example, X Phone is Fences - we need to know what about battery B is causing an issue. 

It could be an app, setting, lack of a Windows update, OS / file corruption and about 100 other different things - we just don't know what that is.  But because we cannot reproduce it, and there are so many possibilities, we need to find what you all have in common.

Please do not mistake this as being flippant or dismissive - we really do want to solve this for you but it is not from neglect or ineptitude that it has not be solved.

When it does work (not so in your case you said), that usually exposes that it is not Fences as it does two things:

• Is under a new Windows Administrator account
• It eliminates most all non-Windows apps and services (but not all)

People usually skip one of those (or both) as it can be prohibitive in a corp environment and / or time consuming.  If you did both, the only thing I would add to it is to, under the new Admin profile is this - please try the following:

SFC Scan:

-Open the Start Screen, and type 'cmd'. Right-click on the search result and select 'Run as administrator' from below.
-Type: sfc /scannow
-Wait for the scan to complete (this can take several minutes)

Some help on how this looks should you need it:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929833/use-the-system-file-checker-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system

If the SFC finds errors, but cannot fix them, please also run the following command in the same command prompt window:

dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Some help on how this looks should you need it:
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-dism-command-line-utility-repair-windows-10-image

The above command should assist with replacing any damaged or problematic system files. Please note, however, since it may require restoring certain files, this process can take some time and you will need to be patient until it has completed.

Let me know the results, please.

SFC scan didn't find any issues.

Any additional work arounds you would suggest?

Please find below clean boot and SFC detailed results for your respective reference.

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.14393]

(c) 2016 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan.  This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.

Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations. 

Just purchased Stardock Object and installed Fences on my new work laptop.

The version I’m using it the latest version.

I see a problems of screen resize / resolution change.

When I boot the laptop connected to my docking station with 2 x 24” screens everything works fine, putting the laptop to sleep and waking it up not on docking station using the laptop screen causes explorer to crash repeatedly because of Fences, the only way to recover is to reboot the laptop and log in without external monitor.

The opposite is the same, after I reboot the laptop without external monitor I cannot put it back on the docking station.

It is annoying, reading all the issues that people above are having makes me sorry I purchased the product at all.

I ran all the recommended instructions from this forum and nothing helps.

The  product is useless for me.

Need help from Stardock programmers / support to resolve this.

By the way, I read this forum initially, submitted a service requested and received an email from support dept to pot the problem in this forum, strange.

I used this procedure https://www.theexperienceblog.com/2017/02/27/how-to-solve-a-crashing-file-explorer-explorer-exe-in-windows-10/

and here are the results https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fNeiPBd68GfQCex6ZgI41AUPHNKYE3IDPBUPANKyagk/edit?usp=sharing 

See if it helps to debug Win-D crash

Thank yo so much, ilyamalyar

Now we all can clearly understand the root cause of the Issue.

Dear Stardock,

Please resolve below issue ASAP.

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  INVALID_STACK_ACCESS_c0000005_DesktopDock64.dll!Unknown

BUCKET_ID:  APPLICATION_FAULT_INVALID_STACK_ACCESS_INVALID_POINTER_WRITE_desktopdock64+40f47

FAILURE_EXCEPTION_CODE:  c0000005

FAILURE_IMAGE_NAME:  DesktopDock64.dll

BUCKET_ID_IMAGE_STR:  DesktopDock64.dll

FAILURE_MODULE_NAME:  DesktopDock64

@sdRohan, 

As you suggested, I went to my IT department asking to solve the problem of WebSense and Stardock conflict. As you can imagine, in a large company it took lots of hops until I gained attention and got to the right people. Eventually their response was that they do not explicitly block Fences, but since Fences is not officially supported by company's IT, then the only solution that they can offer to avoid crashes is to uninstall Fences. 

Please tell us how we can assist you guys in debugging the problem. I am willing to spend time working with you on it and provide any data.

My goal is just to test that in the absolute absence of WebSense that Fences works fine in your environment.  My hope was that your IT department would allow for this test.  I have had one other client that had an IT department detail that WebSense and Fences do not play nice but I need a second confirmation.

That said, not all software - surely not just ours - is not going to be allowed in all corp environments.  Also, even if it is allowed, there are apps and policies that will prevent them from working properly and/or consistently - again, a variety of software products, from multiple vendors, suffers from this fact.  While we will make every effort we can to ensure our apps do work as expected, we have to weigh the time, effort, and cost involved in solving issues for a small minority of situations.

Well, as you can see from debug analysis, DesktopDock64.dll of Stardock clashes with QIPCAP64.dll of Websense.

This can serve as ultimate confirmation that you were looking for.

I understand that company needs to maintain its priorities, but can only hope that this minority story can get some attention in foreseeable future.

Just as long as your expectations are not such that just because a conflict is identified that it can be solved by us alone - by any work we can do on Fences.

I know, you guys a small company with wonderful popular products, but this attitude of pushing back to your customers, who go above and beyond trying to help solving a problem is amazing. 

So did I read it correctly - you guys DO NOT PLAN fixing it?

No, you read incorrectly.

The issue is a conflict between 2 programs, not just one [it takes 2 to conflict] so it is possible that BOTH programs would need to be altered.... and that both parties may need to be involved.

Think equally of it as...

QIPCAP64.dll of Websense clashes with DesktopDock64.dll of Stardock.

....and Websense needs to 'fix their program'...;)

Not sure about what's next, I couldn't use Fences since I purchased the package and I do not see any fixes soon, waste of money

How do I get my Money back?

Hello,

I'm sorry to hear that, I have forwarded your problem to Stardock Support team for their assistant. Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates. We appreciate your patient.

Basj

Stardock Community Assistant.