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Table of contents

Activaiton Issues and Questions
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Information and Usage 
How do I disable WindowBlinds temporarily
Where can I get SkinStudio to edit skins
This program isn't skinned – why not?
How can I temporarily exclude a program from being skinned?
WindowBlinds states that “WindowBlinds is not installed correctly on this PC".
Applied a skin but my wallpaper does not change
How do I make skins for WindowBlinds?
How can I change my WindowBlinds randomly?
Chrome does not skin in Windows 10

Self Support Options
WindowBlinds Clean Boot
Purging and re-installing

How do I disable WindowBlinds temporarily:

While the PC is booting, hold down the Ctrl key to bypass Windowblinds.

Where can I get SkinStudio to edit skins:

Please use:  http://sd.stardock.com/Support/Software/SkinStudio/SkinStudio 10 10.1.exe

Note: To use SkinStudio, a valid WindowBlinds license is required.

This program isn’t skinned – why not?

There are several reasons why a program may not be skinned by WindowBlinds. A few programs are protected by the operating system from skinning – for example, the DOS prompt or cmd windows in early versions of Windows. 16-bit applications are not skinned for a similar reason.

Some applications are excluded from skinning because they skin themselves – there’s no point trying to draw the windows of an app that draws them itself. Then there are the applications that cause problems when skinned. Usually this is because the programmer has done something non-standard or has made an incorrect assumption about, say, the sizes of windows. This can mean that windows do not display correctly, or resize incorrectly, or in the worst cases can cause a freeze or crash. If no workaround can be found the application has to be excluded.

You may find that certain exclusions are not needed – as newer versions come out, bugs may be fixed, or the problem may only be a problem on a previous version of Windows. If you wish, you can try removing exclusions from the WindowBlinds settings dialog, Per Application section.

You can also add exclusions there – if you find an app that needs excluding, tell us here and if it’s found to be a general problem it’ll get put on the main exclusion list.

You can also post about it here as well as see what applications are being reported as having an issue: https://forums.stardock.com/415220/page/1

How can I temporarily exclude a program from being skinned?

For WindowBlinds 8:

 Click the gear icon in the upper right.

Click the "Per Application tab" and then click "Add...".  Browse to the location of the .exe having trouble and select it.  Once you do, in the window that appears, under the "Total Exclusion" section check the box that says "Ignore this application and do not skin it"

 For WindowBlinds 10:

Open the WindowBlinds 10 configuration window:

Click the "Per Application tab" and then click "Add...".  Browse to the location of the .exe having trouble and select it.  Once you do, in the window that appears, under the "Total Exclusion" section check the box that says "Ignore this application and do not skin it"

WindowBlinds states that “WindowBlinds is not installed correctly on this PC".

We are experiencing an issue with ESET and WindowBlinds at this time and are trying to work with them to resolve it.

In the meantime, please try the following:

1. Open the configuration window for ESET, click Setup.
2. Select Computer Protection
3. Select the gear to the right of Host Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS).
4. At the bottom of the Basic Section you should see "Rules"
5. Select "Edit" to the right of "Rules"
6. Select "Add" at the bottom of the screen
7. Give the rule a name like WindowBlinds and set action to ALLOW.
8. Enable the "Operations affecting" options (Files, Applications, Registry entries)

9. Select Next
10. Then, on the Source Applications window pick Add... and browse to the WindowBlinds directory and select wbcore.exe

11. Select OK
12. Select Next
13. Enable "All file operations"
14. Select Next
15. Select Next on the "Files" window
16. Enable "Application operations" again
17. Select Next
18. Select Next on the "Aplications" window
19. Enable "Registry operations"
20. Select Next on the "Registry entries" window
21. Select Finish
22. Select OK
23. Select OK
24. Select Yes if prompted for User Access Control
25. Then click OK on each of the dialogs and sign out.

When you sign back in you should find WindowBlinds 8 is now happy with ESET(or rather ESET is happy with WindowBlinds)

If you still experience difficulties, disable HIPS and restart your computer.  You can read more about HIPS here.

Applied a skin but my wallpaper does not change

The wallpaper will not change if the skin does not include a wallpaper (as many do not). If you select a skin within the 'Change how my windows look' section and it does not change the background in the preview, this means there is not an included background with the skin. I would suggest in this case to apply a different background through the 'Change my wallpaper' section. 

If you are looking for the background that was shown in the preview on wincustomize.com, the author will usually have a link to this wallpaper in the skin's description.

How do I make skins for WindowBlinds?

WindowBlinds skins are made up of a skin definition file (a UIS file) and a collection of bitmaps, sounds and other files. There are two ways you can do it – either using a GUI editor – SkinStudio - or a text editor, like notepad. Which you use is a matter of personal preference, and it’s worth trying out both ways to see which is best for you. You will also need a bitmap graphics editor – Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop are popular choices, but anything that can handle BMP files will do.

UIS files are divided into sections, and each section defines a part of the skin – for example, one section defines what the start button looks like, and there is one for each of the buttons on the titlebar. This makes it easy to build a skin piece by piece, and also to modify an existing skin – if you are new to skinning, this is often the best way to start. Have a look at your favorite skin and see how it fits together, then try to change something.

Unfortunately, Stardock Support does not assist with skin creation. (It's like calling Microsoft to ask how to write a paper in MS Word.)

However, a fellow skinner has created a detailed tutorial that may assist you. It can be found at: https://forums.wincustomize.com/447931/SkinStudio-Tutorial-by-Vampothika

It is also encouraged for you to ask other skinners your question/s on WinCustomize: https://forums.wincustomize.com/forum/64

How can I change my WindowBlinds randomly?

In the 'Settings' menu, there is a 'Random Skins' tab where you can set which skins you want as part of the rotation, or set it to use all of them.

Chrome does not skin in Windows 10

Google has changed the way Windows 10 title bars are skinned in Chrome. With that, certain attributes must be added to the target of any shortcut to Chrome.

The easiest method would be to download this shortcut, unzip it, and run it.  Please make sure Chrome is not running at all when you do (check task manager to ensure it is not).  Also note that this link only works if you installed Chrome in its default location:

https://cdn.stardock.us/support/uploads/Google%20Chrome.zip

That then would be the shortcut you use to open Chrome each time.

What was done to that link was adding the following attributes (bolder here to illustrate) to the target:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --disable-windows10-custom-titlebar

WindowBlinds Clean Boot

Prior to continuing, I'd like to make sure the issue you are encountering is not occurring as a result of an application conflict. The best way to proceed would be to try loading under a new Window's Administrator account and in a "clean boot" state.

Create a new Windows Administrator (<--important that its an Administrator) account:

Winodws 7: 

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-7

Windows 10:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/create-a-local-user-account-in-windows-10

Windows 8:

 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-8

Log in under that account and see if your issue persists.

If so, and while still under that new account, please click the link below for performing a 'clean boot' under it:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/929135

After you've loaded Windows in a clean state, please download this file:

http://sd.stardock.com/Support/Utilities/PurgeAndBats/WB/StartWB.zip

Run the batch file in it to start the Windowblinds service.

See if your issue persists

Purging and re-installing

The following tool will purge the application for a possible re-install (if that is the goal). 

**IMPORTANT** Please save any open documents/work and close out all of your applications including browsers. Your PC may restart after running this .bat file.

Please follow this link: 

https://cdn.stardock.us/support/uploads/Purge_WB.zip

Save the file to your desktop, right click it and select "Run as Administrator" if you're on Vista/7/8/8.1/10

If you are running Windows 8/10, you may be notified that Windows is protecting your PC.  Select "More info" and then "Run anyway". 

Reboot the computer and reinstall the application.  It is important to get the most recent version of the application.

For trials:

Please ensure you have the most recent trial available:

https://www.stardock.com/products/

For Stardock direct purchases:

For getting your product and key, please see the following: 

https://www.stardock.com/support/productkeyretrieval

Please DO NOT change any of the default settings until you verify that the application is running as expected in its default state.