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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
Testing in Sandbox
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:
SkinStudio 10
Please use: https://cdn.stardock.us/downloads/protected/software/skinstudio/SkinStudio_10_setup_sd.exe?
SkinStudio 11
Please use: https://cdn.stardock.us/downloads/public/software/skinstudio/SkinStudio_11_setup.exe?a=sd
Object Desktop Manager
It is also available in ODM if you have a current ObjectDesktop license
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 themselves. 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, 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 10/11:
Open the WindowBlinds 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:
Open the configuration window for ESET, click Setup.
Select Computer Protection
Select the gear to the right of Host Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS).
At the bottom of the Basic Section you should see "Rules"
Select "Edit" to the right of "Rules"
Select "Add" at the bottom of the screen
Give the rule a name like WindowBlinds and set action to ALLOW.
Enable the "Operations affecting" options (Files, Applications, Registry entries)
Select Next
Then, on the Source Applications window pick Add... and browse to the WindowBlinds directory and select wbcore.exe
Select OK
Select Next
Enable "All file operations"
Select Next
Select Next on the "Files" window
Enable "Application operations" again
Select Next
Select Next on the "Aplications" window
Enable "Registry operations"
Select Next on the "Registry entries" window
Select Finish
Select OK
Select OK
Select Yes if prompted for User Access Control
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.
WindowBlinds: 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 http://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.
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.
Browser does not skin in Windows 10/11
Chrome/Edge
There has been changes in the way Windows 10/11 title bars are skinned in Chrome/Edge. With that, certain attributes must be added to the target of any shortcut to Chrome/Edge.
The easiest method would be to download this shortcut, unzip it, and run it. Please make sure Chrome/Edge 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/Edge 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)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" --disable-windows10-custom-titlebar
"C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --disable-windows10-custom-titlebar
"C:\Program Files\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe" --disable-windows10-custom-titlebar
Firefox
For Firefox to skin, you need to have it show a standard Titlebar:
The 3 lines menu (top right) -> More Tools → Customize toolbar -> tick the "Titlebar checkbox" Bottom left -> Restart Firefox
Testing WindowBlinds in Sandbox
In an effort to create a clean install environment without having to reformat your system, Windows 10 & 11 Pro have a "VM" (Virtual Machine) like feature called Windows Sandbox. This will replicate a freshly installed operating system without any other software installed. This is a great test to see if other programs conflict with Stardock products.
The following guide will walk you through the steps to enable Windows Sandbox:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-sandbox/windows-sandbox-overview
After Sandbox is set up, install and activate your Stardock product to see if the issue you are having is also being reproduced in this new environment or if it is working correctly in this mode.
NOTE: If you have a single activation Stardock product, you will be asked if you want to deactivate your other PC to proceed to install it in the Sandbox environment. After finishing the test, you will eventually be asked to activate on your other PC again and can do so.
WindowBlinds Clean Boot
A "clean boot" starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs, so that you can determine whether a background program is interfering with your game or program. This is similar to starting Windows in Safe Mode, but provides you more control over which services and programs run at startup to help you isolate the cause of a problem.
Creating a new Windows Administrator Account
For testing, please create a new Windows Administrator account.
Windows 7
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-7
Windows 8
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-8
Windows 10 & 11
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/create-a-local-user-account-in-windows-10
Log in under that account and try. If it fails, and while still under that account, please click the link below for performing a 'clean boot' under it:
Windows Clean Boot Documention
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/929135
Enable Stardock Software
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
WindowBlinds purging and re-installing
Obtaining the purge file
Please follow this link:
https://cdn.stardock.us/support/uploads/Purge_WB.zip
Save the file to your downloads folder.
Purging the application
Double-click the downloaded purge file and select "Run as Administrator" if you're on Windows 7/8/8.1/10.
If you are running Windows 8/10/11, 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.
Reinstalling
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
For Steam Purchases
Even after using the purge file, you still need to use the 'uninstall' option in the Steam client:
After, re-Install from Steam and Steam only.
Please DO NOT change any of the default settings until you verify that the application is running as expected in its default state.
