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gavincarpenter
Join Date 10/2012
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Fences causes long lag/explorer crash when going to desktop

June 18, 2018 9:47:01 AM from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

I've used fences for quite a number of years and always had this issue to some extent but put it down to the laptop I was using, however having just upgraded to a brand new i7 16GB lenovo X380 yoga the problem persists and it's quite annoying.

When pressing the Win-D shortcut with fences enabled the whole system freezes up for a while (around 5 seconds) with the desktop wallpaper showing and no icons or fences, the screen then goes black briefly and the desktop reloads with the taskbar icons coming back one by one and the icons and fences rendering.

When manually minimising each window this doesn't happen, not does it happen with fences disabled.

Any ideas how to prevent this annoying behaviour?

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basj
Join Date 03/2001
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Reply #1 June 18, 2018 10:43:53 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Hello,

Sorry to hear you are having issues. We need more information. Windows versions, Fences versions, and more details on your fences/ folder portal layout, dual monitors or more monitors? etc etc.

Thanks

Basj,

Stardock Community Assistant.

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gavincarpenter
Join Date 10/2012
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Reply #2 June 18, 2018 10:50:54 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Thanks for the quick reply.

  • Windows 10 Pro
  • Fences 3.0.9.11
  • 6 icon fences, 27 icons total
  • 5 folder icons, 2 of which are network drive locations
  • 4 screens, the laptop screen plus 3 more (all fences on just one screen)

The same problem happens as well when you use a shortcut like Win-Left, etc. to be able to move a window to the left side of the screen for example.

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basj
Join Date 03/2001
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Reply #3 June 18, 2018 10:59:18 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Few more questions.

1) Will the problem occurs with only one screen attached? (Disable all other 3)

2) Will the problem occurs with all the folder portals to those network drive location deleted? Note: You can take/save a layout snapshot to restore it later.

Thank you,

Basj,

Stardock Community Assistant

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gavincarpenter
Join Date 10/2012
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Reply #4 June 18, 2018 12:59:38 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Yes, problem occurs still for both scenarios.

Tested by disconnecting the laptop dock entirely (so no external screens) and removing the network folder portals. Behaviour is the same.

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AzDude
Join Date 11/2002
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Reply #5 June 18, 2018 1:17:34 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Hello,

I have forwarded your report to the Stardock support team for their review and recommendations.

Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates.

We really do appreciate your feedback, thanks.

 

AzDude
Stardock Community Assistant

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sdRohan
Join Date 10/2012
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Reply #6 June 18, 2018 1:27:49 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

When pressing the Win-D shortcut with fences enabled the whole system freezes up for a while (around 5 seconds) with the desktop wallpaper showing and no icons or fences, the screen then goes black briefly and the desktop reloads with the taskbar icons coming back one by one and the icons and fences rendering.

There have been reports of such an issue but its extremely rare and we can never reproduce it.

If you have some wallpaper software installed, please change the desktop to a solid color and try again.  If that fails, I would like to have you try a clean boot:

https://forums.stardock.com/486084/fences-support-faq#cleanboot

 

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chamelespoon
Join Date 02/2018
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Reply #7 June 19, 2018 4:32:58 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Just to reduce the "rarity" of this issue, I also have this problem (exactly as the OP reported).

  • Windows 10 Enterprise
  • Fences 3.09.11
  • 3 icon fences, 76 icons total
  • 17 folder icons (no network mappings)
  • 2 screens (laptop and 1 external)
  • Using Intel CPU's graphics (HD Graphics 520)

There is a slight difference in my experience, however:

  • Every time I use the "show desktop" button on the taskbar (or Win+D) or Win+Left Arrow/Win+Right Arrow (to snap Explorer window to side of screen) Fences hangs/restarts Explorer.
  • Dragging an Explorer window to the side of the screen to snap/dock it also causes the issue.
  • Win+Up Arrow/Win+Down Arrow, dragging window to top of screen to maximise, & shaking window to maximise/minimise everything does NOT cause the issue.

Hopefully that will be of some assistance tracking down the issue.

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gavincarpenter
Join Date 10/2012
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Reply #8 June 19, 2018 7:14:38 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

I have displayfusion installed but even turning that off the problem still occurs.

I'm using this on a work computer so I'm not able to create a new local user for the cleanboot test, perhaps chamelespoon might be able to help with this part of the troubleshooting?

Is there no kind of debug logging that I'm able to export and send to you from the software itself?

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sdRohan
Join Date 10/2012
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Reply #9 June 19, 2018 9:13:33 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting chamelespoon,
reply 7

Windows 10 Enterprise

and

Quoting gavincarpenter,
reply 8

I'm using this on a work computer so I'm not able to create a new local user for the cleanboot test

If memory serves, this is also common to the reports - being in a corp environment.

Are either of you using 'Websense' in your environment - if so, you should have a service running for it.  If you are not admins, please ask your IT people.  They wont let you shut that off but it will go a long way to confirming it as a culprit (just does not like how Fences runs in the WinExplorer process).

Quoting gavincarpenter,
reply 8

perhaps chamelespoon might be able to help with this part of the troubleshooting?

We are not convinced it is Fences itself but an interaction with an app, setting, policy, etc.  That is why a clean boot is so important for us to help diagnose the issue.  With near certainty, under a clean boot, Feces would likely work for each of you.  Then would be the personal process of the process of elimination to figure out what app, setting, etc - when re-enabled - is causing the conflict.

 

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chamelespoon
Join Date 02/2018
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Reply #10 June 19, 2018 11:23:23 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting gavincarpenter,
reply 8

I'm using this on a work computer so I'm not able to create a new local user for the cleanboot test, perhaps chamelespoon might be able to help with this part of the troubleshooting?

Sadly this is also on a work laptop, so cleanboot's not possible.

Quoting sdRohan,
reply 9

Are either of you using 'Websense' in your environment

Not Websense, no, but something similar; in my case Forcepoint Web Security.

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gavincarpenter
Join Date 10/2012
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Reply #11 June 19, 2018 11:34:50 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Forcepoint here as well.

 

So where does this leave us? 

Is it not strange that the shaking a window to minimise all others doesn't cause the problem?

Is there an option to tweak the way fences works to allow better interoperability with such programs, possibly behind an advanced setting if it had other impact/disables some features that may not be used?

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sdRohan
Join Date 10/2012
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Reply #12 June 19, 2018 2:26:58 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting chamelespoon,
reply 10

Forcepoint Web Security.

Forcepoint Turns up a lot in searches for WebSense (I think they purchased WebSense).  In any case, it / they are notorious for causing problems with Fences.


 

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chamelespoon
Join Date 02/2018
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Reply #13 June 21, 2018 6:26:07 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting sdRohan,
reply 12

Forcepoint Turns up a lot in searches for WebSense (I think they purchased WebSense).  In any case, it / they are notorious for causing problems with Fences.

As another point of reference, I tried the same installation on my home machine (Windows 10 Pro, no Forcepoint) and Fences works without issue. So it seems that Forcepoint may be objecting to something Fences is attempting to do.

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sdRohan
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Reply #14 June 21, 2018 10:01:00 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting chamelespoon,
reply 13

As another point of reference, I tried the same installation on my home machine (Windows 10 Pro, no Forcepoint) and Fences works without issue. So it seems that Forcepoint may be objecting to something Fences is attempting to do.

Appreciate the effort and reporting on your results.

From what we can see, FP seems to not like how Fences runs in the WinExplorer process - something it has always done (as some other apps do I might add).

Again, thank you for the report.

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gavincarpenter
Join Date 10/2012
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Reply #15 June 24, 2018 9:09:37 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Ok so the root problem has been identified and it's a known issue it seems.

Has Stardock reached out to Forcepoint for their help with this issue? If Forcepoint was incorrectly flagging Fences as malware I would expect that Stardock would quickly be in contact with them to resolve the issue.

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basj
Join Date 03/2001
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Reply #16 June 24, 2018 10:15:18 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting gavincarpenter,
reply 15

Ok so the root problem has been identified and it's a known issue it seems.

Has Stardock reached out to Forcepoint for their help with this issue? If Forcepoint was incorrectly flagging Fences as malware I would expect that Stardock would quickly be in contact with them to resolve the issue.

Hello,

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 feedback and patient.

Basj

Stardock Community Assistant.

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mylestwine
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Reply #17 July 12, 2018 10:04:43 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

I have this issue too. But apparently removing the network shared folder portal fixes this. It seems to happen when Fences can't find the networked share folder because that machine is off/disconnected. Clicking/right clicking the desktop randomly crashes explorer.

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basj
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Reply #18 July 12, 2018 10:14:28 AM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting mylestwine,
reply 17

I have this issue too. But apparently removing the network shared folder portal fixes this. It seems to happen when Fences can't find the networked share folder because that machine is off/disconnected. Clicking/right clicking the desktop randomly crashes explorer.

Thank you for your input. We really appreciate it. One question, does your system also have Forcepoint or Websence installed?

Basj,

Stardock Community Assistant

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mylestwine
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Reply #19 July 12, 2018 1:30:14 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

I do not have either of those installed. Also, using latest version of fences and fully up to date Win10. No dual monitors either.

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basj
Join Date 03/2001
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Reply #20 July 12, 2018 8:24:12 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting mylestwine,
reply 19

I do not have either of those installed. Also, using latest version of fences and fully up to date Win10. No dual monitors either.

Ok. Thanks your the information. As for fence portal to network drive there is a workaround to make it work better, here are the steps to it : https://forums.stardock.com/486084/fences-support-faq#folderportalsempty

I think the workaround should also work for your issue.

Thank you,

 

Basj,

Stardock Community Assistant

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mylestwine
Join Date 10/2012
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Reply #21 July 12, 2018 8:59:55 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Thanks for the suggestion. Although, this won't work for my case. The network folder doesn't have static files to create shortcuts from. I copy files out of that folder as they arrive. The folder portal gave me a somewhat live view of that folder. It works great when the machine is up and running but if its off, crash city! Not a big deal though. I can just remove the portal whenever the machine is down, only takes a second to re-create it.

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basj
Join Date 03/2001
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Reply #22 July 12, 2018 9:10:04 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting mylestwine,
reply 21

Thanks for the suggestion. Although, this won't work for my case. The network folder doesn't have static files to create shortcuts from. I copy files out of that folder as they arrive. The folder portal gave me a somewhat live view of that folder. It works great when the machine is up and running but if its off, crash city! Not a big deal though. I can just remove the portal whenever the machine is down, only takes a second to re-create it.

Ok.

Thank you,

 

Basj,

Stardock Community Assistant

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mylestwine
Join Date 10/2012
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Reply #23 July 16, 2018 2:36:03 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

I have update on my Fences crashing. The crashing hasn't happened in a few days now even when the networked computer is turned off. What I changed was instead of creating the folder portal directly from the networked machine, I created a mapped network drive first for that folder, then created the folder portal from the mapped network drive. At least everything seems stable now.

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sdRohan
Join Date 10/2012
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Reply #24 July 16, 2018 4:26:18 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Quoting mylestwine,
reply 23

The crashing hasn't happened in a few days now even when the networked computer is turned off. What I changed was instead of creating the folder portal directly from the networked machine, I created a mapped network drive first for that folder, then created the folder portal from the mapped network drive.

That is very interesting and a point (mapping vs direct) that we have perhaps missed in the past when supporting others with similar folder portal to network issues.  We have incorrectly assumed everyone would be using mapping.

Thank you for this.

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cranticumar
Join Date 10/2012
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Reply #25 December 26, 2018 5:15:28 PM
from Stardock ForumsStardock Forums

Is there any update on this issue? In my case it is forcepoint. Is there any fix for this?

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