Fences loads slow at Windows logon no icons

from Stardock Forums

With Fences installed on a freshly installed Windows 10 Home 1809 when I logon I have no desktop icons and my fences don't appear for 5-10 seconds.  Without Fences installed the icons were immediately available upon logon.  If I right click anywhere on the desktop when there are no icons this causes the fences and icons to appear about one second later without waiting for them to appear in 5-10 seconds.  My guess for that behavior is because right clicking has to load the Fences menu option in the right click menu therefore speeding up the loading of Fences.  I have a less than one year old laptop with an i5-7300HQ, 16 GB of RAM, a Samsung 970 EVO NVMe drive, and GTX 1060 Max-Q video so I don't believe the hardware is too old.  That being said with a GTX 1060 would Nvidia Optimus graphics switching technology play into this issue?  I'd really like to resolve this issue and it seems to be a somewhat frequent problem for other users too.

fences
26,109 views 20 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,

Sorry to hear you are having issues. I think you can try this setting and see if it help.

Basj,

Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Hi Basj,

That setting made no difference.  As far as I understand that option only makes the icons appear each time you logon if you had performed a quick-hide before you shutdown or logged off.

Glen

Star Control: Origins
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,

If you could, please show us your problem with a video grab so we understand your problem better.

Thank you,

 

Basj,

Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

I am having this problem too. Without Fences my desktop loads instantly. With Fences it takes a couple of minutes for the icons to appear. The settings suggested above are already selected.

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting greenkr, reply 4

I am having this problem too. Without Fences my desktop loads instantly. With Fences it takes a couple of minutes for the icons to appear. The settings suggested above are already selected.
End of greenkr's quote

Hello,

Would like to know more,

1) Windows version, please use winver.exe for full version numbers.

2) Fences version.

3) Number of Icons in fences and how many fences of portal fences link to network/cloud/etc drive.

Thank you,

 

Basj,

Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Hi, thanks you for your reply.

1. Windows 10 version 1803 build 17134.523

2. Fences version 3.0.9.11

3. 29 icons in Programs, 22 in Folders, 40 in Files and Documents, 6 network shortcuts in Network.

Regards

Keith

Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting greenkr, reply 6

3. 29 icons in Programs, 22 in Folders, 40 in Files and Documents, 6 network shortcuts in Network.
End of greenkr's quote

Please try these :

1) Save your layout snapshot.

2) Delete fences with network shortcut.

Reboot. See if the icons load faster.

Thank you,

 

Basj,

Stardock Community Assistant

 

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

Ok done that, it's possibly faster but still a minute or so for the icons to appear.

Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,

I have forwarded your problem to Stardock Support team for their assistance. Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates. We appreciate your feedback and patience.

 

Basj

Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting greenkr, reply 6

6 network shortcuts in Network.
End of greenkr's quote

This could be an issue if the network resources are not available on boot.  A way to test this is to set the default Fences layout and reboot:

Also, and for your normal snapshot, you are going to want to make sure that both Fences items in 'Startup' are enabled:

Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top

I am having this issue a well.

1. Windows 10 Pro 64bit version 1809 build 17763.253

2. Fences version 3.0.9.11

3. 21 Icons in Apps, 2 Icons in Games, 2 Icons in Misc

I use a VPN to connect to the internet which gives some credence to network availability theory posted by sdRohan, but I had this exact same setup when I was running Windows 7 and this was never an issue so there has to be more to it than just that.

Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting mtcellph, reply 11

I use a VPN to connect to the internet which gives some credence to network availability theory posted by sdRohan, but I had this exact same setup when I was running Windows 7 and this was never an issue so there has to be more to it than just that.
End of mtcellph's quote

Windows 7 and Window 10 are very different OSs....

What would be telling:

-Did you ensure you have both the startup items I asked about in my prior reply?
-Do you see it with no VPN connection?
-If you 'Perform automatic layout; in Fences, does it still happen?

 

Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting sdRohan, reply 12


Quoting mtcellph,
reply 11

I use a VPN to connect to the internet which gives some credence to network availability theory posted by sdRohan, but I had this exact same setup when I was running Windows 7 and this was never an issue so there has to be more to it than just that.



Windows 7 and Window 10 are very different OSs....

What would be telling:

-Did you ensure you have both the startup items I asked about in my prior reply?
-Do you see it with no VPN connection?
-If you 'Perform automatic layout; in Fences, does it still happen?

Reduced 60%
Original 1659 x 903



 

End of sdRohan's quote

 

- VPN connection was disabled

- Both Fences settings were in the Task Manager > Startup

- I preformed automatic layout in Fences

Result: No difference at all.  It still takes 15 seconds for Fences to load on the desktop.

Additionally, I just wanted to say this is a fresh (and completely up-to-date) install of Windows 10 Pro 64bit on an M.2 SSD coupled with a brand new Intel i-7 8700k & 16GB of Corsair Vengeance ram running at 3000mhz so I doubt my hardware is an issue.

Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top

With Fences installed on a freshly installed Windows 10 Home 1809 when I logon I have no desktop icons and my fences don't appear for 5-10 seconds. 
End of quote

Fences will add some time to render the desktop and 5-10 seconds is generally not seen as overly long. I will, however, pass on your view that it is.

----------------
Sean Drohan
Stardock Customer Service Manager

Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Quoting mtcellph, reply 11

when I was running Windows 7 and this was never an issue
End of mtcellph's quote

Part of it may be the "Win10 Instant Load Illusion".  If I set all my systray icons to display on the taskbar, and also keep an eye on my cursor, it becomes obvious that Win10 is continuing to load for 10-20 seconds or so after the desktop pops up and appears to be functional.  It is of course more obvious when Fences loads. it's right in front of you.

Reply #16 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting DaveRI, reply 15

Part of it may be the "Win10 Instant Load Illusion". 
End of DaveRI's quote

So very true.  With Win10 (starting with Win8), MS has pushed up items / services that give the impression of faster loading (user / password entry, desktop render) while other core services are still spinning up.

----------------
Sean Drohan
Stardock Customer Service Manager

Reply #17 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting sdRohan, reply 16


Quoting DaveRI,
reply 15

Part of it may be the "Win10 Instant Load Illusion". 



So very true.  With Win10 (starting with Win8), MS has pushed up items / services that give the impression of faster loading (user / password entry, desktop render) while other core services are still spinning up.

----------------
Sean Drohan
Stardock Customer Service Manager

End of sdRohan's quote

 

Is this REALLY the argument you are going with. The  "it's just different so deal with it" defense. Windows 10 is supposed to be faster in almost every respect compared to Windows 7 and you are neglecting the entire fact that my physical hardware is 2-3 times faster than it was before AND I have a fresh system with VERY LITTLE running on it. In fact, when I first noticed this issue I only had 2 programs installed on my system there were not part of the base OS... Firefox and Fences so I am not buying this garbage that it's just the way it is now and I have to just accept it an live with it because if this was the case then EVERYONE would be complaining about this issue and not just the select few that I see here, which actually brings me to the bigger matter at hand here which seems to be unless 100,000 people complain about an issue, Stardock's official stance is to do nothing. Unacceptable !!!

 

That being said, I would like to see the fastidious research that Stardock has done to back up these allegations that have been laid out here and what steps (if any) they have preformed to mitigate them. I await your expedited response with earnest.

Reply #18 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I can simply sit here and watch it as I described above.  Also, I can add a program to the Startup folder and watch how long it takes to load after the desktop is "loaded".  I would imagine anyone else could do the same.

Reply #19 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting DaveRI, reply 18

I can simply sit here and watch it as I described above.  Also, I can add a program to the Startup folder and watch how long it takes to load after the desktop is "loaded".  I would imagine anyone else could do the same.
End of DaveRI's quote

 

Again, I am not just going to "suck it up and accept it" due to lazy programing and some strangers loose interpretation of empirical evidence. I want to see the research that was done to prove that there is  NOTHING Stardock can do to mitigate this issue because it's a Microsoft problem and their hands are tied. That is what is being alleged here and I just want to see the non-anecdotal evidence that backs up that allegation so I know which company I need to proceed against going forward.

Reply #20 from Stardock Forums Top

Thank you for your feedback, mtcellph, I will pass it along.

----------------
Sean Drohan
Stardock Customer Service Manager