Major bug with Fences not remembering icon locations when switching resolution

Bug that only occurs in Windows after installing Fences

from Stardock Forums

Hello,

I've reported this issue before, but, I think that I mistakenly reported it as a feature request, rather than a bug. Having recently clean-installed Windows 10, I've realized that it's a bug that doesn't happen in Windows 10 until Fences is installed.

 

Without Fences installed, in Windows 10, if I have icons set in specific places on my desktop and then load a program that is of a lower resolution than my desktop's resolution, the icon positions will be automatically remembered by Windows and when I close that program and return to my desktop, the icons will be automatically replaced in the same positions they were in before I launched the program.

With Fences installed, in Windows 10, if I have icons set in specific places on my desktop and then load a program that is of a lower resolution than my desktop's resolution, the icon positions will be scattered around the desktop, or crammed into the top-left corner, and will not be restored to the positions they were in when I close that program and return to the desktop.

So, Windows 10 without Fences 3 installed remembers icon locations when a program temporarily changes the resolution to a lower one. But, when Fences 3 is installed, that feature is broken and the placements of icons are not remembered by the Windows desktop when a program temporarily changes the resolution to a lower one.

 

That Fences doesn't remember icon location when closing a program is a major issue for me, and it turns my desktop environment into a confused nightmare state every time that I load a program that uses a lower resolution than my desktop. And I load lots of programs that use lower resolutions than my desktop.

Because of this, I am not installing Fences on my clean installation of Windows 10. Fences is supposed to make desktop organization cleaner and easier. But, because of the bug in Fences where it doesn't remember icon positions with resolution changes, it ends up destroying any chance of me having a clean and organized desktop.

I previously talked about this issue in this thread:

https://forums.stardock.com/488882/page/1/

 

 

There are also some other major issues with Fences 3 that prevent me from reinstalling it at this time. Another of those issues, specifically the one about icons not moving properly on the desktop, is mentioned in this thread:

https://forums.stardock.com/486019/page/1/

 

Another issue, which concerns the selection box and moving icons on a page but icons from another page instead being moved to the current page and being scattered around the page, is talked about in this thread:

https://forums.stardock.com/494183/bug-dragging-icons-on-a-page-sometimes-results-in-icons-from-another-page-b

 

So, in summary, three issues preventing me from reinstalling Fences for now are:

- Icons don't remember their positions when a program changes the resolution beneath the desktop resolution

- Icons sometimes will not move to the proper position on the desktop when dragged there, no matter how many times it's tried

- The selection box highlighting and moving icons function sometimes grabs icons from the wrong page and moves them to the current page, rather than highlighting and moving the icons on the page the user is currently on as intended

fences
13,504 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top

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

Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Hello,

Sorry to hear you are having trouble.

- Icons don't remember their positions when a program changes the resolution beneath the desktop resolution
End of quote

There are a few reasons that icons can lose placement when and app changes the resolution of the desktop(s) - not the least of which is the less than graceful manner in which it happens and is restored.  That said, there are things you are going to want to ensure with Fences.  At the very least, the snapshots restore should help in most every circumstance.

Please see:
https://forums.wincustomize.com/486084/fences-support-faq#shortcutswrongmonitor

https://forums.wincustomize.com/486084/fences-support-faq#multimonitor

https://forums.wincustomize.com/486084/fences-support-faq#snapshots

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

Fences - Organize your desktop icons today!
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello, I notice that you have deleted my other thread which described a bug in Fences that isn't described in any of my other threads, and which isn't the same issue as the one with multiple monitors with icons being sent to the wrong monitor, and which I haven't seen described anywhere else.

How come?

 

That thread described the issue as this:

 

Bug: Dragging icons on a page sometimes results in icons from another page being moved to current page

When running several pages (4 or 5 - it might happen with fewer pages, though I haven't confirmed it) and having lots of icons on each page, there is sometimes an issue of the user dragging an icon or group of icons from one page and Fences instead grabbing icons from one of the other pages and moving them in a messy way to the page that the user is trying to select and move an icon on.

So, if on page 4, the click-drag selection box mouse function is used to highlight some icons on page 4, and then those icons are click-dragged to move them to another spot on page 4, sometimes icons from pages 1, 2, or 3, will suddenly appear on page 4 and they'll be scattered around the page. I have had 20 icons from another page suddenly appear splattered on to the current page that I'm on due to this bug.

What's happening is that the selection box function with Fences is interpreting the box to be highlighting icons from a page that isn't the one that the user is on and is highlighting and moving icons on.

 

This issue happens on a single monitor setup.

 

Quoting sdRohan, reply 2

Hello,

Sorry to hear you are having trouble.

- Icons don't remember their positions when a program changes the resolution beneath the desktop resolution
 
There are a few reasons that icons can lose placement when and app changes the resolution of the desktop(s) - not the least of which is the less than graceful manner in which it happens and is restored.  That said, there are things you are going to want to ensure with Fences.  At the very least, the snapshots restore should help in most every circumstance.

Please see:
https://forums.wincustomize.com/486084/fences-support-faq#shortcutswrongmonitor

https://forums.wincustomize.com/486084/fences-support-faq#multimonitor

https://forums.wincustomize.com/486084/fences-support-faq#snapshots

----------------
Sean Drohan
Stardock Customer Service Manager
End of sdRohan's quote

Thanks. Though, Windows 10 automatically remembers and restores icon positions without having to do anything. With Fences 3, one of these snapshots needs to be manually used. It would be nice if after installing Fences the icon layouts would also be remembered and restored automatically.

The type of shutdown of a program doesn't change the issue - no matter how a program shuts down, it doesn't remember the icon placement when the program switched to a lower resolution.

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Delicieuxz, reply 3

How come?
End of Delicieuxz's quote

It was not removed and was answered:

https://forums.stardock.com/494183/page/1/#3745051

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

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting sdRohan, reply 4


Quoting Delicieuxz,
reply 3

How come?



It was not removed and was answered:

https://forums.stardock.com/494183/page/1/#3745051

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

End of sdRohan's quote

The URL was giving me a 'content removed' message for a while. It's working for me now, though.