Icons stack on one another when unlock

from Stardock Forums

Hello - When I unlock Windows (e.g., after a timeout has locked the machine due to inactivity, or upon a return from sleep), all of the icons within their respective fences are stacked on top of one another.  To correct this, I need to click the mouse within a fence.  When I do so, all of the icons within each fence immediately move to their correct positions.  This appears to be a bug.  Does anyone know the cause of this or how to stop this behavior?  Is it a bug, or a setting? 

Below are snapshots illustrating the problem.  In the first image you can see how all of the icons are stacked on top of one another when the machine is unlocked.  The second image shows the icons back in their original positions within the fence after I clicked on the fence.

          

fences
8,464 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. But never saw similar issue like this before. Need to know more on your system.

1) Windows version. Please use Winver.exe for full Windows version numbers.

2) Fences version.

3) Is the bunch up icons happen to all Fences or only curtain fence? Anything special about that Fence? Does it also happen on portal fences? Does it happen after reboot?

Thanks
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Hi - thanks for your response.

  1. Winver.exe says Version 2004 (OS Build 19041.450).  FYI, the stacking behavior also occurred on the previous Windows version (updated a couple of weeks ago - whatever the latest version was before the May 2020 update).
  2. Fences is Version 3.0.9.11.
  3. The stacked icons happen in all of my desktop fences.  Click within any fence, and all the icons in all the fences move back to their correct positions.  Right now, I have 4 fences:  one that receives new documents dropped on the desktop, one that has shortcut icons for my drives, a third that has folders, and the fourth has documents and files.  There's nothing really special about any of the fences.  They are set for: translucent, outline, fade out scrollbars when inactive, fade in with mouseover, show fences with rounded corners, roll up on title bar double click, alwasys show icons at startup (automatic hiding or showing are not enabled), preserve layout by scaling, move icons to new monitor when plugged in, keep fences lined up when moving, 5 pixel spacing, size to even multiples when resizing, all new icons go to start of the New fence.

I do not know if the behavior happens on portal fences, as I don't use those.  I believe this happens after bootup, but I rarely shut it down except for maintenance so I'm not certain.  I will investigate both, and report back.

  

 

Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

Yes, please update. Would also like to suggest you to do cleanboot steps as mentioned here : https://forums.stardock.com/486084/fences-support-faq#cleanboot this would help to identify if there is conflicting application running in the background.

Try that and keep up update.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Here is some more information.  I have not yet implemented a new administrative user account or done a clean boot as you described, but I have noticed some new behavior patterns that might assist in understanding what is going on:  

  1. I created a folders fence.  The icons in the folders fence upon unlocking from a locked state do not bunch up, even though icons in the other fences do.  The folder icons stay in their intended positions.
  2. When initially unlocked, the fenced icons are still where they should be.  But after a second or so, they suddenly bunch up (except the icons in the folder fence).  So, some process is affecting the icon's positions after the machine has been unlocked.

I agree there may be another application with which fences is interacting.  I believe that application may be Display Fusion, which does impact how the desktop looks and works.  Before I try a clean boot, I'll disable Display Fusion and see how Fences works without it.  

  

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Problem solved - it was Display Fusion, which tried to move icons to their fixed positions but they were fenced and so they bunched up.  Disabling Display Fusion's icon settings enabled Fences to work normally.  Thanks for your assistance.

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Great, glad you solved it.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant