Fences Refuses to Restore Snapshot on Dual Monitor Setup

from Stardock Forums

Fences ver        ver 3.0.9.11

Windows Ver    Windows 10 Home ver 1909 (OS Build 18363.1016)

Dual Display

              Laptop Monitor (main) running 3840 x 2160 scaled to 225%

              External Monitor running 1920 x 1080 scaled 100%

I have had no end of problems keeping icons in position.  I frequently move from laptop only screen on the go and dual display whlie at my desk.  For this reason all icons are kept where I want them on my laptop screen and nothing is located on my external display.

  • I did scale my laptop to 100% and it did not make a difference.
  • If I tell windows not to "extend" the displays, the icon go back where they should on my laptop display.
  • I ran the Purge_Fences.bat file and reinstalled, no change.
  • When I plug back into the external monitor when returning to my desk, all the icons move to the external monitor.
  • I them move them back to the laptop monitor and arrange them like I want and take a snapshot al while the external display is attached.
  • I shutdown and go out using just the laptop screen, all icons are find.
  • When I return and connect my external display, the icons moe to the extewrnal monitor and when I try to restore the snapshot, the icons stay on the external monitor.
  • I have 2 Fences and one Folder Portal on my laptop screen and they stay where they are supposed to throughout this whole process.
  • I open the snapshot I want to restore and it looks right, but Fences will not move the icons back to my laptop.

Any ideas would be helpful...I can't live without Fences, been using it since the very first Beta,

Tom

 

fences
33,249 views 18 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. For Multimonitor issues please refer to this two thread.

  1. https://forums.stardock.com/486084/fences-support-faq#multimonitor
  2. https://forums.stardock.com/486084/fences-support-faq#shortcutswrongmonitor

Try those and report back.

Thanks
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Been down those roads already...and the fact the saved snapshot will not restore.

The Political Machine 2024
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello, please post screenshot on your Fences Config-> Layout features and snapshots such as below

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

 

This is what I aam trying to restore...

 

This is what it gets restored to...

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Not really sure on what I am seeing. But are you talking about those icons that not inside the Fences?

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

You are correct.  The Fences themselves stay where they are supposed to, it is the desktop icons that are not contained in a fence that Fences will not restore.

The first Snapshot image is how I want my icons and the 2nd is what they restore to.

Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top

Fences has no control what outside of Fences. It best for you to put all your icons in Fences. And if you wish to not seeing the Fences background on those icons you can set that fence to be transparent. Only than Fences can save the layout into your layout snapshots.

 

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

HUH?????????????

Years of use and it ALWAYS would restore my independant icons to the locations they were saved at.  Not until Windows 10 did I start having problems.

Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top

I don't really think it can be done. Since you're switching between single monitor and multi monitors back and forth. Not sure if it possible before. As far as I know what ever outside of Fences than Fences can't control it. Its all on Windows desktop control.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top

Ah, so, its true that it is not Fences fault, it is Windows 10 issue.

Thanks for clarify it.

 

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top

I also have this problem in every detail as mentioned by the original author.

A system reboot is required in order to get Fences to align things again.

 

Please look into this.

EDIT: 
Also --- re-arranging monitors in the control panel, changing screen resolution, disconnecting monitors, etc. does not resolve the issue.

Reply #15 from Stardock Forums Top

Something interesting in the registry (seems to be a bug):

"PrimaryMonitorLast" = "\\.\DISPLAY6"


Manually changing the value to "\\.\DISPLAY1" doesn't stick, it reverts back to "\\.\DISPLAY6". 

I only have two monitors. 

Reply #16 from Stardock Forums Top

Hi there -- any information on this particular issue? Can this be looked into for Fences 4? 

I don't care if I need to purchase the next version -- I would just like this fixed. 

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Reply #18 from Stardock Forums Top

This happens to me from time to time, usually when I reconnect monitors or the video driver resets. I have to put everything back where it belongs by hand, or restart - otherwise old snapshots don't restore. This time I decided to save a profile after I put everything back in its place and diff the files.

Sure enough, the old snapshot positions everything on \\.\DISPLAY1 and \\.\DISPLAY2, while the new snapshot uses \\.\DISPLAY6 and \\.\DISPLAY7 (I only have two).

This explains why Fences refuses to restore the old snapshot. It doesn't really refuse, it does restore - but it puts everything on the primary display. It could definitely be a lot smarter about this. Instead of relying on Windows display numbering, it could be identifying them by resolution or device names or something else that stays constant.

I suppose one could blame this on Windows being stupid and renumbering the monitors - but the whole purpose of Fences is to help keep the icons where they belong even when Windows is being stupid. I'd love to see this scenario improved in Fences.