Problems with WindowBlinds v4...

Just to note in case it makes a difference or not:

I am running XP pro (sp1)with StyleXP installed as well. I would not mind dumping StyleXP since I understand it can convert or run unsigned .msstyle themes as well.


(edit: it just occurred to me that I posted this in the wrong area- my apologies)

Some older WB do not skin taskbar and start menu, try using a recent WB and see if you still have the same problem.

So far I have downloaded the "StrangeWorld" WB which has a msstyle equivalent and a few others which do not have these alter versions. They all claim to have XP shell style support. I am afraid that it still does not work.

I have also unchecked the options of "always use the XP taskbar defined in..."

If I remember correctly, somebody also had the same problem recently. They had WindowBlinds 3 previously and now had WindowBlinds 4. Is the same true for you? I wasn't sure what the actual fix to it was, but I think it was this:
First uninstall WindowBlinds. Then, in the Registry Editor, delete the following keys (back them up first as well in case I'm wrong):
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\WindowBlinds
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Stardock\WindowBlinds
Then delete wb.ini in C:\Windows\ and if the WindowBlinds directory is still there, delete that as well (but make sure not to delete the skins. It'd probably be best to just rename the folder). Finally, reinstall WindowBlinds.
Hopefully, that'll fix it, but first I'd see if anybody else has a better solution to your problem.

If this is relevant:

I did, sometime ago, alter my explorer.exe file in C:\WINDOWS with "resource hacker" so that I could rename my "start" button.

I reverted back to my original "explorer.exe" file. And that solved the problem strangely enough. It seems that Windowblinds will only recognize the default file. My WB themes are performing flawlessly now. Mark one up in the lesson books for future reference.

Thank-you for all the help, anyways.

boy if i just had a quarter for every one of the help threads relating to WB...hmmmmm

In all honesty, I love my Icon Packager app and it's versitality in handling windows icons, however, WB is not very user friendly and, it seems that it only takes a minor tweak or "jolt" that differenciates from the "norm" to completely throw it out of whack. The themes themselves, though very appealing, take a deal more effort to completely apply whereas the standard .msstyles theme files take no more than a click.

I will play around with WB some more, but IMO, StyleXP seems to offer more along the lines of stability and ease of use.

I wouldn't blame WindowBlinds for something done to the explorer.exe, unless it actually hacked the explorer.exe.

Is it my imagination or do most of the people who have these kinda problems with WB ,have also hacked their system in some way or another and then complain about WB being glitchy.?

Food for thoughtful consideration:

It can be debated that using many of Stardock's theming programs or even TGT Soft's Style XP is nothing more than "hacking" your OS to achieve the desired result of an appearance other than the default originally imbedded in the system. In fact, of all "hacks" for your own system, running different themes using third-party applications is perhaps considered the biggest "hack" of all.

In the end, I had two "hacks" that seemed to be conflicting with one-another. Eliminating one solved the problem of my "glitch".

WB is not a 'hack'.It is a program. Style xp is a 'hack'.
[Message Edited]

Style XP essentially is a GUI for a hack of an MS file. As proof, one can run those skins without StyleXP installed at all, just by using the hack which is available on the net. When XP SP1 came out, the original hack no longer worked and a revision to the hack was needed to get the themes working again. WB doesn't work that way since it doesn't rely on actually hacking MS files. And WB can skin more of the GUI than those Style XP skins.

Use what you prefer, but I've used WB for years and found it very user friendly. Sounds like whatever problems you encountered are due to your changes to the native GUI rather than an inherent issue with the WB program. I started using WB on my old W98 box. WB 3.5 still works fine on it although the newer skins for WB4 utilize capacities of the XP GUI that are not present in the older MS OS'.

I have already concluded the "why" reason for having problems with WB. And if explorer.exe is tied to the GUI then you (sig101) are absolutely correct.

But it is still arguable that WB is also a "hacking" application since it replaces the imbedded theming elements in favor for using versions of it's own files.

It just depends on how you interpret it is all.

WB is something new for me. I do not pretend to be able to pick it up in only one day. StyleXP only allows for the running of "unsigned" .msstyles theme files. These .dll files are no different in nature than those included with the XP operating system. But they are not the intended files for the OS so they too could be considered as "hacks". My argument is simply that if the OS did not require the use of a third-party app in the first place to change it's appearance, then it is possible that the app in question may not be considered, by definition, a "hacking" app.

I disagree...WB is a MS certified program using its own skinning engine.Nothing is hacked.XP theming elements are not embedded.They can ge turned off.

It's not an equivalent. Actually Stardock worked with MS when XP was in development. But WB doesn't actually rely on cracking or replacing MS proprietary files.

In contrast, StyleXP does rely on actually replacing the native proprietary MS uxtheme.dll. Which is why people who use the crack/patch do not need StyleXP in order to run unsigned msstyles. Since MS hasn't gone after StyleXP's developers (or other products that similarly crack or replace proprietary MS files) in court, people think what WB and StyleXP do are the same thing. It isn't.



[Message Edited]

This happened to me this morning. Using the Skins Update app, I clicked 'Apply Skin'. Everything changed correctly except the task bar and start menu. I had to use wbconfig.exe to load the skin and everything was fine.