Issues on Dual Monitors with an External Monitor

from Stardock Forums

Hello everyone,

I would like to share some problems I've encountered while using the Fences program on my dual-monitor setup with an external monitor positioned above my laptop monitor. I am currently using version 4.21 of the Fences program on the Windows 10 operating system.

I use two monitors: a laptop monitor and an external monitor. I have them placed above me. I have the external monitor placed above the laptop monitor. The external monitor, which is the top, has a resolution of 1920x1200, the bottom monitor has a resolution of 1920x1080 and a scale of 125%. My desktop is divided so that on the upper monitor I have icons, on the lower monitor I have groups of Fences icons.

 

Issue 1: Incorrect Icon Layout After Connecting the External Monitor 5*

I sometimes disconnect the external monitor (I take my laptop on trips). If I plug the external monitor back in, the icons on the desktop never return to their original position and the icons fall to the bottom of the screen. I've already tried all the settings in the 'Layout' section and nothing works. Every time I plug the external monitor back in, I have to go back into the Fences settings, the 'Layout' tab and restore the desktop layout from the backup. It is very annoying and delaying. Additionally, the desktop layout is automatically backed up only 3 days back. If I'm away from home for more than 3 days, I also lose the backup of the correct layout and have to line up and place all the icons again (unless I accidentally backup the correct layout manually).

Issue 2: Monitor Layout Swap After Connecting the External Monitor 5*  

Sometimes it happens (randomly, I haven't figured out what the trigger is) that when I plug the external monitor back in, in addition to the problem described in point 1, the layout is swapped between the monitors. So suddenly the icons are on the bottom screen (they should be at the top) and the 'fence' icon groups are at the top (instead of the bottom). And be careful, restoring a valid snapshot from before will not help at all. Simply, as if the identification of the displays were reversed and the program thought that the top monitor was the lower one and vice versa. However, the monitor position settings in Windows are still correct (my mouse moves correctly between monitors) and the primary monitor also remains the same. I found that to fix this faulty state, after several attempts to switch between 'computer screen only', 'second screen' and 'extend' in different order via Win+P and after a while the situation is fixed. This problem is even worse because it cannot be solved by restoring the previous saved state.

Issue 3: Uncontrollable Enlargement of Columns in "Detail (large)" Mode 3*  

I use the 'Detail (large)' display mode in the icon group and the columns grow endlessly (probably every time I turn on the PC or connect/disconnect the monitor), so now I can't see anything other than the first column. And I am unable to reset the width of the columns in any way.

Issue 4: Resetting file sorting and Absence of Date Grouping in "Detail (large)" Mode 1*  

The group in 'Detail (large)' mode does not remember the order, so I have to change it manually every time. At the same time, I miss the grouping by date feature like in the native OS browser, where I can group by days (eg today, yesterday, a week ago, etc.)

 

I would like to contribute this detailed description of these issues so that we can work together to find a solution or potentially request an update for the Fences program. I am using the current version 4.21, and my setup consists of two monitors (laptop and an external monitor placed above it).

Thank you for your attention and any advice on how to address these problems.

 

windows 10 fences
10,042 views 6 replies
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

I've gone through all the posts in all the threads, and unfortunately, none of the repair tips have solved my problems, including  complete reinstallation and registry deletion.

The biggest problem I have is with 'issue 1', because it always manifests itself when disconnecting/connecting the docking station. This problem is not related to swapping displays.

No option from 'Layout auto-adjustments' helps! However, manually restoring the 'snapshots' backup works! So - there will be a problem somewhere in the program that it is not able to restore the original layout by itself and I have to do it manually by restoring from a backup.

Please fix this, it's very frustrating to have to manually restore the icon layout backup multiple times a day.

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Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,

I looked and unfortunately nothing helped me.

I sent the logs as issue SSN-58766. But I think it won't help anything because the logs only shows group positions (those are fine) but doesn't address the positions of individual icons on the desktop, which always fall to the bottom of the screen.

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
I have forwarded your problem/question 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 #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting pehavel, reply 4

Hello,

I looked and unfortunately nothing helped me.

I sent the logs as issue SSN-58766. But I think it won't help anything because the logs only shows group positions (those are fine) but doesn't address the positions of individual icons on the desktop, which always fall to the bottom of the screen.
End of pehavel's quote

 

Thank you for submitting the logs, pehavel. I have submitted them directly to the developer to review

Internal Ref: FEN-192

 

Paul Scroggins
Associate Technical Support Analyst