Fences 5 - Bug still exists - rollup Fences at the bottom of the screen do not survive a reboot

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. I have two Fences at the bottom, setup just like what you describing above, but, I don't see what you have on my system upon rebooting. It stays there where it been last night before I shut down my system. To try to reproduce you issue. I need more information on your system.

1. Windows 10 or 11? Full version numbers.
2. Single, Dual or more monitors setup?
3. Information on all monitors, resolution, scale factors (100%,150%, etc)
4. Monitors connection type, docking stations?
5. Does the issue also happening when the system awake from sleep?
6. Any other information that might be relevant to the issue. ie. other 3rd party software that control how your desktop and taskbar work.

Thanks
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

The problem of all of the Fences changing there location (from just above the Task Bar) occurs consistently after a shutdown (each Fence moves to its open position, still rolled up). 

The Fences stay in their set position just above the Task Bar on a reboot and after the screen saver blanks the screen.

The only software I have installed that affects the Desktop and/or Task Bar is StarDocks:

1. Fences 5
2. Start 11
3. CursorFX

I observed this behavior in Fences 4 as well as the currently installed Fences 5.  When using Fences 4 I had installed:

1. Fences 4
2. Start10

The problem appears to me as isolated to the Fences product.

Hardware platform

• Computer:        Dell Inspiron 16 7610
• Processor 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-11800H @ 2.30GHz   2.30 GHz
• Installed RAM 32.0 GB (31.7 GB usable)
• Product ID 00330-80000-00000-AA101
• System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
• Display         NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU
• Pen and touch No pen or touch input is available for this display
• Local fixed drive
  • Size 934.44 GB (1,003,348,815,872 bytes)
  • Free Space 383.86 GB (412,169,138,176 bytes)

Docking Station

• None, the laptop is plugged into the power brick that came with the newly purchased computer at all times.

Monitor        

• Laptop screen only (Display 1: INternal Display
• Desktop mode 3072 x 1920, 60.14 Hz
• Active signal mode 3072 x 1920, 60.14 Hz
• Bit depth 8 - bits
• Color format RGB
• Color Space Standard dynamic range (SDR)
•  
• Scale 225%
• Display orientation Landscape

Operating System

• Edition Windows 11 Pro
• Version 23H2
• Installed on ‎5/‎23/‎2022
• OS build 22635.2776
• Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22680.1000.0

End of specifications.

Thanks!

Just as a test, please lower your Scale to 200% and see if the issue appear. If yes, turn it down more 150% see it resolve it. Again, this is just a test to see the issue related to your monitor scaling. Try that and report back. You can change back to 225% after the test.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

I set the scale to 200% (Recommended) and shut down for two hours.

Once again the Fences did not stay in place next to the Task Bar (along the bottom of the screen).  They moved as usual to their rolled up position and remained rolled up.  When I hover over them they roll down and work as expected.

I am resetting my scaling to 225%.  I can see no reason to continue changing the scaling.

Craig

Please test at 100%. Don't need to wait that long the result should be immediate.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Fences 5 failed to remain just above the bottom Task Bar at 100% scaling.

I placed the Fences above the Task Bar and they were rolling up and working correctly.

I shut down.  When I booted back up they had moved to their rolled up position and remained rolled up.  Moving the cursor over them they rolled down and functioned correctly.

The problem of the Fences moving up from the Task Bar after a reboot has happened at all the Display Scaling settings I have tried (225%, 200%, 100%). 

The problem is consistent and repeatable at every reboot.

Craig

Great, thank you for the information. Try this, do Cleanboot and see if there is conflicting application with Fences. https://forums.stardock.com/486084/fences-support-faq#cleanboot

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

I am an unsophisticated user and fear the Clean Boot as it may leave me unable to recover my normal working environment.

Here are two images that when taken in whole show what my Startup environment looks like.

I note that there are two Fences,exe and Fences Settings entries.  Is that normal?

Craig

Yes, Fences needed to start twice to work properly. Not too sure about Fences setting on Startup. That never appear on my system. You can try remove it and see if that help with your issue.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Fences settings cannot be removed without removing the entire Fences App using Task Manager

Craig

This is what I get on my system. Try uninstall Fences and see if those start up is gone?

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

I disabled one Fences instance in the Task Manager/Startup and shut down.  Upon reboot the Fences again moved away from the Task Bar.

I did suggested for you to uninstall Fences, reboot and review the Taskmanager startup and check if Fences still appear there.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

I installed the newest version of Fences 5 yesterday.  No change in behavior.  It still moves the Fences away from the Task Bar after a power off.

Craig

Did you do this? And the result was?

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Yes, I did uninstall Fences including the Settings (checkbox). 

In Task Manager both Fences entries were removed.

I rebooted and installed Fences 5 from a new download today. 

Two copies of Fences.exe (2) are again present int the Task Manager Startup apps. 

I created a new Fence with 3 Icons in it and placed the Fence above the Task Bar as a rollup Fence.  It worked correctly, moving upward and unrolling and allowing software access through the icons.

I shut down.

Upon turning the Dell laptop back on the Fence I created had moved upward, above the Task Bar, to its unrolled position.  It remained rolled up.  Moving the mouse over the Fence caused it to rolldown as expected and access to the software from the Icons within it was as expected.

At no time did the Fence act unexpectedly, other than moving away from the Task Bar when the system was shut down.

Icons within the Fence did not move, none were missing.

Access to software in the Fence always worked correctly regardless of the Fence's position.

The Fence always rolls up or down as expected based upon the position of the Fence.

The Fence never moves until after a shut down, then it always moves.

The movement away from the Task Bar where the rolldown Fence was placed just above it, happens every time I shut down.  It seems to be something about the way the location of the Fence in reference to the user area of the screen or its proximity to the Task Bar is stored.  Its like the last position of the rollup Fence, near the Task Bar is never stored before/during a shut down.  Perhaps the position of the Fence is calculated incorrectly (as not in a usable area) and the last good coordinates are used.

Good hunting,

Craig

Okay, great so now on your Taskmanager startup there is no "Fences Setting" appear on startup as seen on your screenshot reply#8, yes? Another question. You said you only use one monitors but I notice you have "DisplayLinkTrayApp.exe" on your Startup list. Please, as a test, disable it from startup, reboot and see if that resolve your issue. Also, try disable, "MSPCManager". You can enable both it back after the test is done. Report back.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

DisplayLinkTrayApp does not appear in my startup apps any longer.  I do not know what happened to it but it is gone.

In Task Manger I still have two Fences entries, both have a Fences Settings option.  New: one Fences entry has a Windows host process (Rundll32) - a Microsoft Corporation entry as well as the Settings option.

The docking of a Fence to just above the Task Bar is very different from docking at the Top of the screen.

First I move the Fence to just above the Task Bar and it sits there rolled up.

Then I drag the Fence up to its open position.  When I let go of the mouse button the Fence moves back down to the Task Bar. 

The Fence then works normally moving upward and unrolling when the mouse is moved over it.

Craig

Hello again,

Not sure on what you're saying, please post a video of what you're referring to for us to understand it better.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

This has not been fixed.  it is 100% reproduceable.  I'm tired of being put off with tasks to do so you do not have to address the issue.  Shame on you.

How can Dev fix it if we can not reproduce the issue on our system? Refer my short video below. If your are doing something different on how you dock your fences on your system. Please post a video showing your way and we will try to reproduce it.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant