ColorPad problem

from WinCustomize Forums
I realize ColorPad is no longer being developed or supported (and usually very hard to locate) but...

I've had the program for a few years now, and use it often. I like it because it's simple and very small. I needed to use it today, and when I clicked on it (Start Menu) nothing opened, but I could see it in the task bar. I tried minimize/maximize and restore, but the actual interface was no where to be seen. I tried opening it by going into my Program Files directory and double-clicking on the .exe file, same thing...only a button in the task bar. I also maxed out my resolution to 1600x1200 to see if it was hiding off screen...no luck there. I then deleted the files (no way to uninstall) and re-downloaded the zip. I still get the same thing.

Wondering if anyone here has any ideas what's happened...anyone with similar problems? If anyone could help me get things back to normal, I'd really appreciate it. I know there are other color picker apps out there, but I'd really like to keep this one. Thanks!
9,240 views 15 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
Hmm it may be at negative coords. Try unlocking your tasking and drag it to different spot on screen, such as top. Usually that resets the windows to be within the screen.

If you happen to know where it saves its settings in registry and knows how to edit it, then back it up first, then change coords ( X and Y location ) to about 100, it should be within the screen no matter what your current resolution is.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
ColorPad stores its location at these keys:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Orbit\ColorPad\xPos
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Orbit\ColorPad\yPos

They're in hex though, but just enter 0 and it should pop up in the top left.
Start11 - Customize the Start Menu and Taskbar in Windows 10/11.
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks for the help! I'll check my registry.

edit: okay, here is what I found under the colorpad keys:

xPos > 0xffff8300 (4294935296)
yPos > 0xffff8300 (4294935296)

should I be changing the numbers within the paranthesis () to zero?
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
thats insane...

That's WAYYYY off screen! change both to 0 or 100. Either hex or decimal.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks, I went ahead and modified the xPos and yPos, zero'd them out...and now I'm able to see the little window.

I have absolutely NO idea why or how it got to be that way. It's possible, the last time I used it I didn't close it before shutting down my PC, dunno! But it works great now, thanks again guys!
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Glad we helped you.

4294935296 is such a huge number. Compared to highest res ever seen by myself: 1600. Yep thats just approx 0.00006% of 4294935296. No wonder you couldn't see it when you tried higher res.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
That happened to me too. I re installed Windows and everything worked ok.
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Reinstalling is a bit of an extreme solution.

Seeing that the hex number starts with an f, I suspect it's actually a negative number. Then again, that would yield -32000, which is still insane.
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Oh yeah, I forgot about reversal of hex numbers means it's negative. It does end with 0 too.
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Guess I am a bit late here but what the heck. If you are still looking, I found version 2.4 here http://www.skinnables.org/archive.php?¤t_dir=archive/colorpad Michelle
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top

So far off screen it was on someone else's computer...

Check with the house next door...

Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Whoa. This is darn near 2 years ago!!

Lol was fun reading my OLD posts.
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Saw this on the homepage and got curious. I've had this same exact problem for several months now. Even the registry values were identical. I made the changes and there it bees. Thank you craeonics and XX. I think mine was in the next country someplace
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
"I've been to another planet ma..."
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
It's another year later  ;) 
You solved also mij problem, exactly the same. I see my Colorpad!!
Ulyssa, The Netherlands