Natural Desktop Problems

from WinCustomize Forums
Hi, just yesterday natural dekstop started acting up on me, I've un/reinstalled it several times to no help. Anyways the problem is It seems to be stuck. I can't get it to change the local from Canton, MI to Minneapolis (which is where I am) it looks like it's sometime in january 8th even though it's almost june. The seasons right but that's about it, it's constantly raining (well the sounds there at least), and it says it's -1, none of the customizations stick. I don't know what to do... please help!

Thanks
6,222 views 17 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hello y'all!

I'm having a hard time making Natural Desktop 1.5 - that I purchased yesterday - work on my computer.

Symptoms: - the map doesn't respond to my clicks. I can't choose anything else but NYC.
- if I try to select the location manually, the drop-down menus will allow me to select my hometown, but then the loading goes on indefinitely!
- the forecast window is empty (since the app doesn't download any data)

System: Windows XP SP2, 1GB RAM, AMD 64 processor, Radeon X300

I suspect Norton Internet Security 2005 is somehow at fault here. But in Safe mode with Networking, the symptoms are persistent (as well as in normal mode with NIS 2005 disabled on startup).
Sounds and wallpapers seem to work fine, the sky shows the sun and a couple clouds all right. It seems like it's the whole weather-forecaster component that's defective.
I uninstalled - reinstalled it several times to no avail. For verification purposes, I installed DesktopX 3.1 and tried several weather objects. They all worked fine!
I'm 100% sure my router's firewall is not interfering. Here I am, at a complete loss. Pleeeaaase help me!
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
To the original poster (now probably long gone, alas): I'd guess (since it was working but stopped) that you got hit by the bug in Mozilla that messed up IE's XML parser. I believe later versions of Mozilla fixed that.

To TexasJoe: I can't immediately prove it, but I think you may be right. We have had problems with both NIS and McAfee. The problem likely to be that their malicious script protections (which are theoretically "transparent") break the script code that is responsible for most Natural Desktop features, including fetching and displaying the weather.

If there is any way of turning that particular protection off (fully off, not just "excluded for this app", I'd suggest trying that. If not, I'd try actually uninstalling NIS (if you have that option) and seeing if it works without it. If so, then I'm afraid Norton are the people to call about it, as their protections should not be causing applications to fail.
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Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
If not, I'd try actually uninstalling NIS (if you have that option)


oooooh...when i uninstalled norton it broke my BITS. reinstalling SP2 fixed it. (just in case you need to know)
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Owch. See, this is why I don't install Norton - I value my BITS!
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
well thanks a bunch for y'alls help but uninstalling NIS didn't fix the problem. I guess I'll give Natural Desktop a try next time I format my drive. I don't personally use any Symantec products. I stay away from'em, except for Norton Ghost. But this is a family rig I'm trying to install Natural Desktop on. So the choice of AV wasn't mine. BTW I use Kaspersky Personal (on mah laptop) where you don't ever have to face these problems!
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hmm. Does this link come up as a document for you, usiing Internet Explorer? http://xoap.weather.com/weather/local/FRXX0099?cc=*

If it doesn't, then it suggests that IE's XML parsing is broken. If it does come up, that's not the problem.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
On both my desktop and laptop this links out to lines of code. What exactly should it look like?
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
i got this: had to edit cuz anything between the arro brackets doesn't show up

?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?
!--This document is intended only for use by authorized licensees of The Weather Channel. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Copyright 1995-2005, The Weather Channel Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.--
weather ver="2.0"
head
en_US


blah,blah, yada yada,whole bunch more in brackets
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well, that's right. I don't know why it wouldn't be getting the actual code for you, then (we don't use weather.com nowadays, but we do use IE's XML parser). A wild guess - check that on Properties of the c:\windows\system32\msvcp60.dll file, Security tab, that Users have Read and Execute privileges? Not having that has messed it up for some people in the past.

Can you hold down Shift and press the half-circle that rotates in the window where you select your location from the dropdown boxes, then paste that in here?
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I'm sorry. I don't see no security tab on Properties of the c:\windows\system32\msvcp60.dll file. I'm the administrator and only user of my computer.
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
all right. I didn't see I could paste it. I made a screenshot and here's what it says:
ICAO, Name, Country, State: showed accurate data
Latitude, Longitude, Combined, ALT TAF, Alt METAR: all empty
Sunrise: 6:00 AM
Sunset: 6:00 PM
Time Adjust: 0
UTCAdjustMinutes: +300
Haze: 80°F - 18-26MPH S Pressure: 29.8 inches Humidity: 80% Current Time: 16:25 Last update: 6:51 PM (default info)
Updating forecasts...:
:
:
:
:
Updating forecasts...:
:
:
:
:

So how am I doing?
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
So how am I doing?



but then, i have not idea what's going on - i just clicked the link to see what I get.


ooh, just ran ND..switched zip codes...works...aaaah partly cloudy, scattered showers and a rainbow
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
check that on Properties of the c:\windows\system32\msvcp60.dll file, Security tab, that Users have Read and Execute privileges?


but, I don't have a security tab either
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Ah. You guys probably have simple file sharing on in Explorer/Tools/Folder options/View. Or are on Windows XP.

Texasjoe: Well, it seems not to have gotten a response from the website at all (indicated by the Combined METAR/TAF and alternates all being empty. That does suggest something up with the networking side of things (or failing that, an error in the script).
Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Yep, Windows XP Home Edition. What are you on?
Has anybody with Norton Internet Security installed managed to make Natural Desktop work?
I think NIS somehow breaks system files and doesn't seem to fix them during uninstallation. Then the only alternative is to reformat the hard drive because I don't believe in reinstalling Windows. I believe reinstalling Windows over an existing installation causes more problems than it solves.
Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hi guys. There is an update on Stardock Central that should fix the problem, which appears to have been caused by a corrupt standalone installer.

I recommend you:
* Uninstall the version that you have
* Get Stardock Central from here: https://www.stardock.com/sdnet_login.asp
* Login with your Stardock.net/WinCustomize account
* Fill in your Natural Desktop registration details on the Registration Info screen in Tools
* Turn on View/Show pre-release versions
* Install Natural Desktop 1.5b from the Misc section