Stardock Central Mess Up Windows

Bad bug!

from WinCustomize Forums
Today I decided that I should update my Object Desktop subscription.

Bad idea =\

I had payed online and started up my Stardock Central to let it update
to the newest version. Just as it updated the central I noted that
the "hidden when inactive" icons in the systray suddenly all popped
out in full view.

But guess what, the Stardock Central update removed the "hidden when inactive"
feature in Windows

I tried for 3 hours to find some way to get it to work again
but got so irritated I uninstalled Stardock Central and made
a System Restore back to yesterday

That returned the feature.

Then I read that other people are getting their systems
destroyed from different Stardock products

What's up with this crap!?
16,744 views 25 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top

"If" it's a glitch it's hardly earth-shatteringly disasterous....and not something warranting a system restore, etc.

Just post your problem details at support@stardock.com for assistance....

Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Huh?

How come then that after 3 hours the System Restore was
the only thing that could get it working again?

Even uninstalling all OD applications, the Central and rebooting
didn't return it
WindowBlinds - Free yourself of the default settings, customize your desktop.
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top

If you adopted a more reasonable approach....and determined that the non-hiding of inactive icons was not a threat to the sanctity of your computing environment you would have waited....to determine whether there was a SIMPLE solution available before you dived in with a System-Restore.

It's much like the [old] situation with Litestep...where Windows would pop up a message saying 'you must re-install windows' so people did....and they did NOT need to.  It was a simple thing to fix but they still jumped in and claimed the sky was falling...

Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
"If you adopted a more reasonable approach....and determined that the non-hiding of inactive icons was not a threat to the sanctity of your computing environment you would have waited....to determine whether there was a SIMPLE solution available before you dived in with a System-Restore."

I'm sorry but can't you read?

I sat for three(3!) bloody hours!! trying every single little thing
I could think of that could solve it.

Since SDC has no business messing with my systray unless I
give it permission to I intended to figure out what was causing
the shit.

Even downloading the whole SDC install and doing a fresh install
created exactly the same problem.

I was just lucky to have a System Restore point created yesterday
that corrected the mess.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I'm sorry but can't you read?

Yes, quite well, thanks...

If it were me I would have probably looked at effort vs. return ... as one does with most problem-solving and just waited and/or sought assistance online.

There was/is no real 'need' to waste 3 hours attempting to solve something that, as I already said, is hardly drastic or disasterous.....and certainly not a system-restore, which might or might not cause other issues worse than the one you are dealing with.

Usually when something goes gaga on my machine I search via Google for similar issues...and solutions....and failing that, I ask.

With a Stardock Proggy....a great place to go to FIRST is here, #stardock [IRC] and/or email the Company for support.

IF all that fails....and one simply MUST hide them icons, THEN [maybe] resort to a Restore....

But not before....

Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Did you right-click on your clock in the system tray...and go to Customize Notifications? That's how it works on my Windows...
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
yes lilstarfish....I can relate....on the 22 of June, 2 days before taking vacation & leaving my home province of Nova Scotia, I noticed many of the icons in my Widgets folder were mostly coming up with the "Accessability" or Handicapped icon...tried to do a simple change the icon function with the latest release of Icon Packager & ended up locking ALL my system icons onto the one I switched in my Object Desktop Widget folder. I then decided to remove & reinstall Icon Pacdager AND Desktop X as the icon changes couldn't be switched back figuring somehow the data got corrupted. Painstakingly swithched EVERY icon in my system back to what I wanted after the reinstall & everything seemed fine....logged off for the night but in the morning when I booted up, my Security wasn't initializing. Removed THAT & called my ISP for the dowload link & re-installation walk thru....WELL.....when I tried to bring up a browser I was unable as my IBM Credit Card Ethernet driver had been removed with the Security uninstall....as we discovered when we decided to reinstall my High Speed Connection Manager....my ISP Tech & myself were totally mystified as this was a 1rst for this kind of problem. Annoyed, took my laptop & left for vacation, bought a D-Link Ethernet Card as I no longer have the disc the drivers were installed with on the IBM Card BUT the driver mini-port for my Security would NOT uninstall & in attempting to install the D-Link driver, my system isn't recognizing it ....this means that after 2 years of faithful usage with my Dell Laptop I have to reformat the forementioned & other things are still locked & refusing to change over & even the Icons I changed defaulted back to the default on reboot. I really do like what customizing can do for Desktops but it seems that yes, the Icon Packager I just updated in Stardock Central along with Desktop X have caused some truly unexpected & unnecessary problems... & SDC at times is iffy on updates.....I think I was a month late actually receiving the DX update even though I update once a week & my Icon Develper update comes up on the SDC load advising to download & doesn't update the App....I have purchased most of Stardock's products & did so separately, opting to go slow & add on App by App to see how things went year or so ago & didn't purchase the Object Desktop Suite as I had problems with Suites in freeware....I will reinstall these customization apps after the reformat & reinstallion of all my apps but should it happen again.......well, we will cross that bridge when we come to it.....

Fondest Regards From Atlantic Canada
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
As a side note,

I unload all programs and return to default Windows theme including all icons, as well as deselecting any option to "run at start-up", before installing anything - even updates.

I know it is old fashioned, and often not necessary, but using the Windows 9x methods (reboot after installing anything, etc.) - has always been good to me.

Though I have seen some issues, they have - for the most part - been workable, and the Google is a good thing.

I am thinking that the Stardock MCP may be involved here, though not certain.

My SDC install is done by disconnecting from the internet during initial install, then running offline and selecting/deselecting the options I want in "Tools>Settings", then connecting to the server and installing what I want.

For a stability issue, I would recommend not installing any Beta versions of either SDC, or other applications - as well as requiring confirmation before installing. At least this way, if something goes wrong, one knows exactly what one allowed and can search out an answer much easier.

Hope things go better for you in the future.
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
MCPCore.dll in the folder C:\Program Files\Common Files\Stardock
refuses to be deleted even after uninstalling Stardock Central.
For some unknown reason it is running silently in the background

How do I remove it?
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
MCPCore.dll in the folder C:\Program Files\Common Files\Stardock
refuses to be deleted even after uninstalling Stardock Central.
For some unknown reason it is running silently in the background


You will need to end the process before deleting - either via Task Manager (preferred method), or perhaps unregistering it via command prompt.

It is usually: regsvr32 /u FILENAME.dll

If you are not sure on unregistering a service, I would contact Tech Support.

Note - if you are running other Stardock programs - especially ObjectDock or DesktopX - removing the service may cause problems.

I hope this helps.
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
"You will need to end the process before deleting - either via Task Manager (preferred method), or perhaps unregistering it via command prompt."

Yeah, the problem is that it's not visible in the Task Manager.

And undegistering it through command prompt doesn't work either.
The feedback says *LoadLibrary("MCPCore.dll") failed - The specified module could not be found.*
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
*LoadLibrary("MCPCore.dll") failed - The specified module could not be found.*


This would indicate that something else is holding on to the "MCPCore.dll" file, which is not actually running.

If you are running Windows XP, my last thoughts would be:

1 - Go here Link and perform a clean boot (paying special attention to the text regarding "Load System Services" - which if disabled will remove System Restore points).

After a successful clean boot, try to delete the file manually.

2 - If this fails, then the only option I know of - other than Tech Support - is to reinstall SDC without being connected to internet, then running it offline and going to "Tools > Settings" and deselecting the two options for the MCP and selecting "Check for Stardock Central Release updates on startup" and "Prompt before updating Stardock Central" - close program and reboot.

Reconnect to internet > start SDC > update SDC to the officially release update if offered, then close SDC and reboot computer.

Uninstall SDC, reboot computer, delete the "SDCentral" folder in the "\Program Files\Stardock" folder.

3 - Since I do not write programs, I must defer to Tech Support.

Hopefully, one of these will help.
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
One last thing that occured to me, was to delete the "Stardock" folder (if it exists) in C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Local Settings\Application Data" folder.

I am thinking, if there is a cache written there which uses that ".dll", it may be creating an issue.

Just a thought.
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Now you got me digging,

You can use the command prompt and type tasklist /m

Hit Enter

This will show a list of all processes, modules, etc. that are running.

If you find the "MCPCore.dll" in the tasklist.exe section, you can use tskill MCPCore command to kill process.
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Many thanks Corky_O for your kind help in this very annoying matter =D

The oddest thing...it wouldn't be deleted but I could rename it(!) so I rebooted and was able to finally delete it.

These are the oddest happenings I've been through for a very long time.

I reinstalled SDC and WB, IP etc but the systray is still messed up.
My Steam games also refused to start so I uninstalled Icon Packager 3.00.090
and removed iprepair.dll in the registry and was able to get the games running
again.
https://www.wincustomize.com/Forums.aspx?ForumID=166&AID=80214#613209
Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
lilstarfish,

Good to hear you found a reasonable solution.

It does indeed seem that IconPackager 3.00.090 has some bugs that are creating some significant issues.

Perhaps the additional shell functions and the needed ".dll" files to provide the functionality is at the root cause of problems.

Hopefully, they will design a fix soon.

Note - I had an issue with the system tray icons not showing up consistently, and after disabling the Stardock MCP option, I have not seen the issue (it was especially problematic with Norton Internet Security tray icons) - though I was able to use this solution because I do not use ObjectDock's system tray functions or DesktopX.

I have also seen fixes for system tray problems by copying the "sdmcp.exe" file to the "Startup" folder in the users Documents and Settings directory - go figure).

Again, glad to help in any way I can.
Reply #17 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Glad to se this thread . I thought it was me doing something wrong but apparently other folks were experiencing issues as well.

With me the XP COM+ service failed to startup .This had the result of loads of applications failing to register .I tried re-installing COM-catalog in its entirety by following the procedure described here :
Link

But to no avail . I ended up re-installing Windows XP and SP 2 ( apparently system restore doesn't work with COM+ service failing )and after that re-installed SDC . I installed Windowblinds ONLY after this and everything seems to be working fine . This is indicative the problem is with another OD - compnent , maybe Iconpackager - I did upgrade to the new version just before the problems started occuring - but certainly not windowblinds or SDC itself .

Is this problem a known issue at Stardock or is it dependent on computer-configuration ( i.e. : not a bug as such ) ??
Reply #18 from WinCustomize Forums Top
OK!

Today I got mail from the support:

"Hi,
You may want to Disable the MCP notification area and see if that helps.
Open Stardock Central and go to Tools > Settings. Uncheck the options "Enable MCP Notification Area" and reboot.
Thanks."

I started up Stardock Central and it updated to a new version. I then unchecked both "Enable MCP SmartStartup" and "Enable MCP notification area support". Finally I downloaded the latest version of IconPackager with it's fixed iprepair.dll.

My systray finally works again!

It seems that SDC was the culprit but the problem has been resolved =D


Again, many thanks Corky for your valuable insights and kindness
Reply #19 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Happy endings are great.

Cheers,
Daiwa
Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top

With a Stardock Proggy....a great place to go to FIRST is here, #stardock [IRC] and/or email the Company for support.
IF all that fails....and one simply MUST hide them icons, THEN [maybe] resort to a Restore....
But not before....

From post #5

Not so silly afterall...

Reply #21 from WinCustomize Forums Top
lilstarfish : Rofl. You act like it's the most horrible problem you've ever encountered! How DARE a program misbehave on MY system!!!!!!

And to think, you could have continued on after updating, ignoring the systray problem, enjoying your computing experience and waited for the solution that they gave you withOUT wasting 3 hours and doing a system restore (which could have certainly caused much larger problems than some tray icons not hiding).

/end pointless harrassment
Reply #22 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Please note that the previous comment #20 was from
July 7, 2005


This is an old forum post.
Reply #23 from WinCustomize Forums Top

/end pointless harrassment

Didn't need starting, either, now did it?....

 

Problem solving should ideally take a natural course of action, starting with the least invasive/drastic...and ending with the degree of effort actually required once all other avenues have failed.

Case in point...

Norton AV borked on an update...so I did as requested [by Symantec] and used their removal tool to clean the install to enable a fresh.

Problem was it also disabled the MS BITS service [which is required for MS Updates, etc].

First step was to twiddle the service settings...but 'disabled' means PERMANENTLY.

Next step was to Google for 'restarting bits' and 'Norton'....

Not a lot of luck, so posted here....and yrag came to the rescue.....with a link to a sequence of 'fixes'.

Starting at one end of the 'try this'...and ending at the other...all failed except for the very last...

Reinstall Service Pack 2.

That fixed it...and spelled the demise of NAV on my system, or any future one.

Had THAT not worked the only option left was a reformat.

It's all about a logical sequence, not diving in all guns blazing...

Reply #24 from WinCustomize Forums Top
...and yes, this is a tad outdated...by sixteen months....
Reply #25 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Next step was to Google for 'restarting bits' and 'Norton'....


Jafo used Google!

I'm awaiting the other three horsemen.