Need HELP! Taskbar/Explorer Hangs after WB5 install?

Best I can tell it seems to be related to the latest ATI Radeon Driver?

BTW, not just the taskbar, but explorer.exe is the hang.  I can run taskmgr, kill off explorer, re-run to a point, then it hangs again...

Ideas?

On thing that you can do is:
- Ctrl-Alt-Delete bring the taskmgr
- kill explorer.exe
- from the taskmgr: File->Run: explorer.exe

So WB5 finish initializing itself. After that it worked fine for me. It looks like that there could be some timing issue and deadlock depending of what you are running at startup.

Have you run the explorer shell without running WB5 yet to test?

If shell runs without WB5 applying a skin, you might try applying a skin > apply one of the Windows defaults using WB5 > reboot > apply the Windows XP theme via "Display Properties > Themes tab" > reboot > apply the skin you want using WB5 and reboot to test.

During some 10-12 testing procedures which included "Installing/testing/uninstalling/clean install of OS/clean install of WB5" on both a notebook and homebuilt desktop - I have found that the first time WB5 applies a skin after installing, and the subsequent unloading of WB5 can result in strange behavior in either the Display Properties dialog, or in explorer shell. When this happens (not a consistent issue), I have found that rebooting and successfully restoring the default Windows XP theme, and then reapplying a skin using WB5 has always cleared the issue.

I also saw the shell resizing (maximize and restore) having some slow redrawing after the current (RC), and then it improved for some reason which is not clear to me. The shell resizing behavior reminds me of when I was running a PC with onboard graphics, and running ObjectDock with magnification on.

I currently run ATI Radeon X700 Pro (256 MB) AGP and the 5.11 display drivers on the desktop, and have found the redrawing in 4.98 beta seems to be better than the new 4.99 (RC) - though I have not had time to fully test, and the official release will be out next Tuesday - so I will probably just hold off on testing.

Another option would be to download say the 5.9 drivers, as well as the uninstaller utility from ATI web site, and uninstall the 5.11 drivers > reboot > install the 5.9 drivers and then test the shell.

Not knowing the program from a coders' point of view, I do not have any suggestions for manipulating files or settings to fix the issue, so that is it for me.

Good ideas, but my problem is getting wbconfig to run in this "hang state". Only app I can get to run is tsk mgr->run cmd. When I re-run explorer, I get to the same state (freeze) very fast...

I had a similar problem, and the latest release I grabbed from Stardock Central, seems to have resolved it. They mentioned hanging apps, and ghost windows, both of which I was seeing, in addition to Explorer hanging, and the inability to do a right-click/properties.

Completely removed WB & Stardock. Still hangs...

Guess it's time to wipe it clean & stay away from WB for now...

If WB is removed and your PC still hangs then WB isn't the problem.

See if you have a file called SDMCP on your HD and rename it, any better?

geekboy2000: the mentions of hanging apps & ghost windows is nothing to do with WB making apps hang.  Its how WB handles windows which have hung.

Neil,

Fresh XP w/sp2 install machine works like a champ.  WB install, machine hangs.  WB removal, machine hangs.

In my book that means WB -IS- the problem.

Where would I find SDMCP? 

Have the same problem. running ATi Radeon 9550 on 5.9 display drivers and latest WB 4.99a(rc)003. Its happened once before with an earlier build. But, with latest build its happened 2 or 3 times. I renamed SDMPC and after 2 reboots everything seems to be OK. On my box it is here: c:\Program Files\Common Files\Stardock\SDMPC.exe. Will see  will it happen again.

After 2 days the same hanging is happening again.

Workaround is pretty easy: kill explorer.exe in task manager and run it again, but it is annoying.

Is there any better solution?

Try disabling the WB system tray icon.

Does that help?

No joy...

I will try. But it is happening once in few days without obvious reason. Hopefully WB5 final will fix it.