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Help!! WB is messing up my computer!! (with screenshots)

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Help!! WB is messing up my computer!! (with screenshots)

I don't know what to do anymore... I tried everything!

from WinCustomize Forums

I have been using WB5 for about 4 days now and I haven't gotten any types of errors, whatsoever, up until a few hours ago.. I didn't even do a thing! I was using Mormegil's ChristmasTime theme (and ran it for 4 days without errors), then when I decided to come to WinCustomize.com to browse for new Objects and such, my computer hung up on me! I don't know if that had anything to do with my visiting wincustomize.com, but it couldn't have been a virus or a spyware because I just performed a general maintenance on my computer a few hours earlier (and I have been doing that since January).. Then I restarted my computer using the button on my CPU and when I entered my Windows XP account, the entire "start" bar below (the whole thing, not just the start button, but the entire bar -- sorry, i have no idea what it's called) didn't even show up! The only thing that showed up was the digital clock, and that's it.. Ok, hold on.. I don't know where I'm going anymore. I think it's better if I just show you a screenshot and maybe you can just help me out and tell me what's wrong (also, I tried uninstalling+re-installing WB5, but apparently, that didn't fix my problem)..

http://tinypic.com/ionkf5.jpg

That's my whole screen.. No "start button" and the entire "bar" at the bottom of the screen is messed up! WB also got rid of my Windows XP theme.. I tried accessing through desktop/right-click/bah blah but then that didn't work.. all it's showing me is nothing (sorry, I'm really, really sleepy and i have been trying to fix this problem since 5 PM (and now it's about (9:00).. so, that should explain why my grammar is skewed. i haven't even eaten yet!) I tried righ clicking on "My Computer" and going to "Manage" / "Services" / etc. (as one poster explained in another thread), but that didn't work -- it didn't bring my Windows XP theme back..

Please help me! I am totally clueless about what's going on! And once again, excuse the grammar. I'm typing this up real fast because I'm about to collapse.. I really hope you guys can help me! Please!

Moderator Note:

This issue is caused by the cracked version of WindowBlinds.  Don't run the cracked version of WindowBlinds and this won't happen.

windowblinds
113,550 views 394 replies
Reply #326 from Stardock Forums Top

no but it works fine ! i cant believe it myself


i dont care abou my system to restore i have a program that installs everything for me cause iam retarded

Reply #327 from WinCustomize Forums Top
frogboy, you may very well be right. the crack could have been the cause, not some intentional revenge code put in by stardock.


I happen to believe it is not and never has been "intentional revenge code" that caused the problems the crackers are complaining about.

Just for grins, though, assume for a moment that SD was able to intentionally cripple warezed versions - since uninstalling WB "solves" the problem and your system is left unharmed, I say kudos to SD.

One of the many ironies here is that a coincidental flaw in the crack & the crackers' complaining in SD's own forums may have alerted SD to a previously unrecognized anti-piracy tool. Assuming that's true, and I have no idea if it is, as long as uninstalling the crippled hacked version leaves your computer pristine again, I have no problem with that at all, and the crackers can complain all they want. It is especially funny to me that the crackers all say they were just "checking WB out" when SD makes a trialware version available for free.

Cheers,
Daiwa
CursorFX - Customize your Windows cursor
Reply #328 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Ok i have read almost all 7 pages of this well to nicely put it , garble , currently 3 hours ago my pc was working fine a lil sluggish over the last 2 days but fine......i am playing World of Warcraft "error blah blah not enough memory" .....do WHAT i have 1gig ya right
So then i tab out and lot and behold what do i see? Windows blinds being all quirky the taskbar was skinned fine but no borders or any other parts of the skin worked.

So then i think ok this is nuts , i reboot , wala , windowblinds disapears from my system , cant load WB.exe nothing , ive tried everything and to no avail nothing. Now before you go spouting off that im using a cracked version blah blah , you better check your facts , ive been a paying customer of Object Dock and Wincustomize for years now , many years i might add. And WB 5 was no different.

This in no way shape or form is a warez problem you need to stop and think that just because this person that posted about his warezd version , oh NO! thats gotta be the culprit!!! , and your sticking to it also it seems.

Well im here to tell you , YOUR WRONG , WB5 has a major bug , one that has messed up my pc and one that im not taking lightly.
Reply #329 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Hey exstasy...rather than coming on here and moaning and complaining how about you provide come system info so we can try and help you.

Start with the trouble shooting info from within wb5. also what is your system config info (cpu, ram, os, sp #, etc...)

Maybe then people will be nice.
Reply #330 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Exstasy -

I don't believe anyone has said "Only cracked versions of WB have problems" or "Exstasy is using a cracked version."

Rather than complain that you've somehow been unfairly accused and that WB5 "has a major bug" perhaps you could provide some information (in a new post) with enough detail that someone with the technical expertise to do so might be able to help you sort out what the problem "really" is.

Cheers,
Daiwa

Edit: Sorry, AAT1981 - you beat me to the punch as I was typing.
Reply #331 from WinCustomize Forums Top

windowblinds disapears from my system

Also, please clarify this statement....

Does this mean that the explorer shell is no longer skinned, or that you have lost files and/or sub-directory.

Could this possibly be an issue with the video adapter being saturated by the game, and failing upon trying to draw the shell z-order information (for any transparent/translucent borders) after quitting the game? I ask this based on the "Memory...." error message, which may be referring to the card and/or memory reserved for video resources.

I believe, that alpha-blending uses a lot of "buffer" resources to hold the z-order information.

Reply #332 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well im here to tell you , YOUR WRONG , WB5 has a major bug , one that has messed up my pc and one that im not taking lightly.


No one has stated that WB5 is perfect. There are always programs to be excluded and there might be combinations that will cause WB to crash.

But there have been VERY few (any?) people that described the crack symptoms that have posted the troubleshooting text. Many of them also were not in the registered user database. That's might suspicious. Calling an undocumented user who won' tprovbe authenticity when they are haveing warez issues a thief seems like a good bet.

I hope you show as registered. I suggest you email support@stardock.com to get resolution. I saw in another post that they are backed up. It may take a while.

Uninstall via SDC, reinstall, post your config. We'll all try to help.

Posted via WinCustomize Browser/Stardock Central
Reply #333 from WinCustomize Forums Top
well, the people who had the painting problem can't post the troubleshooting text. at least i wouldn't be able to. maybe it's cause my comp is slow already, but it was so slow with the WB issue i could do nothing. i'd wait for several minutes just for a click or a button press to happen. i did manage to get WB open and looked at it, but i saw nothing peculiar in the text. same as always i think.
i really need to take the time and try to fix my comp... not having explorer is a bit of a problem...
Reply #334 from WinCustomize Forums Top

i did manage to get WB open and looked at it, but i saw nothing peculiar in the text. same as always i think.

Vanilla Ice ....the 'solution' is to actually post this info here, not presume to be able to tell by looking at it yourself.  I know I trust Neil Banfield's determination of what 'went wrong' by looking at the data more than I ever could...you see, he wrote the proggy itself so will know what it all means.

The quaint bit is that this data can indicate whether it's a crack issue so [some] people are naturally reluctant to post it.

I would have thought that anyone professing to have a legitimate program who also is having very similar issues really SHOULD be posting the info...so that any genuine product issue can be resolved.  That is why Neil is always asking for that info....to improve the product [if needed]....

Reply #335 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Ok to all those bashing me , let me clarify

The problem i am having is almost identical to the original posters , thats why this thread irratated me.

You want proof , here you go


WindowBlinds 5.0 System Information Report:

**edit** i would post my OD serial if you would like but that wouldnt be to smart of me now would it , hope thats enough =D

STATUS : WB+ SRV+ HLP+ UI+ TRAY+

WindowBlinds is installed correctly on this PC.

WindowBlinds appears to be activated on this PC

Your machine supports per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins.

You have one monitor in total.

(COMPAQ CV735 Color Monitor) 1 is attached to NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200

Wblind.dll 2005/12/20 22:41:38
Wbsrv.dll 2005/12/20 22:57:44
Wbconfig.exe 2005/12/05 18:42:52
Wbload.exe 2005/12/21 00:04:40
Wbhelp.dll 2004/09/18 16:37:00
Wbui.dll 2005/12/06 21:29:06
Tray.dll 2005/11/02 13:28:26



------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 12/21/2005, 23:23:06
Machine name: PLAYGROUND
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
System Model: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
BIOS: BIOS Date: 01/26/05 17:26:53 Ver: 08.00.09
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.8GHz
Memory: 1024MB RAM
Page File: 371MB used, 2088MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Reply #336 from WinCustomize Forums Top
 Exstasy  thanks for that....when Neil pops in he'll be able to help you...
Reply #337 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Np Jafo took some doing to get the info from WB but i got it finally lol. Darn thing just loved to shut down every time i opened it
Reply #338 from WinCustomize Forums Top
You don't have Panda AV by any chance?
Reply #340 from WinCustomize Forums Top
#320 by Citizen Agrippa
No joy as far as my BSODs are concerned then? FYI it appears that only WB 5 does this, as I've tried a few from the 4.x familiy now, all with no problems. Might mention I'm on the latest ATI drivers (5.12 ain't it?).


#321 by Neil Banfield
No. We did have 1 report of something similar on XP 64 bit though. And thats based on 2003 server.


In that case, can I ask if it is possible to e-mail you about a refund? I really don't want to go through a BSOD evey time I want to change themes or settings.
Reply #341 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Agrippa: We are still looking in that problem, but if you do want a refund you need to contact sales@stardock.com explaining the problem & that you would like a refund.
Reply #342 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Exstacy: It sounds like your PC ran out of system resources.  That would explain the non painting & the inability to open wbconfig.  It would also explain the gradual sluggishness as the more resources in use, the slower things run.

Is this still happening after a reboot?

Reply #343 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well I know that with WB4.6 and Kerio I did have to exclude it to get it to work right.

Exstasty...One thing I did notice with your WB5 trouble shoot info...don't know what that means is that while the files have the same dates as mine 2 of them have different time stamps.

See what I mean:

WindowBlinds 5.0 System Information Report:
STATUS : WB+ SRV+ HLP+ UI+ TRAY+
WindowBlinds is installed correctly on this PC.
WindowBlinds appears to be activated on this PC
Your machine supports per pixel borders on WindowBlinds skins.
You have one monitor in total.
Plug and Play Monitor) 1 is attached to RADEON 9600 SERIES
Wblind.dll 2005/12/20 22:41:38
Wbsrv.dll 2005/12/20 22:57:44
Wbconfig.exe 2005/12/05 18:42:52
Wbload.exe 2005/12/21 00:04:40
Wbhelp.dll 2004/09/18 13:37:00
Wbui.dll 2005/12/06 21:29:06
Tray.dll 2005/11/02 11:28:26

I honestly dontly don't know what that means....it looks like we have the same build installed.
Reply #344 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Neil: If it's an investigation in progress, I don't mind waiting for a while. WB 5 is way cool and I'd certainly prefer to keep it. As long as there's hope of a solution, I'll hang on there for now.
Reply #345 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Agrippa: Do you get a BSOD on WB unload, or just on skin change.

If not on unload, what happens when you then reload WB?

Reply #346 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Neil: Yes, it appeared to only be the taskbar that was painted incorrectly. After I removed the "trial" version of Panda Antivirus, it worked without a problem. All I did was to uninstall Windows Blinds v5, uninstall Antivirus, and re-install Window Blinds 5. I performed a reboot after each of those steps prior to performing the next step.

Posted via WinCustomize Browser/Stardock Central
Reply #347 from WinCustomize Forums Top
CRasH180 ...if you have WB working well now....might I suggest AVG as an Antivirus alternative....it's definitely happy with WB....and the free ver is more than good enough [doesn't do nasty things like Norton did on mine]...
Reply #348 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Unloading and reapplying same theme works just fine it seems. Only tested once, but still. Also, not all settings crash me when applied or removed, although once again I'm off to bed so no time for testing specifics now.

If you want me to test any specific settings changes, just say.
Reply #349 from Stardock Forums Top
Exstacy: how much virtual memory have you assigned to your system? Maybe your HDD has run out of space or the swap file size is too small for your system.

When you open your Taskmanager (ctrl+alt+del) and go to the system performance tab - what does it show for your virtual memory?
Reply #350 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Ok i was half dead last night and frustrated with all of this
As for my anti-virus i use NOD32 , Kerio is my firewall and i never had trouble with WB on any time using either of these programs
It was a sudden thing....... my taskbar was painted fine , EVERY other part was not , then when i rebooted , the entire explorer shell will not skin.
WBConfig.exe upon executing 99% of the time shuts down the second i open it.
As for my system and its resources , in no way that could happen. And yes like i said it rebooted and this was the result , still is after 3 reboots.

TheLain i have my VM set for 1536MB Limit.

Neil i can do any series of test you need , dxdiag has been done i just didnt post the entire thing

Athletic i dont know what to tell you there , but mine is 100% straight download from SDCentral always has been. I have a archive of all past versions i had installed before i update so no clue.
I tried uninstalling reverting to the past one i had installed and then tried updating again.

**edit** Just to add , ive done a complete scan with NOD32 , Microsoft AntiSpyware , Spybot Search and Destroy and Ad Aware SE.
Not one thing was found. =/