Ok, I uninstalled Panda Antivirus and this appears to have cleared up my issue with WindowBlinds.

@Crash: Yes, Antivirus software will wreak havoc on almost any software installation. The reason is, is that the software is trying to protect any files on your system from being altered (which viruses do)..and will prevent a proper installation. Especially driver updates, or Windows updates that change system files. Don't worry, we've all been thru this, which is why I have chosen to not run any AV software...no, I have not had any virus', and don't plan on getting any. Firewalls, and good ones, are your best protection along with common web-surfing sense that will keep you from getting infected.

Just to future reference to those that choose to install the crack to turn a legit trial to a full copy, you run the risk of a trojan being installed in that crack...so please, if you like the program, buy it. You've been warned that the shark bites if you swim in that ocean....swim at your own risk.

Don't buy nothing. I'm using a legit copy and I'm having the same probelm....

If YOU didn't buy it....it's NOT legit and YOU DO NOT show up as a current customer.

I can't believe how many pirates have shown up and asked for support for warez software.....unbelieveable.....and then complain that their crappy crack doesn't work perfectly.....boneheads......it would be a bit of justice if the crack included a nice virus to melt down their hard drive.

Kudo's to Neil and his team for a great protection scheme!

there need to run WB with date less then 18 december. Many programs can change system date to another date and then restore it back.

my WB already worked. I think new crack will be in 2-3 days.

GL.

personally it is with a great joy that I will buy the license for all the products stardock but the big problem for people as me who are not US and who one not of credit card and which it is impossible to however buy the software I have the money to do it, why stardock does not have a retailer in the other country as for example for micro apllication.fr for france which offers of another means of paying !!!
like zone lab's with zone alarm !!!
a person offered to me a license for an old version and I it THANK YOU again because I could make skin for the community but I cannot then ask once again the only solution which remains me and simply to leave me towards for example stylexp which has of the French retailer but it is with a great sadness.
we are very numerous in this situation and Ci certain uses of the copies pirates it is not because he do not want to pay.
there do not remain to me any more qua to call upon the generosity of the user which likes my skin to offer me the licences to continue has skinner but it is not a solution.
PLEASE retailers are needed !!!

Xav73, It's my understanding that they do. I'm fairly certain I've seen mentions of a "official" retailer/reseller in the UK and there may be others. You might want to email support@stardock.com and ask or try someone like wizop Fuzzy Logic who's from that part of the world.

first off: i have a warezed copy. but what startdock has done is just not right. the part about it not harming your computer is BS. i booted my computer yesterday, the taskbar was only half there nad not responding. i brought up task manager and it looked odd with no titlebar. the computer was painting so slow i couldn't do anything. i took about two minutes just to click something or do anythign at all. of course with the whole "integrated" thing now with WB5 i had no way of ending it. after a few reboots i finally rebooted in safe mode. the comp wasn't slow, but explorer still does not work. i uninstalled WB from safe mode. booted back into normal mode and now it's not slow either, but explorer still isn't working. it's just half there and doen't respond. i even did a repair install of XP but it didn't fix it.

now i am also a developer and all of my programs are cracked and warezed too. but i don't go screwing up people's OS when i catch them. i simply unregister the program and direct them to a page on my site that records their IP and other information and then recommend they pay for it. which they never do... but as both a warezer and devloper, i know that most people who warez wouldn't buy the product anyways, so at least if they warez the program they'll enjoy it and tell others about it who may end up buying it for themselves.

my problem is the taskbar. when i clcik windows xp (cuz i wanted default) instead of making it blue (or silver or olive) it makes it the classic windows and you cant fix it. Not to mention the first time you do it, the whole start menu is black, and foldiers within folders in the start menu do not appear.

WindowBlinds 5.0 System Information Report:

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

WindowBlinds is installed correctly 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 NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 (Microsoft Corporation)

Wblind.dll 2005/11/28 12:01:54
Wbsrv.dll 2005/11/28 11:50:22
Wbconfig.exe 2005/11/28 15:45:06
Wbload.exe 2005/11/25 19:30:58
Wbhelp.dll 2004/09/18 15:37:00
Wbui.dll 2005/11/26 18:09:46
Tray.dll 2005/11/02 13:28:26


I got this from download.com

I bleieve it is legit

i have a warezed copy. but what startdock has done is just not right

I see, so protecting your software from theives is not right? But for your information, there is nothing wrong with Stardock's software, it is the illegal crack which is faulty. WB didn't 'screw up' your O/S, the crack did. If you used software in a correct and legal manner you wouldn't be facing these problems now.

 

a crack only modifies the file once. and since it worked just fine since the relase of WB5, the crack did not mess up anything. that's just PR spin they're feeding you.

like i said, i'm a developer and my apps are cracked, but i would never harm someone's computer because of it. i could easily, but i wouldn't. it isn't right.

it isn't right.

In a perfect world it is as right as boobs.

hum i have this probleme with the trial too ...

so if even supposedly legit users are having the problem, why did it trigger on one day, which it seems to have done? if it did, and these uers are legit or trial version, then i'd say startdock f'd up their crack-checking and just ticked off a lot of paying customers...

NanaCry
Please click the System Information link on the left hand side of the Configure WindowBlinds window. Copy the information & paste it here with a description of the behavior you are seeing.

Vanilla Ice
1) for all we know, you could have posted comment # 86. There is not enough information to know if that person is (a) using a legit copy or (b) having the same effect described in the thread header.

2) You are ignoring data posted earlier, such as the fact that not all the problems happened at the same time. I'm not going to run through it all again, but you are selecting information that supports your accusations & ignoring data running counter to your point.

3) you are making serious accusations that are unfounded. Unless you have data to support your allegations, you might consider googling the term "logical fallacy" and re-evaluate your claims.

Let the idiots hit the floor, I say.

If you're having this problem, it means you broke the law and elected not to download even the free, legal version of the program. They are under no obligation to help you. The fact that you expect them to help you is laughable. Now go ask your mommies for $20 to buy a liscence or get out.

Vanilla Ice:

I'm not a StarDock person but I must say I cannot totally agree with your point.

Also as a developer, I wish my users to buy my programs so I can live my life. If there are many users not buying the programs but just use the pirate copies, how do you earn your money for a living?

Yes, I know there are many open source developers who are willing to give their programs or code for free. But we are not those people and we need to live our lives so we make the protection mechanisms.

Please respect others who still make a living by making and selling the programs.

To StarDock persons,

I agree we should protect our IPs by making protection mechanisms, but I also do not think to make user's system to be that slow or mulfunction is right. However, it's your choice.

Regards,
H.T.

Vanilla Ice

If you were a "developer" in any real sense you might just be questioning the qualifications of the 'cracker' and whether the crack was not faulty.....

Here's the evidence so far...

People with legitimate Windowblinds [example - me] did not have an issue...today, yesterday, or any other day.

People with an illegitimate Windowblinds ...with crack applied [example - you]  DID have an issue.

To 'cloud' this issue a little, there will always be a legitimate user somewhere who has an unrelated issue, only contemporaniously coincidental. [example - person who mentioned a trial AV proggy].

Now...

It all means there are actually TWO programs on your machine Windowblinds, and the crack for it.

As seen by MY experience/example, Windowblinds didn't cause me harm, ergo it is NOT the culprit.

Guess what?

That leaves the crack as the fault [bit of a pun, there].

I say.....run off now....and sue the pants off that cracker.

Then....here's a trick....

Purchase a legit copy of Windowblinds....and enjoy that which you apparently WANT to.....and WITHOUT fear of kiddie-coding going wrong.

On a similar note....please remember that the skins you wish to apply FOR Windowblinds were created freely [mostly] for LEGITIMATE users of the product.  The skinners wholly support Stardock's application and will not be all that happy having them available to unconscionable thieves.

This is one reason we tend to deny access to Wincustomize.com from people who profess to be using Stardock warez... 

You know, I have a illegal copy too. I don't want it anymore. If I see, what it does, i see what can cracking do. I believe that there will be more programs with such a protection.

I'm going to buy the legal version, but the bad things are:
- I can't buy it from Poland
- Even if I could, I've no cash

That was all, I want to say. I believe in a bit of years I can afford it.

aimzzz, you are correct. i did ignore earlier data posted. i just didn't have time to read it. so if it is counter to my claims, then i'll admit i'm wrong. but the impression i get is that is mostly occured on one day.

Mr Hsiang-Tai Chien ,
i don't make a living off of my software. it's just extra income. but harming a pirater's computer will not make me any more money. i understnad that those types of people (which i am a part of) will not buy every program they use. there's too many apps and not enough money. i mean i have to have a graphics program, an ftp program, a winzip program, a cd burning program, etc, etc.
but this thread isn't about warez, so i won't get further into the principle behind it.

i have tried my hand at cracking. in fact i will say i cracked an early version of a certain stardock program. i didn't release the crack, but did it for educational purposes. i don't even like or use that program... i know how cracking works. and i know how protections work. a crack could not cause a program to err on a certain day unless the cracker added malicious code. which i find highly unlikely. on the other hand, timebombs in software is very common. microsoft does it all the time. i have done it myself. because if the program errs as soon as it's cracked, then the cracker knows more needs to be done. but it's all in how you handle the matter once the cracking has been detected.

i can't say for certain stardock is out to damage people's computers. i would hope they wouldn't. but the claim that a patch gone bad can cause what has seemingly happened is dubious at best.

I can't believe how many pirates have shown up and asked for support for warez software.....unbelieveable.....and then complain that their crappy crack doesn't work perfectly.....boneheads......it would be a bit of justice if the crack included a nice virus to melt down their hard drive.

I do not believe calling people names would make this "issue" any better.. The administrators (or whatever they are called) did not even resort to calling us, warez users, names, so, SAVE IT. Also, if I wanted to buy a copy, it is quite difficult. I have no credit card (but I DO have the money -- cash), so I can't buy anything online. Now, that's ONE problem. Two, there are NO Stardock products available in ANY store from where I'm from. Have you any idea how many stores I have gone to just to ASK if they have Stardock products? After my friend gave me the CD-R copy of WB, I tested it out and liked it. I wanted to get a legit copy because I knew, one day, that I would need technical support. But, unfortunately, Stardock doesn't go out of the U.S. (as far as I'm aware), so there is no other possible way for us non-U.S. residents to get a copy of WB other than "you know how."

---

Also, I have to agree with the poster who said that saying "This can ONLY happen if you downloaded a copy of our software illegally (copyright infringement) and installed a crack to bypass the activation system (illegal)" is just WAY out of bounds.. In this world, it is understood that nobody and NOTHING is perfect, so how certain are you that the legit copies of WB don't make such an error, as well? I mean, even other companies consider this type of possibility.. There ARE faulty products out there, legit or not. I don't blame the developers (etc) because that's just the way it is. Errors happen in every blink of an eye and it's rather hard to keep track of which is it that you got right, and which is it that you got wrong.. So, let us not conclude that this error ONLY happens IF, and ONLY IF, the user is using a warez copy. There's no telling how many factors there are that could have possibly caused this kind of mess.

btw, as many people know, there are patches for uxtheme.dll to use unsigned xp vidual styles. i use that as well as patched kernels for custom boot screens as well. never had a single problem. it is safe to patch even system files, because you are only modifying the section of the file that you need to. it doesn't affect performance or induce bugs.

also, my file that logs the names and ips of people pirating my program is probably like, 700KB now. if everyone who used my program bought it i'd be rich. i sell almost none of that particular program. and it's less than $15. you can try to discourage pirating, but it is only marginally effective and you're not gonna convert piraters to buyers.

i read in a gaming magazine, an article written by a game developer. he says he would rather someone pirate his game than buy a used copy. because he makes no money off of sales of used copies. but at least he says maybe tho who pirated the game will have more money in their pocket to buy something else with. maybe even another game that he makes, that they really want. i don't know if that applies here, but it's interesting nonetheless.

i can't say for certain stardock is out to damage people's computers. i would hope they wouldn't. but the claim that a patch gone bad can cause what has seemingly happened is dubious at best.

I can say for a certainty that Stardock is NOT out to damage people's computers....

and...

I have been around long enough to KNOW a patch can 'go bad', AND that it can be a Trojan, and malicious, and even how to spell 'astalavista', too....

Citizen Link632

You do not NEED a credit card to purchase Stardock software...send a cheque...[just one alternative]...

I'll hunt down the link to the full list of alternatives...

But, unfortunately, Stardock doesn't go out of the U.S. (as far as I'm aware), so there is no other possible way for us non-U.S. residents to get a copy of WB other than "you know how."

i bought all stardock's software from the commonwealth of dominica (read small island in the middle of nowhere)...over the internet...i do not have a credit card....i borrowed (with her permission) my australian girlfriends credit card to do it, and everything worked with no problems...this is also how i purchased my subscription....at no time did i have any problem geting the software from stardock....

everyone knows someone who has a credit card...if you have no money, tough..how do you have a computer in the first place, especially a resonably expensive one with the abiltiy to run WB5...i am by no means wealthy..i earn very little a year, but i really like all stardock products, so i bought them for what is really very little money..

Q:  I don’t have a credit card. How can I purchase Stardock software?

A:  We also accept checks or money orders in US funds (no Eurocheques, please, as they are not certified funds).  Please print and use the order form at https://www.stardock.com/order.txt (also found in the directories of Stardock’s shareware products) and mail with payment to:

Stardock Systems, Inc.

15090 Beck Rd., Suite #300

Plymouth, MI 48170

USA