De-Installation and running problems

from JoeUser Forums
Hi all

I have a problem installing and running DesktopX 3.0, hopefully some of you, more experienced users can help me. It installs, alright, but when I try to open a desktop theme, it just freezes. It loads a wallpaper and that's it. Then I have to shut it down through task manager. Next time I start it, it tells me that it didn't shut down correctly and it's giving me option to start with a blank desktop, or continue loading the previous one. Whichever option I choose, the same thing happens again.

Sometimes, when I try to open the program, it says "DesktopX has generated errors and will be closed by Windows". And "Runtime error". Now, Widgets load fine, including the manager, it's just the DesktopX app that's causing me problems.

I've tried to uninstall the program, but it won't. It says "Can't open INSTALL.LOG file". The file is in install folder, alright, but the uninstaller won't open it. So, the only way to remove it is to delete the folder and then clean the registry. I've installed it again, and the same thing happens.

I'm running Win 2K, SP 4, DirectX 9.0c, Ati Radeon 9600 Pro 128 MB, AMD Sempron 3100 plus and never had any problems with any application. My screen resolution is 1280x960 (I've tried changing that too, but to no avail). I've run DirectX diagnostics and everything is fine (I have INSTALL.LOG file and DirectX log file, in case it's needed so I can post it here).

The theme I was trying to load was "LCARSEVOLVED2" and "LCARSNCC100A". I've tried some others too, but none seems to work. Any help would be appreciated. Thanx.
2,958 views 3 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
Alen,

You can download this utility Link, then double-click the downloaded file > use the "uninstall" tab to select and remove the DesktopX installion.

Download and install DesktopX again, then download a fresh copy of the theme and double-click it to both write to directory and launch the theme.

When downloading files, right-click the download link > select Save Target as..> use the Save as type: drop-down list to select "All Files" and save to say My Documents.

This should remove any possibility of a corrupted download.

If you are running the purchased version of DesktopX, you should use Stardock Central to install the program, and also make sure to enable the two MCP options in "Tools > Settings" of Stardock Central.

If you purchased DesktopX, you can go here Link and fill out the relevant fields to receive an e-mail with a link to download Stardock Central. Just install it after that, and you can use it to install Stardock programs.

If not using Stardock Central, try the download method I mentioned to download a new copy of the shareware version of DesktopX.

I hope this helps.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
Thanks Corky. I'll give it a shot. Btw, I'm using a shareware copy. Has this been known to happen?
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Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top
Alen,

I have heard of the error messages and the "INSTALL.LOG not found" message having been seen before.

The zapper utility deals with the INSTALL.LOG issue, allowing you to remove the program, and then having an opportunity to reinstall using an uncorrupted installer file.

I believe the other messages point to either a missing "sdmcp.exe" file, some other missing file required to apply the themes, or an issue with the theme itself - be it a packaging issue at the authors end, or an incompatiblity on your system.

The best way to test the program is to install it with Windows set to the default theme > start the program > load some of the prepackaged widgets, objects, and themes to make sure they load and unload without issue.

If all is well, then download some content using the "right-click download link" method and double-click the file to install. This will force Windows and DesktopX to work together to install the files to the proper location and load the widget, object, or theme.

Note - DesktopX does run scripts, and your Anti-Virus program as well as your Firewall should either handle these automatically or warn you that the program is trying to run a script or access the internet respectively (assuming you have not told these programs not to inform you).

Usually, the firewall will notify you when a widget or object tries to access the internet to update information (i.e., weather displays).

If you still experience issues with themes not loading, you may need to look in the preferences or settings for both the script blocking function in the Anti-Virus and the firewall program configurations for DesktopX.exe.

Good luck.