Thanks, but have learned to set a restore point immediately before loading anything so isn't too much hassle.

Ah, reading other forums here I think it may be an icon packager problem not windowblinds. I had installed windowblinds, said no to running the program immediately and then installed icon packager "while I was there" before restarting. Other people have reported problems the same as mine following the latest IP being installed

yep, windowblinds running perfectly, have not dared to load Icon Packager.

Now I cant even install properly, apparently, maximum activations have been reached.

I tried to uninstall IconPackager and then install WB but that won't work for me

Chris

I want to buy Windowblinds 5 and downloaded the free version to check it out. I have installed and uninstalled it 5 times. Each time I try to run it, I get the message to reboot!

What the hell is that?

I have never had a program in my life keep asking me to reboot and not work!

Please give me a direct answer or I will never purchase a program from your company ever!

gtc954:

Steady! I understand your frustration - I'm experiencing the same issue. However, each of us is likely to be experiencing this problem for different reasons related to hardware and software combinations unique to our configurations. It's not really helpful, or likely to garner the kind of response that you are after, to make threats to a group of people who are largely end-users like yourself. Yes, there are Stardock techs operating in these forums but check out the volume of posting that goes on and you'll get a sense of what they have to wade through to get issues like this one. Also, they have to contend with my initial point: each of us is running vastly different configurations.

Check your msconfig startup tab for security apps that might be preventing the WB installer from modifying the registry on reboot and you'll be taking the first step down the road to troubleshooting this. Check out the other threads in the forum and you'll note that some antivirus and/or firewall apps have been implicated in this particular problem. Are you running any of them? If not, what IS running at startup? You might try posting more information about your particular configuration (cpu, ram, xp version, other apps running, etc.) so that when a tech DOES read your post he/she has more to go on than a rant.

Patience! You'll note that some of us have been posting in this thread for almost a week. This will get sorted out, but it will take time.

Mike

gtc954: If WBconfig says you need to reboot, it means that part of WindowBlinds is not installed correctly.

Did you get any error messages during install?

If you open regedit and look at these keys, do they exist?

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Notify\WBSrv

In most cases we believe this is caused by an application that is 'protecting' certain registry entries to stop apps from autostarting.  While this can be a good thing, they need to prompt the user as during software installation you want to autostart things sometimes!

Additionally, if you have antiwpa.dll on your machine, this may be conflicting with WindowBlinds - as WindowBlinds will believe it is running in safe mode and so shutdown.

what is antiwpa.dll ?

No error messages during install.

That key does not exist.

Sorry I thought this was strictly a support forum, and I was probably to pissed to have posted until I calmed down. My error..

gtc954,

Antiwpa means that you are using a pirated copy of windows.  it is and

Anti W.indows P.roduct A.ctivation hook dll. That Pirates use to steel Windows, AARRRrr!!!!

I've tried to get WB5 working today and got a bit further in the process. After uninstalling nitroboot I added the

DisableStage1=1

to the wb.ini file (as suggested in the "hefty cpu usage on 5??" topic). This seemed to solve the cpu problem on startup, instead of a 100% cpu load it was 0-2%.
But when I tried to open notepad it went wrong again. The cpu raised to 63% and it seemed like nothing happened, I could see the notepad thingy in the startbar again but no real program window. So I opened the taskmanager and started moving it around on the screen, while moving it around, the area where notepad usually appears started filling with task manager screens. So it seems WB5 somehow prevents the program window from displaying. Now I don't know what to do about that, any ideas?
It is also pretty strange that the task manager is displayed correctly.

Chris

BTW: The registry keys exist on my machine and I don't have the antiwpa.dll. And I only run Norton AV and Internet Security to protect my system and I don't think they block programs without asking me.

_chris_: so you left the DisableStage1 = 1 line in wb.ini and notepad still used lots of cpu?

Do you have a per app setting for notepad set?  If you set it to excluded, does it then open with low cpu?

I assume you had taskmanager up to see cpu usage, was that skinned ok?

Well I couldn't open the windowsblind settings because applications that are more "heavy" like windowblinds or SDC won't load at all. So I guess that the windowblind settings are still set to standard. Therefore I have not set it to exclude notepad, nor have I done this with WB4. The skin that loads on startup is windows classic, at least that is what the taskbar and start menu look like. The task manager was also skinned in the classic skin and looked ok.
The above all happened with the DisableStage1=1 line in wb.ini

When I remove the DisableStage1=1 line from the wn.ini file the taskmanager looks very strange, it doesn't have any borders or the little cross in the upper right corner. And the bar with the file button is black.

Another thing is that I can easily navigate through the taskbar and start menu without any problems, so the problem really seems to be located at the program windows.

I am now looking for a way to exclude WB from skinning notepad.

Chris

Edit: to answer your question, yes notepad used a lot of cpu with the DisableStage1=1 lin in wb.ini
Edit 2: Do you need to have SP2 installed for WB5, because I am still running on SP1?

I tried booting again with the DisableStage1=1 line in the wb.ini file. And the first time I had all the problems again wbconfig.exe took 50% of cpu and the other 50% was divided between other apps that wouldn't load. So I restarted and then windows booted ok cpu was back to 0-2% and wbconfig.exe took nothing, though the task manager was skinned weird again. Just like I described above, but on a closer look it does have its borders and all but it looks compressed. I don't really know how to explain it but it looks as if someone kicked it from beneath, there is a huge blank space at the bottom that looks like the task bar and the top thing with the little cross is like 2 pixels high.

Anyway I can't set WB to exclude notepad from the skinning because I can't load any app so I can't bring up the WB config display. I tried to open that in safe mode but then it tells me that it needs a reboot before WB will work. Is there another way to exclude notepad from skinning?

Neil,

You said something about the possibility that an other program somehow messes up the starting of WB. So I disabled all the startup programs in msconfig and then tried booting but that wouldn't help. This time MSCONFIG.exe took all cpu.
Then I tried a diagnostic startup but even then the system jammed.
And after uninstalling WB everything works fine again.

Chris

Edit: Noted that I never gave any system information so here it is:

Intel P4 3.2 GHz HT
3.0 GB DDR2 SDRAM
ATI X800 XT 256 MB
Windows SP1

i have the same problem, everytime I run WB 5 it asks to reboot now or later

what a waiste of time and money, now i know why it was only $20

If WB asks you to reboot and you have rebooted then there are 2 possible reasons for this:

1) You have an application which is 'protecting' certain registry keys.  These keys are important to WB and the WB installer must be able to write to them.

2) You have antiwpa.dll installed on your machine.  This will tell WB its in safe mode and so WB will disable itself automatically.

i did a system search including hidden files and it didnt find antiwpa.dll

i also disabled every startup program via msconfig and i dont have any programs that would protect my registery

Gabe3: Please send an e-mail to [email protected]

I thought it was a better idea to go back to WB4 and wait for a later release of WB5. But now WB4 has exaclty the same issues.
When I try to load a program that should be skinned by WB it won't load and the cpu goes to 100%. Winamp does load however, but it is not skinned by WB.
I don't understand why this happens because WB4 used to work like a charm on my computer.

Chris, I have switched back to 4.6 as well. I can change skins through display properties but not through wbconfig. See if that helps.

If it continues with WB4.6 then it suggests its not WB causing the issue.  Check wblind.dll is the right date for WB 4.6 though.

What other apps do you have running?  Be aware that msconfig will not list every app running at startup.

Also if you have a file called iprepair.dll on your pc, try renaming it.

Just popping in to report that I still haven't successfully installed WB. I've uninstalled ActiveWords, uninstalled a number of security apps that may be blocking WB's access to the registry and I am still being asked to reboot. Once I get launched down this path, the only way to actually get WB functioning is to reinstall it. If I do this I am asked to reboot, which I do and Windows launches with the "Retro" theme and I can then play to my heart's content UNTIL I HAVE OCCASION TO REBOOT. Then WB reverts to asking me to complete the installation by rebooting and the above cycle begins anew.

I am at a loss to explain this and will now sit on the side until a new build is released. Hopefully the next build will resolve this issues.