Ok - im going to be stupid here - I just bought the thing yesterday - they emailed me a link to download and my serial number.... Hmmm shouldnt the download link point you to the latest software! - And where! point me in the right direction to GET the LATEST software! - I would think that as soon as you click on support there should be a link to the latest and greatest software! - What the H3LL is stardock central!??? I bought windowblinds 5 - not stardock central - why dont they try something helpfule - click support - click windowblinds - click get latest version.... So where is the latest version if I just didnt download it yesterday!?

So tell me whats wrong with my system Corkey

I do not see anything in the your system specs that would indicate an issue.

I don't use the Fdisk command on newer drive types, but otherwise no difference installing here.

Off-hand, I would say that the ODBC source may be involved, since it does not load on reboot and you do not have anything installed that would prevent write/reads to registry.

CerebroJD's, and Hankers' suggestions to update via SDC would be the next logical step, which would install the current beta 5.00[b].009 which uses the ".ini" file, instead of the ODBC use.

Are you installing WB5 to the same partition as the system files directory (C:\WINDOWS)?

 

 

Click here to go to the Stardock Central website.

Download that, install it and fill in info as needed. Once you are into the program, you need to go into the registration info section, which can be found when you click in the bottom-right corner of the program. Select Object Desktop on the left, then WindowBlinds5 from the dropdown list. Put in your serial number there, and it should work just fine for you. In order to make sure you have the latest beta (just to make sure your issue hasnt been resolved in it), you'll need to check the "Show Pre-release versions" box at the bottom of the window.

Hope this is helpful to you.

Are you installing WB5 to the same partition as the system files directory (C:\WINDOWS)?

Not required. Mine were 4 drive letters apart at one point.

What the H3LL is stardock central!???

Stardock Central is a program that integrates the Object Desktop programs, of which WB is a part.

You purchased the "stand-alone" version, so your link went to the download for the stand-alone, which I do not believe has been updated to the newer "beta" version using the ".ini" file I mentioned. If I were a coder, I would include more information as to why this is more compatible with users systems.

I do know that after releasing the current "release" version 5.00.001 - some users ran into problems with the program finding the data source path for ODBC. This was indeed an oversight of sorts - which the developer has indicated as well.

Therefore, the move to the ".ini" file, which has been released in the "beta" version. My understanding is that Stardock is working on this update, and will release it as a full release version to the "stand-alone" version holders as soon as testing is completed (again, I do not work for or represent Stardock).

Registered Object Desktop subscribers (of which I am one) use Stardock Central to install the programs, and have access via this same program to the beta releases. I do not know if you will be able to access the pre-release (beta) versions due to owning the stand-alone version, but you may be able to.

You are entitled to use Stardock Central as a purchaser of Stardock products, and can go here https://www.stardock.com/sdnet_login.asp to enter your account information and receive a download link for the program.

Note - I apologize for any hard feelings between us, as I am only trying to help.

I must be losing my typing skills.......

Not required. Mine were 4 drive letters apart at one point.

That clears that one.

Corky - Thanks! im not trying to be an @ssH0le on here - If im going to pay hard earned money my wife did not want me to spend in the first place - and then it doesnt work.... well maybe you know... ok I did that stardock central thing... updated wb5 - here is the system info now:

 

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 NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700LE

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

 

now when I reboot the machine - all the task bar buttons are black, click on what should be the start button and it looks like 3.1 - and windowblinds 5 is not in the system tray - but - if I click on wb5 and bring it up and say unload wb5 - then start it again and pick a skin everything is fine - but - this is still really unacceptable for 19.95 ... any suggestions from here?

 

Outside of uninstall / reboot / reinstall - which I would probably try first due to a possible information reading issue (due to possible leftover files from previous version) - I can only think of video drivers.

There have been some posts indicating the older drivers work better for alpha-blending support on older cards.

I run ATI X700 Pro AGP on homebuilt desktop, which has proven to work better with the 5.9 version drivers, than with the 5.10 - 5.13 versions in all applications. My notebook is a Dell machine with ATI X300 Mobility adapter and of course Dell specific drivers, but they work well.

Not experienced with a lot of nVidia products, but have read a few threads indicating their 77.72 drivers work well.

Here is a thread that requested users list their adapters, drivers, and issues - or lack there of https://www.wincustomize.com/Forums.aspx?ForumID=167&AID=96587&p=1 

an update - everytime I reboot, taks bar and start buttons are black - to resolve this i have to click the black button that should be the start button - choose windowblinds 5 - unload winbowblinds 5 - double click it again, choose a skin and everythings fine .... so unless you have some really cool registry thing or a patch, or something, this thing just wont run on my system... the walpaper is always there, task bar buttons and start button black, once you click on start button the menu that pops up looks like win3.1 .... i just need this thing to be the same no matter how many times i reboot - otherwise i need a refund

 

Nvidia 81.95

mine is not too old of a card - it is an Nvidia Geforece FX5700 with 256 megs of memory, using nvidia driver version 81.95

cnlevo: I agree with yrag - I'd look to SpyBot as the culprit. First, try uninstalling WB5 in its entirety. Maybe even use the OD zapper (the link is elsewhere on this thread). Reboot. Unload/disable the Tea Timer (if you are using it) and try again. If that doesn't work try uinstalling Spybot and reinstalling WB5 after a reboot.

I do not have tea timer running. I disabled that on the install. I have tried MANY things. I think I'm going to just wait for an update so this problem can be fixed and I don't have to ghetto install this. This is WAYYY to much stuff to go through for a program that is supposively the number one windows customization program out there. This is exactly why I've been using litestep for 5 years, but x64 prohibits that. I will just stick with wb 4.51 until the next release. Hopefully they won't release the next one so quickly before it was completely tested.

What are the main features that WB 5 supports that WB4.51 does not? The only reason I got WB5 is because it was the newest version and that there was one theme I really liked that is for WB5 only...so what are the big differences. The theme I am running now, multipass carbon, has basically customized everything

HELP - ok, now that ive done everything as many times as i could - Maximum activations exceeded - can you fix this?

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