How do I disable WindowBlinds temporarily:

While the PC is booting, hold down the Ctrl key to bypass Windowblinds.

Where can I get SkinStudio to edit skins:

SkinStudio 10

Please use:  https://cdn.stardock.us/downloads/protected/software/skinstudio/SkinStudio_10_setup_sd.exe?

SkinStudio 11

Please use:  https://cdn.stardock.us/downloads/public/software/skinstudio/SkinStudio_11_setup.exe?a=sd

Object Desktop Manager

It is also available in ODM if you have a current ObjectDesktop license

This program isn’t skinned – why not?

There are several reasons why a program may not be skinned by WindowBlinds. A few programs are protected by the operating system from skinning – for example, the DOS prompt or cmd windows in early versions of Windows. 16-bit applications are not skinned for a similar reason.

Some applications are excluded from skinning because they skin themselves – there’s no point trying to draw the windows of an app that draws them themselves. Then there are the applications that cause problems when skinned. Usually, this is because the programmer has done something non-standard or has made an incorrect assumption about, say, the sizes of windows. This can mean that windows do not display correctly, resize incorrectly, or in the worst cases can cause a freeze or crash. If no workaround can be found the application has to be excluded.

You may find that certain exclusions are not needed – as newer versions come out, bugs may be fixed, or the problem may only be a problem on a previous version of Windows. If you wish, you can try removing exclusions from the WindowBlinds settings dialog, Per Application section.

You can also add exclusions there – if you find an app that needs excluding, tell us here and if it’s found to be a general problem it’ll get put on the main exclusion list.

You can also post about it here as well as see what applications are being reported as having an issue: https://forums.stardock.com/415220/page/1

How can I temporarily exclude a program from being skinned?

For WindowBlinds 8:

 Click the gear icon in the upper right.

Click the "Per Application tab" and then click "Add...".  Browse to the location of the .exe having trouble and select it.  Once you do, in the window that appears, under the "Total Exclusion" section check the box that says "Ignore this application and do not skin it"

 For WindowBlinds 10/11:

Open the WindowBlinds configuration window:

Click the "Per Application tab" and then click "Add...".  Browse to the location of the .exe having trouble and select it.  Once you do, in the window that appears, under the "Total Exclusion" section check the box that says "Ignore this application and do not skin it"

WindowBlinds states that “WindowBlinds is not installed correctly on this PC".

We are experiencing an issue with ESET and WindowBlinds at this time and are trying to work with them to resolve it.

In the meantime, please try the following:

1. Open the configuration window for ESET, click Setup.

2. Select Computer Protection

3. Select the gear to the right of Host Intrusion Prevention System (HIPS).

4. At the bottom of the Basic Section you should see "Rules"

5. Select "Edit" to the right of "Rules"

6. Select "Add" at the bottom of the screen

7. Give the rule a name like WindowBlinds and set action to ALLOW.

8. Enable the "Operations affecting" options (Files, Applications, Registry entries)
   

   

9. Select Next

10. Then, on the Source Applications window pick Add... and browse to the WindowBlinds directory and select wbcore.exe

    

11. Select OK

12. Select Next

13. Enable "All file operations"

14. Select Next

15. Select Next on the "Files" window

16. Enable "Application operations" again

17. Select Next

18. Select Next on the "Aplications" window

19. Enable "Registry operations"

20. Select Next on the "Registry entries" window

21. Select Finish

22. Select OK

23. Select OK

24. Select Yes if prompted for User Access Control

25. Then click OK on each of the dialogs and sign out.

When you sign back in you should find WindowBlinds 8 is now happy with ESET(or rather ESET is happy with WindowBlinds)

If you still experience difficulties, disable HIPS and restart your computer.  You can read more about HIPS here.

WindowBlinds: Applied a skin but my wallpaper does not change

The wallpaper will not change if the skin does not include a wallpaper (as many do not). If you select a skin within the 'Change how my windows look' section and it does not change the background in the preview, this means there is not an included background with the skin. I would suggest in this case to apply a different background through the 'Change my wallpaper' section. 

If you are looking for the background that was shown in the preview on http://wincustomize.com , the author will usually have a link to this wallpaper in the skin's description.

How do I make skins for WindowBlinds?

WindowBlinds skins are made up of a skin definition file (a UIS file) and a collection of bitmaps, sounds and other files. There are two ways you can do it – either using a GUI editor – SkinStudio - or a text editor, like notepad. Which you use is a matter of personal preference, and it’s worth trying out both ways to see which is best for you. You will also need a bitmap graphics editor – Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop are popular choices, but anything that can handle BMP files will do.

UIS files are divided into sections, and each section defines a part of the skin – for example, one section defines what the start button looks like, and there is one for each of the buttons on the titlebar. This makes it easy to build a skin piece by piece, and also to modify an existing skin – if you are new to skinning, this is often the best way to start. Have a look at your favorite skin and see how it fits together, then try to change something.

However, a fellow skinner has created a detailed tutorial that may assist you. It can be found at: https://forums.wincustomize.com/447931/SkinStudio-Tutorial-by-Vampothika

It is also encouraged for you to ask other skinners your question/s on WinCustomize: https://forums.wincustomize.com/forum/64

How can I change my WindowBlinds randomly?

In the 'Settings' menu, there is a 'Random Skins' tab where you can set which skins you want as part of the rotation, or set it to use all of them.

Browser does not skin in Windows 10/11

Chrome/Edge

There has been changes in the way Windows 10/11 title bars are skinned in Chrome/Edge. With that, certain attributes must be added to the target of any shortcut to Chrome/Edge.

The easiest method would be to download this shortcut, unzip it, and run it.  Please make sure Chrome/Edge is not running at all when you do (check task manager to ensure it is not).  Also note that this link only works if you installed Chrome/Edge in its default location:

https://cdn.stardock.us/support/uploads/Google%20Chrome.zip

That then would be the shortcut you use to open Chrome each time.

What was done to that link was adding the following attributes (bolder here to illustrate) to the target:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" --disable-windows10-custom-titlebar

"C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --disable-windows10-custom-titlebar

"C:\Program Files\BraveSoftware\Brave-Browser\Application\brave.exe" --disable-windows10-custom-titlebar

Firefox

For Firefox to skin, you need to have it show a standard Titlebar:

The 3 lines menu (top right) -> More Tools → Customize toolbar -> tick the "Titlebar checkbox" Bottom left -> Restart Firefox

Testing WindowBlinds in Sandbox

WindowBlinds Clean Boot

Performing a Clean Boot

A "clean boot" starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs, so that you can determine whether a background program is interfering with your game or program. This is similar to starting Windows in Safe Mode, but provides you more control over which services and programs run at startup to help you isolate the cause of a problem.

Creating a new Windows Administrator Account

For testing, please create a new Windows Administrator account.

Windows 7 

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-7

Windows 8

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-8

Windows 10 & 11

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/create-a-local-user-account-in-windows-10

Log in under that account and try.  If it fails, and while still under that account, please click the link below for performing a 'clean boot' under it:

Windows Clean Boot Documention

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/929135

Enable Stardock Software

After you've loaded Windows in a clean state, please download this file:

wbStart.zip

Run the batch file in it to start the Windowblinds service.

See if your issue persists

WindowBlinds purging and re-installing

Obtaining the purge file

Please follow this link: 

https://cdn.stardock.us/support/uploads/Purge_WB.zip

Save the file to your downloads folder.

Purging the application

Double-click the downloaded purge file and select "Run as Administrator" if you're on Windows 7/8/8.1/10.

If you are running Windows 8/10/11, you may be notified that Windows is protecting your PC.  Select "More info" and then "Run anyway". 

Reboot the computer and reinstall the application.  It is important to get the most recent version of the application.

Reinstalling

For trials:

Please ensure you have the most recent trial available:

https://www.stardock.com/products/

For Stardock direct purchases

For getting your product and key, please see the following: 

https://www.stardock.com/support/productkeyretrieval

For Steam Purchases

Even after using the purge file, you still need to use the 'uninstall' option in the Steam client:

After, re-Install from Steam and Steam only.

Please DO NOT change any of the default settings until you verify that the application is running as expected in its default state.