Fences has detected that Explorer was not closed Properly Error Message

Hello

Would you Please try this PURGE: https://forums.stardock.com/486084/fences-support-faq#reinstalling

Reboot and ReInstall the latest version from your account Reboot and test.

report back here please.

AzDude
Stardock Community Assistant

Hello,

I tried that, it did not work.  I also tried purchasing and upgrading to Fences 3.0 and I still get the error with the new version of Fences.

-Scott

Hello,

Sorry to hear you are having issues.

If you are running Win10 you do need Fences 3 .

So please do the Purge one more time and then install 

Fences 3 from your account https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/products/

Reboot and test again please .

AzDude
Stardock Community Assistant

Scott, 

Almost without exception, we see this in corp environments that are running aggressive AV software / policies - most notably WebSense, now called ForcePoint.  Is  that the case for you?

----------------
Sean Drohan
Stardock Customer Service Manager

@Sean - Yes, this is a corporate PC that has anti-virus/anti malware software though I don't believe that it's ForcePoint.  I'm not sure the specific software I have.

@AzDude - I tried uninstalling via the purge > Restarting > Re-installing Fences 3 > Restarting and I'm still getting the same error.

Given that my  computer is part of a corporate environment is it likely that this issue can be resolved or is my OS simply too locked down?

Thanks,

Scott 

I would be interested in what your IT people can reveal here.

We have never been able to provide a workaround for how Forcepoint reacts to Fences.

----------------
Sean Drohan
Stardock Customer Service Manager

I am unable to resolve this issue even after troubleshooting for some time now.  It appears the conflict is with Ivanti Security Control that is installed on my computer.  Given this is a corporate PC, I don't have access to make changes to the security settings.  I purchased Object Desktop to include Fences 3.0 but since It doesn't work I would like to get a refund.  I really only wanted the Fences application, not necessarily the other apps included with OD.  Is a refund possible?

Thanks,

Scott

Because working with your IT people revealed that to be true?

All refund requests have to be via a ticket:

https://esupport.stardock.com/index.php?/Tickets/Submit

----------------
Sean Drohan
Stardock Customer Service Manager

IT believed that the issue is related to Ivanti though we weren't able to validate specifically by uninstalling/disabling the software.  I will create a separate ticket for a refund.

Thanks for your help.

-Scott 

I get the same message too when I choose to select my desktop background to be a Slideshow, rather than just 1 picture.  For some reason this screws Fences up on Windows 10.    I have a dual desktop display and when I choose to show a Slideshow of images for my desktop background Windows chooses one image for my left monitor and another one for my right monitor.  Maybe this screws Fences up?  In any case once I go back to a single picture it doesn't crash. 

I had the exact same behavior - changing wallpaper or theme settings caused Fences to stop working.  Unfortunately I was not able to resolve this issue.  

Fences has no issue with Windows slideshow (running it that way as we speak). 

Are you in a corp environment where WebSesnse / Forcepoint is used?  Are you using any other multi-monitor software like DisplayFusion?

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

Yes, I do have Forcepoint enabled on my system.  No I'm not running any multi-monitor software.

That is the problem and well documented in other posts here over a few years now.  We dont know exactly why Forcepoint prohibits the reliable use of Fences.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

I have this running on 3 Win10 laptops.  One of them crashed and after reboot, threw this error message.  I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling, as well as using the purge.bat file.  We do not run Websecene/Forcepoint, and it is still working fine on the other two machines.

Please try the following:

-For Win8/10 Users: Open the Start Screen, and type 'cmd'. Right-click on the search result and select 'Run as administrator' from below.

-For 7 Users: click Start, in the start search field type 'cmd'. Right-click on the search result and select 'Run as administrator'.

-Type: sfc /scannow

-Wait for the scan to complete (this can take several minutes)

Some help on how this looks should you need it:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929833/use-the-system-file-checker-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system

If the SFC finds errors, but cannot fix them, please also run the following command in the same command prompt window:

dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Some help on how this looks should you need it:

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-dism-command-line-utility-repair-windows-10-image

The above command should assist with replacing any damaged or problematic system files. Please note, however, since it may require restoring certain files, this process can take some time and you will need to be patient until it has completed.

Please let me know whether this resolves your problem or if you have any additional questions.

Thank you,

Basj,

Stardock Community Assistant

Sorry double post

Thank you,

Basj,

Stardock Community Assistant

'We' meaning this is a corp environment, yes?

What are they running that the others are not - how are they different?  Are any using Windows Slideshow for their Desktop wallpapers?  What corp level AV product are you using - does it work on them if they are disabled (uninstalled, as a test, is preferred)?

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

I have Fences installed on a corporate win10 machine and I got this issue this morning. I know that my IT team loves to add security features every few days and I guess that they have added some new tweaks and "features".

I don't know if it's forcepoint or something else, but I'm pretty annoyed. I've tried the PURGE, but without any effect...

Is there anything that can be done on Fences' side ? I mean the fences are displayed for a couple seconds then there is the popup saying that Fences detected that Explorer has not been closed properly...

Could Fences stop doing this verification ?

Edit: found a workaround: I had to disable exploit protection on the Windows security parameters.

Hello,
I have forwarded your questions/problems to the Stardock Support team for their assistance. Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates. We appreciate you feedback and patience.

Thank You,
Basj
Stardock Community Assistant.

guame,

Thank you for the feedback.

This is very interesting....  Could you detail exactly what you did to resolve it (steps, screenshots perhaps)?

Would really like to know this as well as would others that are using ForcePoint and Fences.

Again, thanks for the information and anything further you can provide us.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

This exploit protection has been causing a lot of trouble at my work place since IT added these rules in the windows policies: one option (randomization of the memory or something like that) has an impact on a lot of software (git, Java based tools, ...)

I think you must be admin of your machine to turn this thing off.

So here is the step by step workaround I used to get Fences to work again (sorry, my Windows is localized in French):

1) Search for exploit in the Windows search bar:

2) Here you can select protection option for whole system or for specific program. Since it cause me so much trouble I've decided to turn everything off system wide...

After changing the default to deactivated, you'll need a reboot.

Now it's fine ... until next time the policies are refreshed by the IT team !

For info, this is the policy that usually breaks thing:

About Forcepoint, I didn't find any Websense process running in my machine, so I guess it's not running on my machine.

Hope that can help you to re-enable Fences on your machines !

I can confirm that switching from Slideshow to Picture resolved my Fences issue.  Toggling back to Slideshow resulted in the "Fences has detected that Explorer was not closed properly. As a precaution, Fences has been temporarily disabled.  To re-enable Fences, right click your desktop and choose Enable Fences" error again.  I can reproduce this over and over simply by toggling back and forth between Slideshow and Picture. 

Details:

• Windows 10 Version 1903 (build 18362.904)
• Forcepoint One Endpoint version:  20.02.4499
• Windows updates are current.  (For the build I'm on.)
• The installation of Forcepoint several months ago coincides with the introduction of the Fences error message.
• Uninstalled and reinstalled Fences 3.0.
• Exploit protection settings had no effect on the Fences error.  I added Fences to the custom program list and disabled Exploit Protection and all other settings in this view. Did not resolve.
• I disabled Exploit Protection for the entire system, including all other settings in the view. Did not resolve.
• I restarted my laptop after I made each change.
• I finally decided to switch from Slideshow to Picture as a last-ditch effort.  Resolved.

Although the immediate issue is between Fences and Slideshow - Forcepoint could very well be the root cause.

Thought I'd share my results since it sounds like it's still an unknown.

Thanks!

Hello,

i was short before purging Fences from my Laptop due to the explorer crash. After a lot of searching it was clear for me that the crash was linked to Forcepoint/Endpoint used on my corporate environment.

But after reading this tip with the slideshow deactivation i give it a try and changed my background to picture and started fences again.

And to make it short: after a few months of crashes fences come back to life without a problem:-)

Thanks for the solution! and for the Fences-Team: can you please go deeper in this topic? For me it seems to be a bug that can be solved. i hope there will be an update from your side that i can reactivate the slideshow in future.

thanks in advance

Stephan

Hi, I also got this issue after a company security update (Windows 10, Fence 3) and my first suspicion was a security issue as we are subject to very strict rules through company policy.

But since I am not allowed to change anything, I could not solve the problem myself .... until I remembered a conversation thread in this forum that had this problem due to "slideshow" on their screen.

I switched from slideshow to image .. and bingo - I could activate fences again. Jahuu.