Fences freeze / crash on Windows 10

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. Need to know more.

1) Windows version, please use Winver.exe for full Windows version numbers.

2) Fences version.

3) Information on Monitors, Single, dual or more monitors, resolutions on each monitors and scaling applied to each monitor ie. 100%,125%, 150% etc etc.

Thanks

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

I have a similar issue where anywhere from every few hours to every few days, Fences will freeze, as will the taskbar. Double-clicking on the deskstop does nothing, and I clicking on the taskbar gets no response. Also, the wallpaper no longer updates from the Deskscapes slideshow. I don't think that I've ever seen it recover from that state on its own.

If I use the windows key to make the start menu pop up, then I'm able to click on the applications on the taskbar again temporarily, but it has no effect on Fences or the desktop, and it doesn't necessarily take long before the taskbar stops responding again. Sometimes,  going into the Quick-hide settings in Fences to disable and then re-enable it will unfreeze it after a delay of several seconds (at which point, typically the fences will appear and disappear several times - probably finally responding to the double-clicks I'd previously done to try to get the fences to appear), and then the wallpaper starts changing again. However, it doesn't always manage to fix the problem, and even if it does, it eventually freezes again (usually much faster than if I logged out and back in again or restarted the computer). I'm using Fences, Deskscapes, and Start10, and I've tried wiping and reinstalling all three of them to see if it fixed the problem - which it did not. I'm basically forced to log out and log back in again occasionally to get rid of the freezing for a while (though it strikes again eventually).

I have not been doing anything with the screen resolution (it's 2560 x 1600), and I only have one monitor. No scaling has been applied. I do sometimes play games that go fullscreen, but they're set to the monitor's resolution. I have not noticed any relation between the problem and any particular program or action.

Per Winver.exe, I currently have Windows 10 Version 1809 (OS Build 17763.1098), though the problem has been going on for a few months IIRC, so I'm sure that it's been occurring with several versions as the OS has been updated.

Fences is version 3.0.9.11. Deskscapes is version 10.02. Start10 is version 1.91.

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. Please update your Windows 10 to its latest official version, which is V1909. OS Build 18363.778. It might help in your issue.

Thanks

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

1. 1909, 18363.778

2. 3.0.9.11

3. Triple Monitor with nVidia Surround at

11520 x 2160 @ 60Hz with 150%

5840 x 1080 @ 60Hz with 100%

Hello JyinSpheal,

Please review this guide for multi-monitors : https://forums.stardock.com/486084/fences-support-faq#multimonitor

Thank you,

Basj
Stardock Community Assistant.

I don't have any of these

-DisplayFusion
-Actual Multiple Monitors
-Nvidia nView Desktop Manager

I don't do any of these either

-Use of various docking stations and migrating to and from them.

-Unplug / plug in monitors frequently

-Allow PC to sleep (thus disabling/re-enabling monitors in an abrupt and destructive way).

-Different scaling on a per monitor basis.

I do have to do this very often, and it's not a solution.

-Restart Windows Explorer:

I have done Reset, Uninstall/Reinstall Fences many times.

I noticed that I have to restart Explorer to fix any Fences related problems, even after disabling Fences.

It got so bad that I keep Fences Disabled these days.

Very disappointing.

Hello JyinSpheal,

I believe there is something interfering with Fences to work properly. Would like to suggest the Cleanboot steps to see which one of those is causing the issue : https://forums.stardock.com/486084/fences-support-faq#cleanboot

Thank you,

Basj
Stardock Community Assistant.

With Clean Boot, and only re-enabled Start 10, Fences, and nVidia services, I still see about 5-10sec freeze when I switch resolution. The freeze is longer when I go from lower to higher res.

Hello,

I have forwarded your report to the Stardock support team for their review and recommendations.

Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates.

We really do appreciate your feedback, thanks.

AzDude
Stardock Community Assistant

Fences runs in the Windows explorer process - a momentary delay for a resolution refresh might be something to expect as a result.

What would be more telling is if that delay is an actual crash and shows up in your Windows event log as such.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

Here you go. (How do I attach a file around here?)

My Windows install is up-to-date, and manually telling it to update does not result in anything newer being installed. However, I'm running Windows 10 Enterprise, so that may be why the version number I have is lower.

I found this on the internet : https://www.itechtics.com/download-windows-10-enterprise-iso/ But not really sure if it applies to your situation.

And if you have not try it. Would like to suggest the Cleanboot steps to see which one of your background application is causing the issue : https://forums.stardock.com/486084/fences-support-faq#cleanboot

Thank you,

Basj
Stardock Community Assistant.

Any progress on this?

And without NVidia services?

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

I use nVidia GPU, so I don’t think I can disable them and have working system.

That won't be the case if by 'systems' you mean ancillary Nvidia software. 

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

i only installed the nVidia driver package.

I'm still seeing this on the latest version of Windows. Because of issues with Windows update, I was forced to reinstall Windows from scratch (so whatever issues I may or may not have had with the state of my Windows install are now gone), and I'm now on Windows Enterprise 10 version 20H2 (OS build 19042.630). I'm not seeing the problem anywhere near as frequently as I used to, but it's still happening at least occasionally (whereas previously, it was happening a lot).

I’ve already uninstalled Fences. It was unusable.

This problem persists, and I have to log out or restart windows multiple times a week if not multiple times a day because of this issue. I'd really rather not stop using fences, but this is incredibly annoying.

When Explorer Freeze, you do not need to logout/restart, you can just restart Explorer.exe. I usually do it via the task manager. Ctrl-Alt-del,->Start "Task manager"-> Process tab-> Scroll down to "Windows Explorer" right click on it->Restart.

That should revive your Explorer.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Honestly, losing all of my open folders like that is disruptive enough that I might as well log out and log back in again (or restart the computer) and get the benefits that come with killing everything. Regardless, I shouldn't need to restart explorer, and the need to do that (be it directly or by logging out) is frequent enough that I may have to break down and find an alternative to fences that actually works properly.

If you find a decent alternative, please post here.

I just tried the new version and it didn’t even last one day before I got tired of crashing. 

J