XP Themes (msstyles, etc.) causing explorer.exe crash

from WinCustomize Forums
I have had this problem for years - it caused me to stop using desktopX years ago, but now I have XP loaded and tried using msstyles, thinking it might be more stable - That's what I get for thinking...

Years ago, when XP was new, I used desktopX on a variety of PC's, using AMD and Intel processors, with both Win2K and XP, and the problem was identical on all platforms. Every few minutes, when opening or manipulating folders, or when using the Start menu, the screen would lock up, then eventually give an error that explorer.exe had caused errors and needed to restart. It would then restart explorer, and all would be back to normal (except that all of my open folders would be closed). I finally stopped using OD, and the problem stopped.

Recently, my home system and my work system have both been upgraded to XP (still not sure if that's an upgrade!) - XP Home on my work computer, and XP Pro on my home PC. Started using msstyles, and the problem is back.

My home PC is the same one I used OD on years ago (AMD Athlon 750MHz), but the work PC (Pentium 4 1.8GHz) is a new one that I haven't tried to skin, until now. Both have the same identical problem as the ones I used with OD - It seems that any time I try to change the window style, explorer crashes every hour or so - no matter what processor or OS I use. Again, this happens with multiple different PC's with different processors, with XP Home, XP Pro, and Win2K.

I've searched this forum for posts pertaining to this, but none of them address problems with msstyles (though I suspect it's a problem with multiple, maybe all skinning apps).

Has anyone else had this much trouble?

joe
skinning
4,877 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Most of us here use Windowblinds...that's probably why you're not finding much about msstyles. Windowblinds doesn't hack any of the source files, applying unsigned msstyles requires certain files to be hacked, that could be your problem, though it's just a guess.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
My home PC is the same one I used OD on years ago (AMD Athlon 750MHz), but the work PC (Pentium 4 1.8GHz) is a new one that I haven't tried to skin, until now. Both have the same identical problem as the ones I used with OD - It seems that any time I try to change the window style, explorer crashes every hour or so - no matter what processor or OS I use. Again, this happens with multiple different PC's with different processors, with XP Home, XP Pro, and Win2K.


Not meaning to be a prick, but right off I see the common denominator here....you.
First off msstyles and DX don't go together. If you want to change the look of Windows beyond what DX does BY ITSELF then you need Windowblinds. 7 years ago I'd have said wow 750 mz.......now I'd have to say "Boat Anchor" as to the 1.8gz system, it should have no problems with the CURRENT version of either DX or Windowblinds. That's assuming the Video Card is up to speed as well. Forget the msstyles and focus on either DX or Windowblinds or both. You'll thank me for it later.
Fences - Organize your desktop icons today!
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
So you're saying WB is less obtrusive to the system than msstyles? Since msstyles is a Microsoft creation, I shouldn't be suprised (bloatware mongers)...

As to my screaming fast 750Mhz - It's a real P.O.S. with a failing hard drive - I need to lift the cover and replace the whole PC.

I am, however, somewhat limited in what I can install on my PC at work - msstyles is allowable, but not if it's causing problems. Anyone know of an msstyles forum out there?

joe
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
BTW - I wasn't using DX and msstyles at the same time - msstyles is a new thing for me, stopped using DX years ago.

joe
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The msstyles put out by MS should not be a problem. It's the third party msstyles that are at issue. Here's a discussion on the difference between the two. WWW Link

I would suggest downloading the trial version of Windowblinds 5 to see if it makes things a bit more stable. If it's been a few years since you used DX then you might want to test it out again as it's come quite a ways down the development road.
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The msstyles put out by MS should not be a problem. It's the third party msstyles that are at issue.

Is this a problem with skinners writing buggy code, or perhaps a corrupted skin editing app? Do you know of any particular msstyles skins that are "kosher"?

joe
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top

The msstyles put out by MS should not be a problem. It's the third party msstyles that are at issue.

Is this a problem with skinners writing buggy code, or perhaps a corrupted skin editing app? Do you know of any particular msstyles skins that are "kosher"?

joe


No, and that's the problem. All the third party msstyles require the user to hack their own machine in order to apply them, none of those skins are approved or signed by Microsoft. Hence why most of us use Windowblinds, has more features and doesn't require any hacking (should have all been explained in Frogboy's article that Lantec linked).
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The problem is probably the patcher that you used to accept third party msstyles.there are a lot of corrupted and buggy ones out there. If your going to use msstyles go with "stylexp" it's very stable and you can apply whole stylexp themes or msstyles.You can also customize cursors,icons,boot screens,logons,etc. and it doesn't hinder performance like windowblinds since it uses the existing explorer shell.I know this is a windowblinds forum and I think Windowblinds has alot of nice skins but they are very bloated and hurt performance on the older machines.
I currently use StyleXP with Objectdock plus and had never had a problem.