Dear "Dr W - Fences Support",

In regard to my original post, (Link: https://forums.stardock.com/523926/get;3948390 )

I purchased my upgrade to Fences 4 on December 23rd, 2021.

Is this something that I can get technical support for, or will the only advice I'll receive be that I upgrade to Fences 5?

For context, I did go through the troubleshooting section of your site quite thoroughly and the only relevant section I found was the following article...

Link: Fences troubleshooting page: "Spacing on Icons has changed"

I followed everything on that page to a T and it did not resolve the problem.

Again, I am on a fresh install of Windows 11 24H2.

So, I ask again.

With the fact that I purchased my license for Fences 4 almost 3 years ago and with the troubleshooting steps I have already tried, can Stardock provide technical support to me on this problem, or is my only option to upgrade to Fences 5?

I look forward to your response.

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. I do believe if you look around the forum, we will notice that, we still do support previous version of Fences unless the issue is something those older version not capable to resolved. Please create a new thread on your issue and we will try to help you from that thread.

Thank you.
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

This thread is just about a full year old. Does that mean Stardock is getting closer to Fences 6? For example is it a good time to start listing a wish list of what features we would want to see?

Can I detail view my stuff yet without putting them in subfolders? If so, I am in. This feature has been wanted for years. Has anyone got this accomplished yet or is it a limitation of the shell? I'm still on v3 but would gladly pay lifetime if I can get this feature.

@cnewman402 – technical limitation. But, something we're actively interested in exploring down the road. Just would be very difficult to pull off for a relatively narrow use case.

Would it help if Fences could auto-convert a Fence into a folder (move the files into a subfolder), which then became a folder portal?

I have an update on the situation that I posted in my original post (referenced above).

I've been trying to troubleshoot the issue ever since I made that post, and this afternoon I made a significant breakthrough.

Turns out, my TV is (mostly) the cause of the bug.

I use my TV as my PC desktop monitor.

My TV is:

(From BestBuy receipt) Samsung - 55" Class QN90A Neo QLED 4K UHD Smart Tizen TV

After my TV has been turned off for 16 or more seconds, once it's turned back on, the bug will occur. The problem is this bug doesn't happen with my TV on previous versions of Windows 11. (Basically, any version prior to 24H2)

After I discovered this, I tested every possible thing I could. I tried every type of power combination (wall, surge, & battery backup) for my TV, and multiple HDMI cables. Nothing had any effect with Fences 4 on Win 11 24H2.

Finally, I tried uninstalling Fences 4, rebooting my PC, installing a free 30-day trial of Fences 5, and rebooting again, to see if Fences 5 would fix it.

The results? It's kind of fixed now.

The bug still occurs but now it's automatically corrected after a few seconds instead of my desktop being left in a complete cramped mess for eternity until I load a previously saved loadout.

So, basically, instead of being 100% fixed, it now just corrects itself each time. I don't know what was added or changed with 24H2 that's allowing this to happen, but Fences 5 is basically the only successful workaround I've found.

Thanks to everything I've mentioned above, I now know that this is definitely a bug/problem with Windows 24H2 that effects both Fences 4 and to some degree, Fences 5.

This is why I say this is a 24H2 problem: 

Before I did my clean install of Windows 11 24H2, I had Windows 11 23H2. I was having some software problems at the time and knew that I needed to do a clean install at some point since my OS install (at that time) was over 3 years old. However, even with those problems, I still had no issues with Fences 4 up to that point. 

After 24H2 had been out for a short bit, I decided it was time for a clean install of windows using 24H2 as the base. After the install was complete, I installed Fences 4 and almost immediately started encountering this bug right away. 

So, you see, this bug never occurred until after I was on 24H2. With a clean install no less.

Anyhow, that's my report. Just thought I'd keep everyone updated.

Awesome, glad you resolved your issue and thank you, appreciate you taking your time to report this.  

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Well, that's the thing. It's not "technically" resolved. The bug still happens but Fences 5 changes my layout back to the way it was after a few seconds.

I would only say it's "resolved" after a solution is implemented that stops the bug from occurring in the first place.

At this time, I haven't the faintest idea how to find such a solution.

You mentioned the issue happen since Windows update v24H2 which something new introduce that causing the issue in your system. Do know that Fences 5 recently introduced a new layout engine, which work better on managing the Fences layout. I believe what you seeing, where the layout correct itself after few moment is the work of the new layout engine, which does not develop in Fences 4.

You might need to change your auto layout setting to "Store my layout on per-monitor configuration basis". For reference please refer to this thread https://forums.stardock.com/528229/

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

"Store my layout on per-monitor configuration basis" is how I've had my Fences software configured since all the way back in Fences 2.

This is a Windows issue. I’m experiencing the same problem, and I didn’t install Fences on my PC, yet it still occurs.

As this is the Fences thread, my question is fences automatically renewed each year?  I received 2 emails from Stardock  both the same....  

Your payment for subscription to "Fences Annual Subscription" will be automatically processed on 1/1/25 ($8.39).
Please verify your payment details to ensure successful transaction and uninterrupted delivery.

Is this new? I do not automatic processing on anything.  

Thank you for your time. 

Check this out in Stardock Support. How to cancel \ pause a subscription auto-payment at the bottom of the page.

https://support.stardock.com/space/SHC/1544388616/Stardock+Software+Subscriptions#Managing-Stardock-Software-Subscriptions

 

Thank you so much pelaird!        Merry Christmas to you and yours!!!  

You are so welcome. I had just read about this, so I was familiar with what to do.

Thanks for the warm holiday wishes, and Merry Christmas to you. I can't believe we're rolling into 2025!