Stardock Forums
With the DesktScapes 11.02 release, we are creating this thread so that users can report any observed issues.
Thank you for your interest and any time you put into making DeskScapes a better product.
Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager
I can't remember when I joined the Stardock universe, but it was some time ago (2018 according to my avatar). Anyway, cutting to the chase.
System: Intel® Core™ i7-8700K running at 3.70Ghz
RAM: 64GB (DDR4)
OS: Windows 25H2 (build 26200.7171)
Graphics: nVidia GeForce GTX 1080 with driver version Studio Driver version 581.57 (Oct 14, 2025)
DeskScapes: version 11.02
I am having to uninstall DeskScapes right now as it drastically, and I mean drastically, increases the amount of time my system takes to complete it's start up.
It's now at a stage where my notification area refuses to update until I click the taskbar, and that's only after a good 5 minutes or so before DeskScapes will release it. I don't even see the up arrow and only see 1, maybe 2 icons in the notification area itself. Clicking the notification area does nothing while DeskScapes does its stuff and then springs into life after I click the taskbar.
As soon as I uninstall DeskScapes everything starts just as it should.
What is DeskScapes doing in the background that's slowing my system down as I can't see anything that would suggest it's doing anything in Task or Process manager?
One other thing I noticed when DeskScapes is installed is that around 80% of my icons are just white boxes and take an earth to update them to their relevant icon. But again, if DeskScapes isn't running, this doesn't happen.
Any suggestions, please?
System: Intel® Core™ i7-8700K running at 3.70Ghz
RAM: 64GB (DDR4)
OS: Windows 25H2 (build 26200.7171)
Graphics: nVidia GeForce GTX 1080 with driver version Studio Driver version 581.57 (Oct 14, 2025)
DeskScapes: version 11.02
I am having to uninstall DreamScapes right now as it drastically, and I mean drastically, increases the amount of time my system takes to complete it's start up.
It's now at a stage where my notification area refuses to update until I click the taskbar, and that's only after a good 5 minutes or so before DreamScapes will release it. I don't even see the up arrow and only see 1, maybe 2 icons in the notification area itself. Clicking the notification area does nothing while DreamScapes does its stuff and then springs into life after I click the taskbar.
As soon as I uninstall DreamScapes everything starts just as it should.
What is DreamScapes doing in the background that's slowing my system down as I can't see anything that would suggest it's doing anything in Task or Process manager?
One other thing I noticed when DreamScapes is installed is that around 80% of my icons are just white boxes and take an earth to update them to their relevant icon. But again, if DreamScapes isn't running, this doesn't happen.
Any suggestions, please?
Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. I believe you're referring to DeskScapes, yes? If so, Please try purge and reinstall steps as mention here : [Link]. Just make sure to redownload the latest version from your account page. Reboot after the purge. Reinstall and reboot again after the installation. Retest and report back here.
Thank you,
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.
Yes. Sorry, my bad. Edited to save confusion!
Before I go ahead and follow that, will I need to backup all of my Dreams, or will the purge not touch them? I know I can re-download them, but it takes time even at 1Gbit transfer data (my end anyway).
Thank you,
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant
Yawn 
! Downloading at a snails :snail: pace (where's all the emojis)?! 107MB should be done in seconds, but so far I'm half way through (about) and I still have 9 minutes to go!
Well. guess I'll be doing all this tomorrow as it's now 4:26AM and I'm bleeding knackered!
Nighty night 
...
Every time I log in to the win11 desktop, the taskbar hangs until I use the windows key. After uninstalling DeskScapes, that problem disappears.
Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. Please try purge and reinstall steps as mention here : [Link]. Just make sure to redownload the latest version from your account page. Reboot after the purge. Reinstall and reboot again after the installation. Retest and report back.
If the issue still appear, please create your own new thread. Also include few more details.
Thank you,
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.
I have carried out a recent system rebuild with a fresh install of Windows 25H2 and am currently reinstalling my software, systematically.
Once I've installed ObjectDesktop and DeskScapes, I'll come back and let you know what has happened and if the problem has been resolved my end.
All,
DeskScapes 11.03 beta has been released. For details, please see:
https://forums.stardock.com/540454/deskscapes-1103-beta-feedback
As always, thank you for your time, feedback, and support.
Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager
Sorry. I forgot to come back and give you an update, which wasn't good I'm afraid.
I ended up carrying out a clean install of Windows 11 (25H2) and as soon as I installed DeskScapes, my system started to play silly buggers and causing the system to "hang" on boot. I therefore uninstalled and everything worked OK again.
I will give 11.03 a try, although unless you addressed this issue, I can't see it making any difference.
I will try and come back (if I remember) to give you an assessment of how it goes my end.
adelphiaUK (Chris)
Please excuse misspellings and anything that may not make sense or cause offence as the medication I take can have an adverse effect on my mind.
We look forward to your reply.
Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager
OK. It's not improved at all. I have to constantly (after reboot) go into Task Manager and force end task on both (I have two monitors) DSHostTask.exe processes.
It's a real shame as I like the idea of animated backgrounds on my desktop, I only use 1 animated desktop, the other is static, so I'm guessing it's the animated one that's causing the issue.
I have just read today that I'm not the only one and alot of customers are complaining about this.
I think I'm going to have to find an alternative or live without an animated desktop background, unless it's a bog standard slideshow which Windows supports itself.
Keep trying...
adelphiaUK (Chris)
Please excuse misspellings and anything that may not make sense or cause offence as the medication I take can have an adverse effect on my mind.
Hello everyone.
I updated Deskscape and I'm now on version 11.03.
Good news, the taskbar problem is fixed.
However, while viewing wallpapers and clicking to view them, the program crashed, but the animated wallpapers weren't affected. It was just the wallpaper manager that suddenly closed.
Thanks.
See you later.
I updated Deskscape and I'm now on version 11.03.
Good news, the taskbar problem is fixed.
However, while viewing wallpapers and clicking to view them, the program crashed, but the animated wallpapers weren't affected. It was just the wallpaper manager that suddenly closed.
Thanks.
See you later.
Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. It is best if you can report here in DeskScapes 11.03 Beta Feedback: https://forums.stardock.com/540454/.
Thank you,
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.
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