Please Read this if your UI is black and painting slowly

from WinCustomize Forums

If you have installed a pirate copy (AKA cracked) version of WindowBlinds 5, please be aware that the crack is faulty and WindowBlinds will cease to function correctly on your computer.

To fix this you just need to uninstall WB and if you wish install a purchased copy of WB, or the trial.

To uninstall, you can either wait for your computer to login, unload WB (either using wbconfig, display properties, or from a command prompt calling WBLOAD UNLOAD) and then uninstall WB.  Or you can boot into safe mode & uninstall WB from there.

Your computer has not been harmed in anyway.  Whoever made the crack did a poor job and patched out code that causes WindowBlinds to no longer be able to paint bitmaps (so title bars, borders, everything will be black).

windowblinds
323,169 views 239 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top









Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The price you 'pay'..........for not 'paying'....
Groupy 2 - Organize multiple applications into grouped tabs on your Windows desktop
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
you...you...you mean.....you get what you pay for?
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
It boggles the mind that people using a crack will blame the initial program instead of the effects of the crack when they have problems...

And come onto the company forum & blast the company & the program...

And claim that it ruined their system when the fix is a simple uninstall...

Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Im supprised they don't ask for their money back, crack writer's give refunds, don't they?
Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
No wonder a few people were asking me to help them with their WB program not skinning correctly and I couldn't tell what was wrong...
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
So the cracked version was working fine, and then it spontaneously imploded? Did Stardock figure out a way to pull that off, or did the crackers just mess something up? If you guys did make that happen, congratulations... that would be the most amusing way to combat piracy I've seen yet. Let everyone who downloaded an illegal copy spend hours trying to fix their system, then laugh at them when they come on to the forums to complain. Nice.
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Well done Neil. My sentiments exactally It's things like this that need to be made an example of. Finally, I've seen someone take initiative to basically say, "Pee Off" (Kept it clean) to the "crackers".
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top

As far as I'm aware...because WB is 'quite closely integrated into the MS OS if people mess with its code [read....'attempt to crack'] there is a very real chance that a standard Windows Update may adversely affect its smooth running....at least that's what seems to have happened.

Last I checked, my WB5 is ticking along nicely....and so are my most recent [up to date] Windows Updates...

That kinda-sorta means my WB is a legal one....

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Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top

So the cracked version was working fine, and then it spontaneously imploded? Did Stardock figure out a way to pull that off, or did the crackers just mess something up? If you guys did make that happen, congratulations... that would be the most amusing way to combat piracy I've seen yet. Let everyone who downloaded an illegal copy spend hours trying to fix their system, then laugh at them when they come on to the forums to complain. Nice.

There are various backup checks in WindowBlinds that work in a variety of ways.  However, the cracks that are out there brute forced it and made it so that when one of the backup checks turned on, that WindowBlinds could no longer repaint their resources.

Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
or...they will just have patience till a better crack comes out...people have patience, u know...
Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top
**edit** Ah my issue was just NIS being dumb again.

Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
This is amusing; I installed WB5 that a friend gave me; said it was legit, gave me a serial number and all. Then I had this problem, found out it was because of some crack gone wrong.

Well, needless to say, I've gone back to the copy of WB4.x that I purchased last year. Assclown, giving me pirated software.
Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top
Well Funny thing... i just purchased a copy today.. updated and well.. still having similiar issues here... i guess i will have to uninstall and try again... $%#@%$%@%@$!!!
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
nobodyspecial97: You will need to remove all of WB before installing the full version.  If wbsrv.dll remains on your pc after an uninstall, then delete it (you may need to rename it instead) before installing the full version.
Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top
well, i m using a legit copy & everything is fine, but this is not what my concern is, the thing is there are many UI elements that WB5 doesn't skin, compared to WB 4.6, like the MDI button in Photoshop or Yahoo messanger 7 Menus or Nero 7 buttons, and a lot more.

right now, I m back to WB 4.6 until there is an update like Windowsblinds 5.1 or .01 with fix for these, also looking forward for the release skin studio 5
Reply #17 from Stardock Forums Top
i have a legal copy that i payed for and that happened and i bought it from stardock and it is perfectly legal except i lost recipt
Reply #18 from Stardock Forums Top
legokid201

email [email protected] with the email address you originally ordered from
Reply #20 from WinCustomize Forums Top
i have changed emails and deleted my old account since then so i don have email right now
Surely you can get a free email account, and email Stardock with the info.... even if you no longer have the email you used when you purchased the app, you can tell support what that email was.
Reply #21 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Yes, if you contact Stardock letting them know when you purchased it, what e-mail address you used & possibly other info (I am not sales), they will be able to link it with a new e-mail address for you.

[email protected] will be more than happy to sort this for you.

Reply #22 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I installed WB5 that a friend gave me; said it was legit, gave me a serial number and all. Then I had this problem, found out it was because of some crack gone wrong.


Vermin, make sure your friend emails [email protected] to "transfer" the license . . . otherwise it may appear taht you are sharing a serial #.
Reply #24 from WinCustomize Forums Top

EDIT: Admitting you are a pirate on this site is unwise to say the least!

Do not post things like this again.

Reply #25 from WinCustomize Forums Top
It was simply an XP patch that interfered with WBs ability to skin windows.. not a faulty crack.


Not confirmed. Registered WB5 users have not experienced skinning interference upon installing Windows updates...