blackcat77

blackcat77

Joined Member # 791
0 Posts 11 Replies 3,672 Reputation
Excessive CPU Usage with WB on Laptop in WindowBlinds WinCustomize Forums

I installed WB 8 on my laptop which is running Windows 8.1b. It causes CPU usage of about 30% at all time and a lot of heat. When I uninstall, it returns to normal. I'm also running Start8 and Decor8. I reinstalled WB with the same result. I use WB on my desktop computer running W7 with no problems. The CPU usage is in explorer.exe. I read in a posting somewhere that if you use WB on a computer without a video card, it uses the CPU. Any id

0 Replies 1,806 Views
Unwanted Tint to Transparent Taskbar in WindowBlinds WinCustomize Forums

I've been having this problem for a long time but have never seen a solution. When I make the taskbar more transparent on some Blinds, the taskbar takes on a tint which cannot be changed with the color selector. Sometimes the color will change -- and I don't know what I'm doing to cause it -- but the tint is the same for all Blinds. Other elements, such as the start window are not affected. If someone could tell me how to fix this issue, or alternatively, how to chan

2 Replies 2,223 Views
Reply to Stardock says: "Please note WB 6.x builds are not compatible with the Windows 7 betas." in WindowBlinds WinCustomize Forums

Thanks for all the comments -- especially from Jafo who seems to have the sort of knowledge of the development that I'm interested in learning more about. The wall of silence is what bothers me and all insight in welcome. Maybe you could post something once a month or so with a couple screenshots just so we'll know what's going on. What I am really hoping *not* to see is the sort of attitude that Creative took toward Vista. Perhaps it was "responsible" to hold off un

94 Replies 168,831 Views
Reply to Stardock says: "Please note WB 6.x builds are not compatible with the Windows 7 betas." in WindowBlinds Stardock Forums

I've been a Stardock customer for a long time and Window Blinds is what has kept me around more than any other software. But I really like Windows 7 and the lack of any WB product or even some clue as to when we could expect it is very discouraging. What I'm learning is that I don't miss Window Blinds -- or Icon Packager or anything else -- as much as I did at first. And the sarcastic attitude shown by some people about those who inquire about WB availablity just makes it wo

94 Replies 168,831 Views
Reply to WB and Windows 7 update? in WindowBlinds Stardock Forums

I recognize that Stardock can't instantly release a functional WB for an OS with as many new features as Windows 7, but I hope they won't wait until it's finalized either. Maybe they could do a separate beta branch of the product just for Windows 7 users. I, for one, have no plans to go back to Vista (or XP, gawd forbid...) so I am without WB and I miss it a lot. I don't want to give up EITHER of my favorites...

9 Replies 6,579 Views
Reply to Time to quit... in WinCustomize Talk WinCustomize Forums

I quit in 1988 after I'd smoked for 20 years. The only thing that finally did the trick for me was that somebody got in my face and told me I didn't have the guts to really quit. Well, I stubbed out that cigarette on the spot, gave her all the cigarettes I had in the house and said that I'd show her. It was hell for a few days and it was hard for a couple months but I finally got to the point where I wasn't thinking about smoking all the time. It's funny seeing all the patches and gu

464 Replies 890,534 Views
Reply to IE down to 56% of WinCustomize userbase in WinCustomize News WinCustomize Forums

I've been using Firefox since it was Firebird. I need IE7 for a few sites which stubbornly refuse to make themselves Firefox-friendly, but that's only a tiny minority. FF is faster and much lighter on the system, so I'll be sticking with it for the foreseeable future.

50 Replies 20,590 Views
Reply to WINDOWBLINDS BETA FOR VISTA ARRIVES! in WinCustomize News WinCustomize Forums

Still no replies so I'll ask again. I also have a new oddity to report... WB is not still showing up in the notification area but it shows running in the task manager. Yes, I do have the option ticked for it to show up... Now, when I choose any WB skin, it acts like it's going to load the skin but then the Windows Standard skin is loaded. After that, you can't select anything and you have to choose Vista in the Personalize wind

84 Replies 38,164 Views
Reply to WINDOWBLINDS BETA FOR VISTA ARRIVES! in WinCustomize News WinCustomize Forums

After I saw this I finally installed the RC1 that I got earlier this year. I had the 5.49 instealled earlier on XP and it worked fine but it's not working on Vista. I uninstalled WB and then reinstalled. When I click to select a WB, it goes through all the procedures but the default Vista graphics are staying in place. I'm brand new to Vista, so if there's something I need to disable so WB will work, please let me know. All suggestions appreciated

84 Replies 38,164 Views
Reply to Stardock Announces the Creation of Stardock Design in WinCustomize News WinCustomize Forums

...it's all about the Benjamins. Kind of sad, IMHO, as I'm sure more and more creators will be lured to the profit side with less and less quality material available for free. So we buy a subscription in order to buy skins. What a deal. Flame me if you want, but I've been on this site almost since the beginning and I really hate seeing it become so commercial rather than a community.

39 Replies 15,657 Views
Reply to When Did The Internet Stop Being "Amazing"? in Internet WinCustomize Forums

My first PC was a 386 running at 25MHz, with 1MB (maybe 2) of RAM and 80MB HD My first PC (before that, I'd had a couple Commodores and a Tandy) was a 386/25, 4 megs of RAM -- for which I paid an extra $500 -- a 200 meg hard drive and a 2400 baud modem. It was called a "Leading Edge," and at the time, it WAS. It cost me over $2000. And I had the latest OS -- Windows 3.1!

30 Replies 33,324 Views
Reply to When Did The Internet Stop Being "Amazing"? in Internet WinCustomize Forums

The internet became amazing for me late one night back in the mid-90s when I was chatting with this gentleman on GEnie -- anybody else remember them -- and he turned out to be on his lunch break in Australia. I live in Indiana, btw. The idea that I was talking with someone half a world away in real time over my computer just blew me away. Of course we all become jaded after a while, but when you really think about what you do on the internet every d

30 Replies 33,324 Views
Reply to Google Turns 8! in WinCustomize News WinCustomize Forums

Google is one of those things which has served to make the internet a part of peoples' lives. The ability to go to one site and find exactly what you want to know in the gigantic maze that is the internet is an accomplishment that few of us really appreciate.

4 Replies 2,703 Views
Reply to 180 Viruses! in Personal Computing WinCustomize Forums

My wife used to work in an office where the policy was that nobody was allowed to put any software on the computers. The staff was supposed to handle all that, but they either didn't have any anti-virus protection at all or the signatures were ancient. As a result, their computers were always infected and my wife would bring home infected floppies to run on her computer, which caused problems here. Fortunately, she's now self-employed and working ou

60 Replies 120,924 Views
Reply to Microsoft Unveils the "Zune" in WinCustomize News WinCustomize Forums

You guys should know that, according to something I read on Slashdot, the Zune adds Digital Rights Management to everything you put on it, which is a violation of creative commons. Of course everyone knows that there's no bigger proponent of making sure that the corporations get richer than Microsoft, but I sure wouldn't play right into their hands. No Zune here, ever.

21 Replies 7,599 Views