This is just for information only as it requires no action on the DO support team's part.
A few days ago, Leo introduced me to WindowBlinds™, which I purchased and have enjoyed experimenting with all its design options as they pertain to DO.
One hard lesson I have learned, though, is that if DO is open when WindowBlinds™ is launched, DO will likely lock up and crash but the most nocuous effect is that my DO Program Certificate is erased. This has happened about 4 times in the last 4 days (...this is the reason if anyone in the licensing department is wondering why I keep retrieving my Program Certificate ).
At any rate, I'm able to painlessly recover and it is obvious what is causing the issue. Even though using these two programs in combination can produce amazing design results, and after resolving all the initial launching issues, I still get the distinct feeling there is enmity between the WindowBlinds™ and DO programs. Of course, I'll report anything further I observe to document any such behavior.
I'm almost at my 1 week DO anniversary and every day I discover more to love about DO! Thank you for such a great product, DO team! Best regards!
Are you saying that a Windows/Explorer reboot is necessary to "disconnect" DO scrollbar colorizing? Every time the issue has happened so far the scrollbar recolor option has been enabled. Indeed, ever since scrollbar recolor feature was identified it has been continuously enabled. I'll report back after a few experiments.
The "Use for lister scrollbars" option appears grayed out and checked, and I cannot uncheck or disable it (see screenshot below). This is with WindowBlinds™ open and one of their styles ("skins") installed.
"Use for lister scrollbars" option is grayed out and checked.
I restored the default Microsoft Windows 10 style and closed WindowBlinds™, still the "Use for lister scrollbars" option is grayed out and I cannot uncheck it.
I closed and restarted DO and the option is now available to check or uncheck as normal.
I unchecked/disabled the "Use for lister scrollbars" option, closed DO, and then launched WindowBlinds™. I installed one of their skins/styles, and then launched DO. The "Use for lister scrollbars" option is again grayed out but this time unchecked as I had left it before closing DO. I cannot "check" its box to enable scrollbar recoloring. WindowBlinds™ now is "in control" of the scrollbars, and has disabled DO's "Use for lister scrollbars" option.
Note:Installing a WindowBlinds™ skin definitely disables DO's "Use for lister scrollbars" option.
Now with DO open and its "Use for lister scrollbars" option unchecked (albeit grayed out), I am closing and opening WindowBlinds™. DO did not lock up or crash and its Program Certificate is intact. After performing several DO tasks (e.g., opening new tabs, searching, opening the viewer, etc.) DO appears to be functioning normally.
Changing WindowBlinds™ "skins" has no adverse effect on DO other than that the "Use for lister scrollbars" option is again grayed out and cannot be enabled even if WindowBlinds™ re-installs the default Windows 10 Microsoft style and is closed.
Conclusion #1:When DO's "Use for lister scrollbars" option is disabled, then launching WindowBlinds™ and changing "skins" did not lock up or crash DO but the "Use for lister scrollbars" option is grayed out and cannot be enabled until DO is closed and then re-launched.
Update
Test #2 Process/Comments:
Left DO's "Use for lister scrollbars" option disabled and rebooted the computer.
After the system booted, WindowBlinds™ had not been launched. DO was launched and made sure the "Use for lister scrollbars" option was still unchecked. After launching WindowBlinds™, I installed one of their styles and DO did not lock up or crash, which is noteworthy.
DO is working fine after changing styles 3 times although the "Use for lister scrollbars" option is again grayed out and could not be enabled until after closing WindowBlinds™
Conclusion #2: Again, when DO's "Use for lister scrollbars" option is disabled, launching WindowBlinds™ and changing "skins" has no obvious adverse effect on DO other than to disable the "Use for lister scrollbars" option.
Test #3 Process/Comments:
With WindowBlinds™ off, launched DO and found that the "Use for lister scrollbars" checkbox is still grayed out and cannot be enabled.
"... the "Use for lister scrollbars" checkbox is still grayed out and cannot be enabled."
Searching task manager for remnants of WindowBlinds™ or DO. Found and ended the "Directory Opus Helper Application" and "Directory Opus Search and Help Helper" memory resident processes.
Launched DO. The "Use for lister scrollbars" checkbox was then available and I checked the box to enable it. Recolored DO scrollbars worked normally.
With DO's "Use for lister scrollbars" option enabled and DO scrollbars functionally normally, I launched WindowBlinds™. Everything still working fine. Then when installing the first skin, the following error dialogue appeared:
After that, DO crashed. After relaunching DO this time, the Program Certificate seems to be intact and functioning. DO's "Use for lister scrollbars" option is checked but grayed out and cannot be changed.
Conclusion #3: Every time (so far) DO's "Use for lister scrollbars" option is enabled and WindowBlinds™ installs a style, DO will be adversely effected, and most likely crash.
Test #4 Process/Comments:
With WindowBlinds™ open and one of their styles installed, I launched DO and found that the "Use for lister scrollbars" checkbox is still disabled, grayed out and cannot be enabled. Just as I checked on that, DO then displayed a "Program Error Encountered" message dialogue requesting a yes or no click (see screenshot below). I clicked "yes" to terminate the thread and then, after a message indicating DO's behavior could not be guaranteed, DO crashed immediately.
"I clicked "yes to terminate the thread and then..."
"...after a message indicating DO's behavior could not be guaranteed, DO crashed immediately."
After removing the WindowBlinds™ style and terminating it, went to check and the Program Certificate appears to be intact and normal.
"...the Program Certificate appears to be intact and normal."
Conclusion #4:DO crashed when "Use for lister scrollbars" is disabled /unchecked, and WindowBlinds™ is open and one of their styles installed.
Overall Conclusions
In my short 1 week of DO experience, I have never had DO crash when WindowBlinds™ is closed.
Installing a WindowBlinds™ skin grays out DO's "Use for lister scrollbars" option, whether previously enabled or disabled.
In tests, when DO's "Use for lister scrollbars" option was enabled and WindowBlinds™ had been launched, while installing one of their "styles/skins," DO crashed 100% of the time.
This small amount of testing showed that any time WindowBlinds™ is open, DO may crash randomly regardless of whether its "Use for lister scrollbars" option is enabled or not ALTHOUGH the probability of DO crashing was reduced when its "Use for lister scrollbars" option was disabled/unchecked.
At this point, I plan to reboot, launch DO, turn off the "Use for lister scrollbars" option, then launch WindowBlinds™ and install one of their styles. I'll report on anything that changes the above results if it happens.
Just FYI: This system just stopped me from updating the testing results reply and displayed a message that I reached the maximum edits for today and must wait 7 hours.
I recommend trying to edit less. Every edit (of the last post in a thread) bumps the thread so people have to read it again, which is only good if the edit adds a lot, and can annoy people if it keeps a thread bumped all day and they have to keep clicking on it. Edits will also often not be read by as many people, since it takes time to work out what changed and not everyone will bother, or people may simple miss new details. So if it's important, putting it in an edit may mean it is missed.
OTOH, a stream of follow-up replies can be bad as well. Best to collect information and hold off posting anything until there's a more complete picture. Everyone can wait!
If you want to be a perfectionist with posts, like the theme thread with over 40 edits in 2 days, I get that, but it may make sense to write them up offline first, get them how you want them, and come back later to post them if they're finished, or edit them some more if new ideas come to mind after a break, rather than posting and then editing non-stop on the forum, which will run into the forum's daily edit limits.
So far I have not been able to trigger a crash when turning on a WindowBlinds theme while Opus is set to re-theme the scrollbars.
It's possible the two things are conflicting by patching the same API, although that should work normally.
Opus will detect if WindowBlinds is running and avoids patching the API in that case (both to reduce the chance of problems, and because there is no need to re-theme scrollbars when WindowBlinds is being used, as WindowBlinds can take care of that better, using the theme of your choice). That is also why the checkbox is disabled if WindowBlinds is detected.
Opus only detects WindowBlinds when it first launches, but WindowBlinds is normally launched at system startup and then stays running, so it should normally be active already, before Opus starts.
My tests were done with WindowBlinds 10 downloaded today (and Opus 12.6), and Windows 7, so it's also possible the WB or Windows versions play a part. But if there is an issue, it should only happen once, the first time WB is set up, as Opus would then detect WB and avoid trying to re-theme the scrollbars at all.
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