Reporting problems, feature requests, questions and support

[valinet]

Please read this document outlining some general guidelines regarding problem reporting, feature requests, questions and support tickets regarding ExplorerPatcher, especially if it's the first time posting here. You are welcome to discuss the document in this thread.

Thank you

[eco-pimento]

This is a report.Explorer Patcher is blocked from launching the program by Windows Update. If it does not start and it starts, the EXE file will disappear.　Please update Explorer Patcher.

[valinet]

I don't understand. Anyway, if Windows Update blocks random files, maybe that should be updated instead of my application. What's wrong with mine if Windows Update is doing the actual wrongdoing...?

[jportiza]

@valinet [request] Would it be possible to add the feature of automatically hiding the taskbar only on a secondary monitor? I am using an ASUS UX482 and it would be quite useful. Thank you!

[radische]

I have (had) ExplorerPatcher installed on 7 Windows 11 computers. I decided, maybe foolishly, to re-enter Microsofts "Windows Insider" program and installed Win 11 Pro Build 22543 on one of the 7 computers. Prior to doing that, I went into the taskbar properties for ExplorerPatcher and changed the default taskbar back to the Windows 11 taskbar, but leaving ExplorerPatcher on the computer. After the install, as expected, I have the Windows 11 taskbar, but when I right click on the taskbar, while I do get "Taskbar Settings" as a possible left click, I do not see the "Properties" choice to return to the Windows 10 Taskbar. I did not like that. Previously when using a Windows Insider Build, I was able to go into settings and return to the regular (not Insider) Build, but when I checked how to do that in settings I found that the only way to return to the previous build was to download a "Clean" version of Windows 11. So I either have to clean the drive and reinstall 11 and all other files or stay where I am with the Windows 11 taskbar.

Have you been able to do anything with build 22543?

[Poopooracoocoo]

ep doesn't support insider preview builds for two main reasons. they're moving targets, and the symbols aren't released for them. there's really not much you can expect...
and btw i think the maintainer would've appreciated it if you opened a new discussion instead of using this announcement as this discussion is for discussing the document linked above

[radische]

I apologize. I had no intent of placing my question in the wrong category.

As far as re-installing ep, it looks like I will have to abandon Windows Insider, at least at this time. I may try it again, but only after cloning my SSD prior to installation so that I can easily go back to a version of ep that works with Windows 11.

[Seele86]

Hi,
I have a blue bar in the upper middle screen since I installed Explorer Patcher

is it possible to hide it? Or has it a function?

[Seele86]

Yes you are right.
using Win11

[valinet]

What OS build? What exact version? Insider Preview?

[Seele86]

Win11 Home, Build 22000.527

[Poopooracoocoo]

It sorta looks purple. Do you have MS Teams Personal or Business running in the background? Does anything happen when you hover over it or click on it?

You could also check what apps you've got installed and which apps start when you log into Windows.

It's nearly impossible to guess like this, and this is the wrong place for non-EP related technical support.

[Seele86]

No I do not have MS Teams and nothing happens if I click on it or mouseover.
Yes I know, I thought EP was the problem because it popped up around to the same time I installed EP.
Unfortunately it is hard to search the web with "blue bar middle of screen"...
Thank you guys, hopefully I can solve the problem. If not, I can live with that.

[pc-v2]

Setting up Windows 11 start menu with windows 10 taskbar with start menu at screen edge does not call start menu to screen edge

[pc-v2]

welp, uninstalling and cleaning all explorerpatcher folder then install the latest preview version fixed it ;)

[Poopooracoocoo]

Please consider giving some trusted people triage permissions or closing them again! I really care for your mental health and I saw what happened before. This repo is getting inundated with frequently asked questions, support requests that don't say much, and feature requests. There are so few contributions and properly written bug reports. I cannot completely understand your frustrations but empathise with you.

[valinet]

I decided to give up in this regard. It is what it is, that’s why I haven’t renewed the forum closure. 1 year passed amd GitHub is interested, same as the parent company, in all kinds of useless stunts (like mandatory 2FA, coming soon), but useful features. Anyway, if anyone offers to moderate, I am fine with that. The problem is, it is unrealistic to expect to do that alone and not also develop the code.

[Poopooracoocoo]

I'm glad you did. Yeah I can only echo what you've said before; not being able to have a separate space for developers with confirmed issues makes GitHub very inefficient and the burden heavy and stressful. Any other solutions just remove the "hub" in GitHub. It's insane that they implemented user statuses before repo controls.

I'd be willing to moderate by converting issues to discussions and closing issues.

[Mefisst]

Hello. Please add the standard sound menu and battery menu to the system tray.

System tray - Sound: Windows 11
System tray - Battery: Windows 11

[Poopooracoocoo]

This is not the place for feature requests. This is not even really meant for any discussion at all. If anything, it would be a meta-discussion.

[Mefisst]

I'm sorry, it's indicated in the title, so I wrote it, I won't do it again

[Poopooracoocoo]

So you only read the title and not the body. I see. You also made another comment instead of replying to mine... The body of the discussion says "You are welcome to discuss the document in this thread."

[krystofklima]

Hello, I have problem with patch. Very slowed down my Edge browsing after installing patch from You. Can You send me some steps to make cofiguration back ?

[Poopooracoocoo]

This is only for discussion of the document above. If you need support, open a new discussion, following the guidelines. At the very least, provide proof, your EP version and Windows build.

[GronbergInfo]

Since today, EP does not seem to work fully.
It shows "people" and not "Weather" in the tray.
context menu in explorer shows win 11 new crappy context menu and not the better, usefull <=Win10 context menu.

[Poopooracoocoo]

This is only for discussion of the document above. If you need support, open a new discussion, following the guidelines. In your new discussion you should at the very least provide your EP version and Windows build.

[Stojakovic83]

In dark mode with explorer patcher, the power menu displaying options such as shut down, suspend, log out, and restart appears as a split between black and white, with black text instead of white, as seen in the photo.

https://i.imgur.com/jSf6T6J.png

[Poopooracoocoo]

This is only for discussion of the document above. If you need support, open a new discussion, following the guidelines. In your new discussion you should at the very least provide your EP version and Windows build.

[amkhkh]

Hi I have my current computer and antivirus for 5 years with rarely reporting any virus detection. But from yesterday I istalled Explorer Patcher it is showing handreds of virus detection, every a few hours. Is that related to ExplorerPatcher? I am just a windows user, not a professional programmer.

[RiscyUpp]

Hmmmm, I check Norton and I don't see any of this..... my version is 22621.1555.55.1.

[daon3xtreme]

After a restart last night with the latest cumulative update KB5028254 the patcher updated i started crashing. When I restart the explorer it seems like it's about to start working normally, but in some 10-20 seconds I get:

[daon3xtreme]

After deleting all .prev files things got almost stable. The only thing left so far is - every second time I try to open File Explorer, Windows Explorer restarts.

[Mefisst]

this problem appeared again. when the Windpows 10 style is enabled, the display of the volume level disappears

[Poopooracoocoo]

This is not the place to report issues. This discussion just tells you how to report them.

[XuanChen1234]

I think that option would be good and work (except if a different solution was found to make it work on 22h2 and 23h2 like taking the code from the windows 10 search box and making it a 1:1 replica of that bar.....) this option can be toggled on if you want and toggled off if you don't want it. this with the windows 10 search menu enabled by default and with the option to enable the windows 11 one... (the windows 10 search menu probably needs to be implemented) plus with the unasked highlight this-

(this is a concept of how it might look like, yes I put the windows 10 taskbar on top of the image yes...)

[Amrsatrio]

You will not get anything by spamming. I will NOT try to add the stuff you want because of how different their inner workings are compared between 10 and 11. Please understand.

[XuanChen1234]

If an News and interests is added to an EP as an flyout, would be really nice it was possible to News and interests like in Windows 10.

[XuanChen1234]

Windows 11 has the notifications flyout and the action centre separated, whereas these were combined in Windows 10. I think combining these two would be better, because it doesn't make sense to me that the settings icon opens anything other than the settings screen. And the notifications icon opens the calendar, which is pretty pointless since clicking on the time/date already does this. Putting the action centre back in the notifications area and removing the settings icon would make more sense and be more efficient, Imo. I don't know why Windows always need to ruin things that worked perfectly fine. Absolutely senseless.

Also, if it's me, but there seems to be some extra padding above and underneath the time and date, maybe this could be removed to save space and give a more clean look?

Clicking on the time/date:

Clicking on the notification icon:

Clicking on the settings icon:

Action centre/notifications on Windows 10:

[XuanChen1234]

@Amrsatrio How do we show accent color on system apps startup interface?

[XuanChen1234]

*Feature Request

I would like there to be a windows 10 News and interests, when I still had windows 10 me along with many other people used the News and interests and I think it would be a nice add on to explorer patcher in the next update. So I hope in the next couple of updates there will be a taskbar feature. Thanks!

[dmcdivitt]

You need to add the QuickLaunch toolbar for stuff like that. ExplorerPatcher gives you the QuickLaunch back and I have all my hot items there.

Work out how to launch news and similar via command line, make a shortcut on the desktop with that in the target, drag and drop that into the QuickLaunch toolbar, then delete from desktop.

[Gausch87]

Hi there,

i ran a Windows 11 Update (KB5035853) yesterday and since then my taskbar is only usable in dark mode. In light mode it's just completlely transparent and only the icons are visable. Here 2 Screenshots:

light mode

dark mode

I already reinstalled ExplorerPatcher.

[Catalyst44]

I have exactly the same problem after I also updated yesterday - taskbar is transparent. I have read previous posts about this, going back a few years, and they talk about Open-Shell and I seem to remember that after a reboot there was a brief shell error message, but searching for open shell settings doesn't reveal anything. Hope there is a solution as it's a pain !
Resorting to 'Taskbar Style Win 11' does get over the problem in the short term.

[Amrsatrio]

Hi, sorry for the inconvenience. Please download the latest release "64.1", it will bring back the acrylic to the taskbar.

[Catalyst44]

Yup - sorted - many thanks..

[naeemind]

Would you please change back to non-transparent, otherwise I will have to remove it, thanks in advance, it was very helpful using the explorer patcher

[Amrsatrio]

Hi, sorry for the inconvenience. Please download the latest release "64.1", it will bring back the acrylic to the taskbar.

[pyrates999]

Install the latest pre-release. That fixes it.

[GrumpySquatch]

I kind of like the clear taskbar. I would like a choice though... I'm still using 63.2. From: naeemind ***@***.***> Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2024 6:22 PM To: valinet/ExplorerPatcher ***@***.***> Cc: GrumpySquatch ***@***.***>; Manual ***@***.***> Subject: Re: [valinet/ExplorerPatcher] Reporting problems, feature requests, questions and support (Discussion #622) Would you please change back to non-transparent, otherwise I will have to remove it, thanks in advance, it was very helpful using the explorer patcher - Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#622 (comment)>, or unsubscribe<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/A3YSSLUZGHDR6AVXOEAKTGLYYDGQ7AVCNFSM5LEL6GF2U5DIOJSWCZC7NNSXTOKENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQ5TQNZXHEZDONI>. You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.******@***.***>>

[pyrates999]

Install NiceTaskBar from the Microsoft Store then. This has been fixed in the latest pre-release. I don't think it will be added.

[GrumpySquatch]

Cool, thanks for the reference. Still not sure I'll stick with it. From: pyrates999 ***@***.***> Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2024 6:44 PM To: valinet/ExplorerPatcher ***@***.***> Cc: GrumpySquatch ***@***.***>; Manual ***@***.***> Subject: Re: [valinet/ExplorerPatcher] Reporting problems, feature requests, questions and support (Discussion #622) Install NiceTaskBar from the Microsoft Store then. This has been fixed in the latest pre-release. I don't think it will be added. - Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#622 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/A3YSSLWULCEKT4FOUCHD3ALYYDJCLAVCNFSM5LEL6GF2U5DIOJSWCZC7NNSXTOKENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQ5TQNZXHE2DEMA>. You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.******@***.***>>

[Gillesdu38]

Hi since the last update of W11 (i suppose 3 weeks ago) , i have problems with EP. taskbar is not only dark, app's icons are visible but the dropdown menu of EP (for choosing options) is entirely empty, just one remains: the shorcut for windows's page of taskbar's option...) so impossible to change options. Also, impossible ton include folder in the taskbar... and icons on the right (hour, sound... ) appears only if pointed by the mouse i reinstall a lot of time, with differents way, no succes. i used i thing the latest version of EP: ...64.2. So Thanks very much from France for your help.

[pyrates999]

Please create a new discussion for this.

[Amrsatrio]

Turn off classic theme mitigations in EP Properties > Advanced.

[Gillesdu38]

Thanks for reply, but the right-click context menu is entirely empty (you can see it in the joined picture in my first message) so i cannot change properties or options of EP. can i do something in windows directly?

[pyrates999]

to run the explorer patcher properties application, run this from the run menu:
C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe "C:\Program Files\ExplorerPatcher\ExplorerPatcher.amd64.dll",ZZGUI

Then go to advanced and make sure the option Do not change the taskbar context menu (e.g. do not display the "Properties" is not enabled. Then you can right click on the taskbar and you should see the Properties option.

[Gillesdu38]

Now it s work. As Amrsatrio: Turn off classic theme mitigations in EP Properties > Advanced.
and for this: execute command from Pyrates999 " C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe "C:\Program Files\ExplorerPatcher\ExplorerPatcher.amd64.dll",ZZGUI "
i suppose i tried it and in the same time i forgot the soft was uninstall....
Nice! thanks very much for your help!

[reyscorpio]

I'm running on the Windows 11 default settings. Start Menu position on screen is set to Center. The taskbar behaviour for position is set to LEFT. BUT it doesn't behave that way. I select the Start button, the menus appears on the Center but the Taskbar icons appear on the Center as well? Please advise.

[pyrates999]

Please post windows version and build. You can find this by running winver.
Please post explorer patcher version.

Please include what settings you changed in explorer patcher properties application. These should be screen shots. If you can, please change it to english first.

Please include any other software you have installed that modifies the UI of windows.

[coileachbeag]

My Second Monitor Taskbar location stays at the bottom of the screen even if I try to change it to the top of the screen, it just doesn't change.

[coileachbeag]

Also my Second Monitor Taskbar is always hidden unless I have chrome, etc. on the whole screen. Any fixes or is this a bug?

[Janly62]

I have your app installed with the taskbar style set as Windows 10 and on Top. I installed your latest update which fixed an issue where, if taskbar was on top, I couldn't right-click on any of the icons in the taskbar. However, the issue that remains is that your "properties" option when I right-click on taskbar doesn't show. Not even when taskbar is at the bottom. Is there a workaround to this or is this an issue specific to my PC? I have an HP Spectre laptop with the latest Windows 11 build installed.

[Amrsatrio]

[Janly62]

Thanks. I just went to see the settings and belatedly realized there was a setting for it. You were too fast to respond. I don't know if I without realizing it changed this setting at some point, or if it got enabled with an update or a windows update. I don't recall changing this, but can't say with 100% certainty. Most important is that it's working. Again thanks.

[Amrsatrio]

You're welcome. Well I had replied to this thread in the past so I have email notis for this thread enabled.

But I have a feeling some settings in the "written in one night" EP GUI change on their own...

[DSperber1]

Latest version 66.5 update that is available today 9/10 is considered a Trojan, by both Windows Defender (Win11) as well as Bitdefender. Quarantined. Uninstallable. Net result is that previous 65 version is now removed from system, and all of ExplorerPatcher has functionally vanished. I am going to try installing 65 again.

[pyrates999]

discussed here: #3228

MS just doesn't like EP and has added it to windows defender, even though it is not a virus and not a hack tool.

You can also set windows defender to exclude the following:

1. %ProgramFiles%\ExplorerPatcher
2. %APPDATA%\ExplorerPatcher
3. Directory that you downloaded ep_setup.exe to

Future updates to EP won't be flagged then.

You can also set windows defender to exclude the directory that you manually download EP to so you can install it without windows defender blocking it.

[zong771015]

[pyrates999]

Please provide context for how this is caused and what it does.