Classic Shell: Forum

I've been using classic shell since the first public release, so I've seen many bugs come and go. This, however, is the most frustrating of those encountered. When multiple instances of the same program are stacked on the taskbar, the small window that appears to allow you to switch through them appears for a split second, and then disappears. Not only does this make it impossible to switch between instances, it also makes it impossible to take a program out of the minimized state, forcing it to be closed, usually without being able to save my work.

It's extremely hard to take a screenshot of this occurrence, and my computer isn't strong enough for any screen recording software to show useable information.

HP Pavilion G7 notebook
Windows 8
AMD A4-4300M APU W/ Radeon HD Graphics @2.50GHz
4GB RAM (3.47GB usable)
64-Bit OS, x64-Based processor

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Im not sure this is a classic shell issue, have you tried without classic shell

Also maybe you should try 7+taskbar tweaker.

http://rammichael.com/7-taskbar-tweaker

Not affiliated/endorsed by Classic Shell


There is a setting that allows you to change the taskbar hover settings to show a list rather than a preview image
though you wont get the screenshot of the window anymore, it might at least solve your problem

Yes, I'm sure it's Classic Shell, for I haven't had this issue up until I updated it, and nothing else was updated that day.

However, that does solve my issue, although I'm sure some people wouldn't want to download another look-and-feel program, and also I think it's important the Classic Shell team is aware of the issue.

Anyway thanks for the help :3

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To verify this is related to Classic Shell, right-click on the start button and select Exit. Check if the problem goes away.

The problem seems to no longer be occurring at all, even with Classic Shell enabled...

Now I'm not sure what it is. It may be Classic Shell, it may not be. .-.

The problem is solved for now, but I'll be sure to update if/when I figure out what what's causing it.

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I tried it on a fresh installation of Windows 8 Pro (32-bit) with nothing else but Classic Shell 3.9.5 installed. I have 3 Explorer windows that are stacked on the taskbar and the thumbnails appear just fine for them. Same with multiple command prompts. Can you reproduce the issue with those 2 programs (Explorer or command prompt), or does it happen for specific programs only? Also, it would help if you post your settings XML file, as it may be related to a specific combination of settings.

It appears to randomly happen with any program, Be it IE, Command Prompt, Chrome, SonED2, you name it, it happens. There's no real rhyme or reason to it, and I'm lost as to what it could be

The Classic Shell settings are the 3.9.5 defaults.

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Oh, I see, so you are saying it doesn't happen all the time? The original description made me believe it happens constantly.
BTW, you can also use Alt+Tab to get to each instance of the program, so you don't have to lose your unsaved work.

It happens most of the time, but when it does it doesn't seem to be fixed unless I close all the programs with multiple instances, and even then it can still happen. I may have made it sound constant, but it's ultimately random at best, and I'm sorry for that. One last thing that may be major but I doubt it has any correlation: about a month prior to 3.9.5 update, I spilled coffee on my laptop. I cleaned most of it out, but since my trackpad and keyboard have been acting strange, so I tend to use an external USB mouse and keyboard. It never had any ill effects on system performance, however. Given the time that's passed, I highly doubt it's part of the problem.

Also, thanks for the tip :3

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Hmm... It may be causing a button (like Esc) to intermittently get stuck, causing the thumbnails to be dismissed I've seen problems like that before. In some office the monitor cable was leaning against the Esc key and they couldn't figure out why the software exists as soon as they run it.

yea ive seen that problem to, especially on laptop keyboards where the keys are held down easier
Also my only other idea could be a driver issue causing the crash?

It's not that, all the keys that got messed up are on the lower-right area of the keyboard. All the keys in that area work fine. Furthermore, SonED2, a game editing tool I use, will close if ESC is pressed, and that never happened to me.

It'd be quite strange if it was a driver issue, given how sporadic the effects are.

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