XWidgetSoft Forum

I have noticed since windows Vista +, that when running widgets for the first time on startup that a white box with a bevel appears around the widget to the extent of the widget window frame. Note this did not occur on Windows XP and appears to be related to the way that Windows desktop manager handles transparency-masked areas. This problem occurred first of all with Yahoo widgets but I have noticed it happening with Xwidgets too.

What this problem creates is a screen full of white borders surrounding each xwidget during startup. I am experiencing this at the moment in Windows 7 64bit ultimate but it is not limited to Win7 nor just this version.

By the time the system has finished the startup, the background has successfully redrawn so the issue resolves itself. However it does make widget startup look shabby.

What would fix this problem is if Xwidget instituted an optional delay in startup, for example a 30-45 second delay to allow Windows to sort itself out.

As a workaround I have removed the automatic start option within Xwidgets and instead now use the Windows task scheduler to run the xwidgetstarter.exe with a one minute delay. This should be long enough to avoid Windows conflicts for resources/structures during startup.

One minute was not enough - I moved the xwidget startup from being
configured within the xwidget engine's preferences to the Windows
scheduler. Xwidget now starts some 15 minutes after the system is
restarted. It does improve the problem of the white backgrounds showing
on top of the widget's main window, however the problem is not gone
completely. When the system is being heavily used and an xwidget is
also in operation a white box will draw around the widget until the contention is resolved.



The above image shows the problem occurring around a series of Yahoo widgets, the issue affects both engines in the same way so the picture is relevant.

Moving the xwidget startup has a pleasant side-effect - the system
starts much quicker too. There is obviously some contention on startup
as you'd expect and having xwidget in there competing for resources
slows things right down.

Nobody else has this problem at all? Can't believe that. I have experienced it since Vista.