Hello,

Sorry your having issues.

With the problem PC would you Please try this PURGE different than a regular

uninstall https://forums.stardock.com/485954/deskscapes-support-faq#reinstalling

Reboot and ReInstall the latest version from your account https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/products/

Reboot , test and report back here please.

AzDude
Stardock Community Assistant

One would have to think something (software) is blocking it as you can see it works fine on the one PC on the same network.  Perhaps disabling BitDefender is not enough and an uninstall would prove fruitful.  I would assume you could reinstall it once you can see it working. 

You could certainly still manually download the Dreams but that would take away one of the more attractive new features of DS10.  I gather you can reach WinCustomize on said PC, yes?

https://www.wincustomize.com/

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

You may also want to check the firewall.

I have done the following:

1.  completely uninstalled BitDefender

2.  turned off the Windows Firewall

3.  uninstalled DeskScapes 10

4.  ran the "purge" and rebooted

5.  verified Windows firewall still off after reboot

6.  reinstalled and activited DeskScapes 10

...and it still won't go online.  When you click on the "online" tab, you get the error "No suitable backgrounds have been found."

I did a video capture but don't see how to upload it.

Here's an image:

Has it ever worked on this box?  Does this cache clear help at all?

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

Do you know what host files are and if so, have you ever messed with them?  Is this at all corp PC or is it yours (no VPN connection or anything running)?  Perhaps a work proxy you use for Internet browsing?

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

Not to say there could not be one (a bug), but we have not seen this in internal testing, no one has reported anything similar since launch, nor can we fathom what could be the cause with the core product.

If you do find out what is blocking this feature, please do let us know what it was.  We will do the same if we can think of anything.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

I can't explain it, but I can tell you something genuinely strange.

I have an old SSD that has Windows 7 on it for this system, back before it ran Windows 10. 

I put that SSD in the system, booted the old Windows 7 system, and installed DeskScapes 10.

And it will not go online.  Exactly the same behavior.

Entirely different OS--only the hardware is the same.

Here's some details of the hardware:

motherboard:  Asus Z-87a  with i7-4790K CPU (no overclock), 16 GB RAM, Realtek RTL8168/8111 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (on motherboard)

I'm thinking there is some peculiarity about that particular motherboard or NIC...I can't some up with anything else that makes sense.

I tried with a TPLink AC1200 wireless adapter, fresh driver install, new to this system.  Still no luck.

I would actually wonder if there was damage to the motherboard or ethernet adapter, but everything else works--all browsers, Multiplicity, all games including World of Warcraft and Elite Dangerous (both online games), Microsoft "Metro" apps, etc.

On testing my Ethernet connection, I am getting 71 Mbps download and 6 Mbps upload.

I had Virtualbox installed (a VM hypervisor) but uninstalling that also makes no difference.

If anything changes I'll let you know.  Right now I'm out of ideas to try short of a rebuild, and right now I don't have the time to do a Windows rebuild.

<<...that one statement tells me it's being blocked by a firewall, or something.>>

I will agree with the "or something." 

No single firewall exists across two different OS installations, one Windows 7, one Windows 10.  I'm using the same antivirus / firewall package on both computers, the other Windows 10 computer, DeskScapes works fine.

The only thing common to the two OS's on the computer in question is the hardware itself.  And yet nothing else is blocked in either OS?

We have to be looking at a bug, here.  I'm not saying the bug has to be in the DeskScapes program--could be some peculiarity in chipset driver, NIC driver, firmware, or some combination.

I've compared Ethernet adapter settings between the system that works and the one that doesn't, they are identical.  Also compared environment variables, tried turning UAC on / off, changed the computer name, did a reinit on the network...no difference.  It's running an unmodified HOSTS file.  I also uninstalled the antivirus /firewall package, and that made no difference either.

Every browser on the system can go instantly to wincustomize.com with no delays at all.

I'm not sure it can be made to work on this hardware, or maybe this specific combination of hardware.  It's got me stumped.

I don't know if I ever will, but I would very much like to figure it out someday.

If I ever do, I'll post the solution here.

No worries--you are not coming across as a jackass.  In fact, I appreciate your giving me someone else to bounce this off of.

You are correct, there is a firewall in the router.  The router feeds both physical Windows 10 computers, on one of which DeskScapes 10 works, and on one of which it does not.

There is effectively a third computer involved, because on an old SSD that I don't use anymore, I have an old install of Windows 7 from the physical PC where DeskScapes 10 doesn't work under Windows 10.  Oddly enough, it won't work on the Windows 7 SSD on the same hardware either.

That said--I have made some progress this evening.

I enabled the Administrator account on the Windows 10 install that doesn't work, and DeskScapes does work and go online for the Administrator account,but still not for the original account (which is also an administrative account).  Then I created another account and DeskScapes now works on that--but didn't when I tried it before I enabled the Administrator account.

So I think what I am likeliest to do at this point is make a new profile and copy my old files and favorites to that and just delete the original account.

When I have time.   it's not a drastic issue, and at this point I'm giving all the credit to Microsoft for the bug. 

The new profile has also stopped working.