Windows Not Remembering Position

[SJMarty]

Hello,

I have POP Peeper Professional and the Plus Pack installed on two computers. On one, it remembers all of the window positions (when opened from the tray, compose, viewing folders, etc.). On the other computer, it keeps opening everything anchored to the top left corner of the monitor. Nothing that I have tried to get the windows to open where I want (and stick) has worked. It seems to remember the position during the session but after a reboot, everything is pinned to the top left again.

Thanks.

[mjs]

I'm thinking that the problem could be related to whether your "ini file" location is using the "C:\Program files" path on the computer that has this issue (resulting in UAC write-protection).

To check this; from the main menu, select "Tools" > "Options", then select the "Storage" page. If you see the "Ini Location:" starting with "C:Program files" then the best way to fix this would be to do the following:
1) Exit POP Peeper.
2) Move the ini file from: C:\Program Files (x86)\POP Peeper\poppeeper.ini to: %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\POP Peeper (note: you must manually move the poppeeper.ini file yourself using Windows Explorer/File Explorer).
-----> To do this do the following:
-----> A) Copy the line above (in red) and enter it into the Windows "Run prompt" (from "All apps" > "Windows system" > "Run") to open the correct folder in Windows Explorer/File Explorer.
-----> B) Note: The "POP Peeper" folder may not exist, in which case, you should open the parent folder (%userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\), and create "POP Peeper"; now move (drag) the ini file (poppeeper) from where it is now to this new location (not copy).
3) Restart POP Peeper.
4) Go to "Tools" > "Options" > "Storage" to make sure the "ini location" is now "C:\users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\POP Peeper\poppeeper.ini".
5) Also, while you're at this point, make sure you reset the value in the data path, that is delete the value for the data path so the value is empty and press OK (this will reset it to the AppData folder).

[SJMarty]

Thanks for the reply.

I have the .INI file located in the POP Peeper programs folder under C:\Program Files (x86). As I make other changes in the UI, the .INI is being updated. UAC is disabled.

In the .INI file, I see what looks to be references to window position.

For example, in the [POP Peeper] section...

Code: Select all

ViewSettings = 009C00000000
WMRetrievePages = 0
WndMain1_a = 0 0 1471 832 1
WndMainStatic = 0
WndMessage_a = 564 99 1795 885 1

And in the [Plugin_SendMail] section...

Code: Select all

WndAddrBook = 699 345 1221 702 1
Wnd_a = 598 273 1322 774 1

I don't know what the individual settings do or even if these are the correct settings for window position. Maybe if someone could help with those? Or is there something I can do in the UI to force a save of the current window position as the default?

[mjs]

Because the ini location path you have is "C:\Program Files (x86)..." your settings are write protected and as a result your settings return to default after reboot as you've described. If you follow precisely the steps previously posted to change this ini location path then this should solve your issue.

Take a look at your other computer that does not have this problem, you should find that the ini location path is not the same "C:\Programs Files (x86)..." but is instead something similar to "C:\users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\POP Peeper\poppeeper.ini".

[Jeff]

The 'WndMain1_a' is the relevant setting in the ini:
WndMain1_a = 0 0 1471 832 1

The first 2 values would be the top and left, so '0 0' correlates with the top-left of your monitor.

Simply moving your window won't immediately save to the ini file, so after you move the window, you can force the ini file to save by going to:
main menu: Tools / Options
and just press OK
Reload the ini file and see if the values have changed.

If you're sure that UAC is disabled, another possibility is that the file itself is set to read-only:
- Right-click on poppeeper.ini and select properties
- Uncheck "Read-only"
- Press OK

Try the trick above to save the ini file and then reload it and see if the window position has now updated.

[SJMarty]

I tried your suggestion and found an interesting behavior.

The basics...

• Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit
• UAC is disabled
• Logged in as a local administrator
• POP Peeper is installed to C:\Program Files (x86)\POP Peeper Professional
• "Run POP Peeper at Windows startup" is checked
• poppeeper.ini is not read only

Here is what I am doing step by step...

1. Start POPPeeper.exe
2. Set desired window position
3. Tools | Options | OK
4. poppeeper.ini file is updated with current date/time and WndMain1_a = 241 142 1679 906 1
5. File | Exit
6. Copy poppeeper.ini to Desktop
7. Rename poppeeper.ini on Desktop to poppeeper1.ini
8. Launch POPPeeper.exe
9. POP Peeper opens with window in desired position
10. File | Exit
11. poppeeper.ini has same date/time as in step #4
12. WndMain1_a settings are the same as in step #4
13. Copy poppeeper.ini to Desktop
14. Perform binary compare of poppeeper.ini and poppeeper1.ini – Files are identical
15. Reboot
16. Copy poppeeper.ini to Desktop
17. Perform binary compare of poppeeper.ini and poppeeper1.ini – Files are identical
18. Click once on tray icon to open main window
19. POP Peeper opens with windows in INCORRECT position. It is pinned to the upper left corner of the screen.
20. Copy poppeeper.ini to Desktop
21. Perform binary compare of poppeeper.ini and poppeeper1.ini – Files are identical
22. File | Exit
23. Upon EXIT, poppeeper.ini file updates to current date/time and WndMain1_a = 0 0 648 347 1

It appears that after a reboot and POP Peeper starting with Windows (with the -min switch), the window opens in the incorrect position and AFTER EXITING, the poppeeper.ini file is updated with the wrong coordinates.

What's interesting is that if I perform all of these same steps with the exception of the reboot in step #15, the window opens in the correct position and the poppeeper.ini file is not modified.

Please let me know if you can replicate this behavior and what I should try next.

Thanks.

[Jeff]

Come to think of it, it seems that this issue can be caused by certain 3rd party software that may try to position/resize windows. Are you running any such software? It's been a few years since I came across something like this and I can't remember what software it was...

Otherwise:
- What version of POP Peeper are you running?
- Has this always been a problem? If not, when did it start?
- If you disable PP's "run at windows startup" and then reboot and then (wait a few minutes until after Windows has finished loading everything) start PP manually, does it still have the problem?

[SJMarty]

Come to think of it, it seems that this issue can be caused by certain 3rd party software that may try to position/resize windows. Are you running any such software?

I am running DisplayFusion. It's a dual-monitor management program that I've been running for quite some time. Disabling it did not make a difference.

What version of POP Peeper are you running?

I'm running v4.2.

Has this always been a problem? If not, when did it start?

No, it has not always been a problem and unfortunately, I don't recall when it started.

If you disable PP's "run at windows startup" and then reboot and then (wait a few minutes until after Windows has finished loading everything) start PP manually, does it still have the problem?

If I follow these steps, no, I do not see the problem. It works correctly and opens the window in the correct position.

[Jeff]

The fact that you do run a windows-management app and the test your ran resulted in what I would expect in that case, would suggest that there's a software conflict.

Something I just thought of -- when you test something (like disabling DisplayFusion), make sure that PP's last known window position is not in the 0,0 position. Otherwise, you may think it's not working when in actuality, PP is just putting the window at 0,0 because that's where it was last at...

Here's what I would do:
- Run msconfig (in the Windows Run prompt)
- Go to the "startup" tab
- Make a note of any items that are currently disabled
- Disable ALL items except POPPeeper
- Restart Windows and see if PP's window is in the expected location
- If it is, then you can go back into msconfig and enable 1 or 2 items at a time. I would start with important "system" services (e.g. audio, antivirus, etc.) all in the first group as they're not likely to be causing the problem.