Classic Shell: Forum

First off, I absolutely love Classic Shell. It totally turns what is for me an unusable interface in Windows 8 and 8.1 into one I am familiar with and can immediately be productive in. Thank you.

Second: I did search the forum using the forum search and I also used the Google "site:..." type search but was not able to find a post on this. But I didn't search for hours either, so if I missed a post on this, please provide a link to it. My searches kept bringing up a problem with not being able to put a PC into Sleep, which is not a problem I have.

Third, the issue I am encountering:

A few setup notes:
ASUS Laptop Running Windows 8.1
CSM Settings: Classic w/ 2 columns; Start Button is NOT replaced, Windows 8 Skin
CSM Win8.1 Settings: (1) Skip Metro Screen, (2) Disable active corners Start Screen, and (3) Disable taskbar transparency are enabled.
The Taskbar is set to auto hide and I have it opaque.
Windows is configured to require a log in upon screen saver or sleep.
I don't know if this could factor in, but I am using the laptop like a pc: I have 2 monitors, a keyboard, a mouse, speakers, ethernet connection, speakers, tied into a Targus docking station that connects via a single USB cable to the laptop. I generally do not have problems with it.

Classic Shell, the Taskbar and the Start Menu usually work without a flaw for me as long as I log off and then turn put the pc to sleep. But if I allow the pc to enter sleep mode while logged into an account, then upon waking up and logging in to the account again, I find that when I mouse over to the Task bar, the task bar is tranparent and icons for any windows or running programs are not showing as well as the Systems Tray is missing. Also the start menu button is not showing. However, if I then press the Start button on the keyboard, it will open the Start Menu. At this point, I have found that opening the Settings for CSM and simple checking the "Replace Start button" check box on the "Start Menu Style" tab and immediately unchecking it and then clicking Cancel will put everything right!

So, while I do have this work around that always does seem to work, it would be nice to no I can just hit sleep instead of having to choose between closing all windows and programs/apps and logging off or having to deal with the work around on waking the PC.

Please let me know if more info on my setup would help.

Thank you for any help!

What you are describing sounds like upon waking up you are seeing a secondary monitor. That's why you don't have the start button and the system tray icons and clock.
Try this - temporarily exit the start menu (right-click on the start button -> Exit), then Sleep. Check if you see the start button and clock after waking up. If not, then it is not a problem with Classic Shell. You need to look into your multi-monitor settings.

Thank you for responding. Sorry for the delay in getting back.

I have tried that. Other than torture of enduring the actual Win8.1 Start "Menu", it seemed to work fine.

I was able to capture some screen shots, which I have attempted to attach. Perhaps this might help shed some light.

I didn't realize they would be attached for viewing in reverse order of their upload...

I encounter the missing Task Bar First, then I press the Start Button on the keyboard.

Don't know if that matters.

Thanks again for any insight.

Just an additional image to show what the Task Bar looks like on my setup when all is well.

It is not clear from the screenshot if the taskbar is transparent or simply black because the background image is also black there. Can you try with another background? Also try turning off the "taskbar transparency" setting. Also if you are using a non-default theme, disable that too.

Thanks for the continued assistance and again sorry for the long delay in response.

I have done as you asked and from the attached screen shot images one can see, I am still getting the same issue.

As before, all I have to do work around this issue is click on "Classic Start Menu Settings", then "Start Menu Style" tab, then CHECK the "Replace Start Menu button" box. At this point, it's immediately fixed: the task bar is back with the system tray. I then immediately UNCHECK the "Replace Start Menu button" box and exit Classic Start Menu Settings by clicking on "Cancel".

From that point on the task bar is visible until I again allow it go to sleep or put into sleep.

Thank you for any further assistance.