Got a little problem here I hope I can get some help with.

I used Litestep_installer3.0.2 to install the Litestep shell on my win98se machine. I liked it, but found it was more than I needed on my basically email and internet machine, so I uninstalled it. Therein lies the problem.

I have always used desktop images of 640x480 on my default resolution of 800x600, because I like a border around the image for my icons to rest and be easily read. Now that I uninstalled Litestep, all my images stretch to full 800x600 resulution, even thought the "stretch" setting is gone. Even went I set a smaller image for Tile, it is stretch to full screen, leaving them distorted. Doesn't matter if I select Center or Tile - it gets stretched full screen.

The resulting desktop is so ugly and annoying I have set it for None until this gets sorted out.

Can anyone help me with this? I really ... I mean REALLY .. need to get this fixed.

Thanks in advance.

You could paste the 640x480 pic in to a 800x600 canvas with a solid background color. :D

Ok, that's not really helpful.

Sorry, don't have an answer to this. Looking forward to seeing the solution, though. Never heard of this problem before.

If I remeber right there is no "Stretch" for win98, so you must have use a wallpaper module (or the installer stretched it from theme.ini settings)

My blind suggestion:

Install Litestep again,
use a theme that sets the wallpaper
edit/add the theme.ini file in $themeDir$ so that
or whatever the correct setting is

Hopefully that will reset whatever thing the installer adds to stretch your wallpapers.

This probably wont work, so dont say I said it would ;)

Well I don't know... I didn't change any themes or anything when I had Litestep installed - everything was default. Why this happened I don't know but it's really torquing me off not being able to use my favorite desktop background. Should have known better than to play with shell enhancements.

My memory is not great, but I was positive there was a stretch option before. Whether there was or not really doesn't matter - the fact is in either choices there are the desktop is now stretched.

Might be nice if you could get in touch with the developers to see what the heck happed, and a fix for it.

Well, just to see, I reinstalled Litestep a while ago. As before I changed nothing from default, and after uninstaling again the desktop is still screwed. My resolution from properties/display is still 800x600, 32bit true color. Still, desktop images stretch to full screen, distorted as hell.

I'm just totally PO'd now.

Here's somethiung curious. I've been going through the system.ini file to see if everything from Litestep was reset to windows default. There is one line that appears this way ...
*DisplayFallback=0
... with the asterisk as the first character. I don't recall ever seeing something like that before. Is it possible this is a remnant from Litestep? I hesitate to just remove it lest the system refuses to start again.

I did a find on this page for "active"
Nothing came up.

Turn on (or off, if it is on) Active Desktop.

Whatever the problem is, LS is not, and was not, it. It (the installer) may have caused a setting change, but should not have done anything more than you can reverse with a few clicks.

I've never had active desktop set to on over the 5 years this machine has been running. I installed no other programs or made any other changes to the system before or after installing litestep. I have tried everything I can think of, from options in tweakui (nothing to change there) to viewing all ini files from the date of install on.I can find nothing except the line in system.ini cited.

Something made the change. Since the only software or settings changed was by installing litestep, your refusal to aknowledge it is not the cause is interesting.
Perhaps you can suggest exactly what changes you suggest with "just a few clicks" - because I don't see it.

I hesitate to believe Litestep is actually the problem, too.

I just finished testing on a win98SE machine (all updated) that had never previously had Litestep on it. I installed it, the RC3 update, and then uninstalled it (using the shortcut). It did change my "center" setting to "stretch" and left it there after uninstalling, but I had no problem going in to properties (right click the desktop) >> backgrounds, and returning it to "center."

If you have any important details to recreating the "error," I'd be more than happy to test it out.

Interesting, since someone said there is no stretch setting in 98se. In any case - I no longer have it. The only options are tile and center. As I said, it doesn't matter what I select - the image is stretched. Putting it to center and applying makes no difference.

Quoting the "error" word is just a bit smug for my tests. I'm not an idiot and know my way around windows quite nicely, thank you. If I could say how to "recreate" the problem it would no longer BE a problem.

Your experience does not follow mine. Is that to say you are right and I am somehow wrong?

I suggest you take a step back away from your own negativity, as it's causing you to read something in to a pair of quotes that isn't there. It's hard to express tones in a simple post, so you have to give the poster the benefit of the doubt.

I went through the trouble of setting up a Win98 installation for the sole purpose of trying to help you, and this is the response I get back? That attitude?

The forum will auto-mod me, but read something in to this: *** you.

And btw: http://msu.edu/~ctower/steve/98_stretch.png

And how would you suggest someone take your quotes, as a compliment? There is nothing negative in my comments. As I said, your experience is different from mine. The "attitude" you speak of escapes me - there is nothing there that accuses you of anything but a smug reply, which I believe it was. As you said, it is hard to express tones in a message. May I suggest you are more guilty than you assume me to be? At least I didn't say "F*** you." Talk about reading into something?

Yeah thanks for going to all the trouble. Perhaps if you mentioned that in a more positive way I would have responded differently.

Your screen shot, btw, is nice but unhelpful. As I said at the outset ... I don't have all those options anymore. They disappeared after uninstalling Litestep - even if you don't want to hear that. Nevertheless it is so. I also said that no matter what option I used for the background - the remaining tile and center - the background would only stretch. That's a fact, again whether you agree or not that Litestep produced that feat of magic.

Have a nice day.

I went by your words alone. I did not try to reinterpret them to something else. I am not guilty of reading anything extra in to what you said. You clearly did read something in to my post that wasn't there or intended - and clearly copped an attitude in the response. You can try and back-peddle and spin it to something else. I don't care.

If you're not an idiot, and know your way around windows "quite nicely," you should have no problem fixing this by yourself.

The screenshot was to show that there originally was an option, as that was called in to doubt. It wasn't meant to be helpful. If you couldn't tell, in that post, I wasn't actually offering anymore help. I thought I made that clear when I said "*** you."

Okay, I've said enough about this to you because you don't seem to read very well. I repeat ...THOSE OPTIONS ARE NOT THERE ON MY SYSTEM. Okay? Are we clear on that? The only spin is yours - not mine. I have said the same thing every time, and if you choose to ignore it that's not my problem.

Retrieving the previous setup is not a simple matter of click and done. If you think so why didn't you just say how to do so? You didn't, because it isn't that.

May I suggest that you read again your first reply? You know - the one where you say you have no answer to the problem? Or how about fractels, which I tried without success as he was man enough to admit probably wouldn't work.

At any rate this forum seems to be a waste of further time. I wrote email to Omar Hussain who wrote the installer program and it bounced. I tried the forum he was running for the program and that is off line. I don't think it's worth further time running a basically unsupported program.

Ciou...

bemmo: enable active desktop or reinstall windows. Be polite to those giving time and effort helping you but expecting nothing in return ;)

xcal: keep that 98 install, Tobbe will need your help testing the installer ;)

@bemmo: You're saying I don't seem to read well? What part of this didn't you understand: "The screenshot was to show that there originally was an option, as that was called in to doubt." I bolded a special word for you.

It was brought in to question whether 98 had that option at all. I was replying to that, not whether you had that option. It's pretty obvious - "...as that was called in to doubt." Understand that? It's pretty basic comprehension.

Originally, I did say I had no solution, but later I setup Win98 to try and help you through to a solution. Your negativity got in the way and you somehow took offense to a pair of quotes (of all things!), which you misinterpreted. I did not mistake you calling me smug which made it clear where you were coming from and your attitude towards me. I didn't spin anything at all. You made an incorrect assumption at what I meant, and I simply read what you said.

@fractal: Ya, I'll keep it around for testing the new installer.

Jesus I feel dirty after reading this thread...

@bemmo: ya know, xcal's probably one of the nicest, most easy-going guys in the community. to piss him off...wow. you probably should just uninstall right now, I don't see anyone else giving you any more help. except for devilboi. but he would just help you out the door. :P

why would I do something like that? :p

lol!