Video Hook Driver Causes More Problems than its Worth

[solero]

I am not sure why everyone seems to talk about how great the video hook driver is. I run UltraVNC on 5 different computers (all running Windows XP) and using the driver makes the VNC experience practically unusable on every single one of them.

With the video hook driver installed and checked (in the WinVNC Current User Properties dialogue box), I have seen the following problems constantly:

* Everytime I started a VNC session, I would have to start off by clicking on "Request screen refresh" because half the screen would not be drawn. Even then, most of the task bar and parts of my google desktop bar would never be drawn in until I took my mouse and run it up and down over it several times.

* The Start menu doesn't show up (or shows up only partially) when clicking on the "Start" button. Clicking on "All Programs" produces the same results. I would have to try to guess where the program is and move my mouse over it to figure out the name of the program.

* Tool tips only work sporadically.

I realize the using the video hook driver may use less CPU cycles but I have found that the whole VNC session with the Video Hook Driver extremely unproductive because I have to constantly right clicking on the menu bar of UltraVNC and clicking "Request screen refresh".

I think by default, the Video Hook Driver should be turned OFF when UltraVNC is installed and a warning should appear if you try to turn it on telling the user that they may experience many problems when using it.

Just my two cents.

Solero

[Rudi De Vos]

Are you sure the driver is working...
Looking at the results, it seems that nor the driver nor the hookdll is working, pure polling mode.

While connected, does the "check video hook driver" tell he is active.

[bevtech]

[topic=6966]How do I verify that video drive has been installed?[/topic]

Source FAQ

[solero]

Yes, I have verified that the drivers are installed by right-clicking on the WinVNC icon on the taskbar and clicking "Properties" and then click on "Check the Video Hook Driver".

Sometimes the visual degradation is not so bad. Most of the time, it only affects your taskbar and the Google Desktop Search bar (if you have it installed). I find that it is really bad if you are using multiple monitors. It looks like the Video Hook Driver allows you to see all the desktops next to each other as if it is one elongated desktop. It would be a nice feature if there were not so many side affects.

Anyway, it sure would be nice if there was a pop-up that would at least tell the user that they may experience visual degradation and artifacts by using the driver.

Solero

[MarioT]

I've seen the same behavior on most of our HP server (They use onboard ATI chipset).

The problem is 95% reduced by forcing a connection using the LAN > 1 mbits speed. Using the AUTO setting always produces non refreshed screen parts at connection and some artifacts are left behind while closing/minimizing windows.

[TimValley]

Same problem here. Server PC has ATI video card FWIW.

Particularly nasty when programming --> uppermost line of the code editor window is often not updated/refreshed, so source code can look very weird/confusing.

Disabling the Video Hook Driver appears to correct the problem.

BTW, video was rock-solid under V1.01, with same exact setup. Problems only after upgrade to 1.02.

[StealthyC]

Same problem as well, on all 800+ win2k boxes that have it installed on.

[Rudi De Vos]

When correct, after update winvnc.exe driver does not longer provide good quality.

I didn't react soner as the driver is the same for almost 2 years.
Have to be something in the winvnc driver handling ?