Guest desktop shows up in Unity mode when a certain program is open

[Varzzz]

Hi,

I just downloaded the trial version of VMware Workstation Pro to test if it is a viable option for playing online poker. However, there is a glitch with unity mode whenever I open additional software that aids me while playing. The additional software is a tracking tool that collects data from played hands and generates statistical information in the form of tables that are forced on top of poker tables next to each player. If I open the software, immediately when the tables appear, there also appears a rectangular gray box around the table, which has something to do with the guest desktop but is in a different colour than the desktop. It renders everything under the box invisible, making unity mode unusable for me since I intend to play several tables at a time. I had the exact same problem when using VirtualBox, was hoping that it is not present in VMware.

Here's a screenshot of what it all looks like:

Screenshot - f44ad08d9e0bf2e548a62ef25958a62a - Gyazo

I really really need to fix this. I have two questions regarding this:

1) Is it realistically fixable? What could I do to get this solved?

2) How do I apply for any kind of support? I am under a trial version but would not, of course, want to purchase the product if I cannot even be sure that I will be able to fix the problem that is so vital for me.

I am running a trial version of Windows 8.1 on the virtual machine.

Many thanks for any kind of responses.

[BradI100]

This depends if the program itself has a static/hidden frame in it that's larger than the adjusted program box size.  If it doesn't you might have some luck doing the following:

Choose the VM you are running and go into Settings and choose the Options tab.

Then choose Unity Mode and uncheck everything there except for "Enable applications menu"

if that doesn't fix it, presuming it's a windows app you can try fiddling with the properties of the app itself.  To do so:

Right click on the program .exe file and choose properties.  Go to the Compatibility tab.  Near the bottom try working through the high DPI settings, if that doesn't work set them back.  Then try disabling fullscreen optimizations (revert back if that doesn't work).  Lastly try the Run in 640 x 480 mode.