How can I get my registration / product key information
Table of contents
Activation Issues and Questions
Please click here
Information and Usage
Corporate Pricing for Start11
Clearing the recently used apps list
How can I disable Start11 for an individual user?
Adding Jump list items
Disable Auto Update
Backing up Start11 settings
Start11 Group Policy
How to activate from a command prompt
How to deactivate from a command prompt
I have reached maximum activations
How do I get the 'Shutdown' option in Start11 in an RDP session?
How can I unload Start11 from a command prompt?
Position the Start11 menu in the absolute center of the Taskbar
Stop the native Windows 10 "Pin to start" / "Unpin from start" doing the same to Start11
Will Start11 work on an ARM-based PC?
Do you support Beta \ Preview \ Developer versions of Windows
Troubleshooting
Start menu is empty
Jump lists not working
Install Error: "This Operation has been cancelled due to the restrictions in effect on this computer."
Collecting crash dumps
Self Support Options
The Start11 Installer Failed And Sent Me Here
Test in Windows Sandbox
Clean Boot - Start11
Purging and re-installing
Corporate Pricing
For orders of 10 seats or less, normal checkout processes and pricing apply and can be seen from the main site:
https://www.stardock.com/products/
To view purchasing information for larger deployments, including volume discounts, or to contact the sales team, please click here:
https://www.stardock.com/corporatesolutions/
To contact corporate sales directly, please use this link:
https://stardock.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/4/group/16/create/10147
How do I clear the recently used apps list?
Instructions
To clear out your recently used programs, do the following:
Go into Settings from your start menu:
Click personalization:
Click Start and then turn off Show most used apps, click Themes, then click Start again, and then turn it back on:
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How can I disable Start11/Start10 for an individual user?
Disabling Start11 for an individual user can be done via the Start10tweak.exe application.
Instructions
Start10tweak.exe is located in the Start11 install folder (typically C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\Start11 ).
Once run, uncheck the following:
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Will Start11 work on Arm based PCs? (Mac/Parallels, some Surface devices)
As of 04/02/2024, only Object Desktop clients will have access to ARM version of Start11 and Fences.
At a later date, it will be made available to all.
Do you support Beta \ Preview \ Developer versions of Windows?
While we appreciate all feedback, please remember that we offer no official support for beta \ preview \ developer channel versions of Windows. If you report issues while in any of those early release channels, you should not expect them to be addressed unless it still exists in a retail version of Windows.
How do I add jump list items?
Adding jump lists for Windows 7 style menu
Instructions
The below is a reg file that will increase the jump list to a higher count, you can change it if you like:
https://cdn.stardock.us/support/uploads/EveryOneJump.zip
Unzip it, run it, accept all the warnings and it should look like this (Notepad example):
If you need to change it more, it is better to edit the reg file and rerun it unless you are comfortable with editing your own registry.
What you want to edit is:
"Start_JumpListItems"=dword:00000015
Changing the 15 to something else (doing so in Notepad is fine).
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How do I disable Start11 auto updates?
Stardock Version:
Please download, and run, the following to stop Start11 from doing an update check:
https://cdn.stardock.us/support/uploads/Start11AutoUpdateStop.zip
The batch sets:
HKCU\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8
AllowAutoUpdateCheck=0
Steam Version:
For our software products sold via Steam the update check is handled differently than the versions sold via Stardock directlyIf there is an update available, the update check would look like this:
You can disable these checks by disabling the scheduled tasks, to do so:
Run Task Scheduler via Windows
Look for the product you are looking to disable (they will all start with Stardock)
Right-click on the item, and select Disable
If you do, you will have to use the Steam client to manually update.
Back-up Start Settings
Start11 v1
Please use the manual registry export method.
Start11 v2
Available in Start11 v2, is the “Settings backup” area of the configuration menu.
Manual Registry Export
You can manually export the registry to be reimported on any other PC.
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Stardock\Start8
(Start8 is not a typo, its a carry-over from that version)
Importing would need you to have that export on the other PC (the desktop is fine) and double-click it. It will prompt you that it is about to edit the registry.
Pinned items for all the Start11 menu styles are carried over as well with the exception of the Windows 7 style after a reboot.
For expediency, this batch file will do the export and place it in the current user's Documents folder:
https://cdn.stardock.us/support/uploads/StartRegExport.zip
Manual registry export process works with all current versions of Start11/Start10
For pinned items to be carried over for the Win7 and Modern menu styles, you can copy all the shortcuts located here:
%appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\User Pinned\StartMenu
(copy \ paste that into Windows Explorer)
Reboot and it should be as it was for settings.
For any of the exported shortcuts to render on a PC that imported them from another, those apps\folder\documents would need to exist on it and be in the exact same location.
How do I get the 'Shutdown' option in Start in an RDP session?
Instructions
Download and run this regEdit fileStart Menu Is Empty:
https://sd.stardock.com/Support/uploads/Start10Shutdown.zip
Registry change:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8\]
"RDPShowShutdown"="1"
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How can I unload Start from a command prompt?
Instructions
From the install directory, use:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\Start11\Start11.exe UNLOAD
To load again, just run Start10.exe from the same path.
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The Start Menu is empty
Jump lists are not working
Manually Collecting Start Crash Dumps
Software Crash Collection
If you are experiencing crashes that you believe are caused by one of Stardock’s products, we would really like a dump file from a crash if you are willing to use WinDBG to capture it.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/windbg-preview/9pgjgd53tn86?activetab=pivot:overviewtab
Once installed, you would make it the default postmortem debugger (click for larger image):
When a crash happens, it will pop WinDBG and PC could become rather slow while it works through it.
Example of what you would type there using your Windows account name instead of ‘sdrohan' and the specific product name if different than 'Fences’:
.dump /mf c:\users\sdrohan\desktop\Fences_RiverComb_04062022.dmp
The dump command (with the period), the /mf switch, where you want it put, and a name that indicates what app
that it's yours, and the date.
When it is done, you can click the red 'Stop Debugging' button:
The resulting file will likely be BIG, perhaps hundreds of MBs, too large to send uncompressed.
Stardock Games Crash Collection
Most all Stardock games have an in-game popup that asks for some details about the crash (what you were doing in-game, is it repeatable, etc).
Email address: Completly optional and we only ever use them for cases where we want to reach out to you for more information and help with resolving any particular issue.
If you do end up creating a forum thread about your issue, note in it that you submitted a crash report and the 1st portion (or some portion) of your email address so we can look it up here. For example, if your email address is jim555@acme.com, you can write ‘Crash report look up: jim555’ and we can use that partial. If you are not comfortable posting any portion of it, when we respond, you can private message the one of us that responds with what it is.
If for some reason this in-app crash prompt is no longer showing for you, click here.
Testing Start in Sandbox
In an effort to create a clean install environment without having to reformat your system, Windows 10 & 11 Pro have a "VM" (Virtual Machine) like feature called Windows Sandbox. This will replicate a freshly installed operating system without any other software installed. This is a great test to see if other programs conflict with Stardock products.
The following guide will walk you through the steps to enable Windows Sandbox:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-sandbox/windows-sandbox-overview
After Sandbox is set up, install and activate your Stardock product to see if the issue you are having is also being reproduced in this new environment or if it is working correctly in this mode.
NOTE: If you have a single activation Stardock product, you will be asked if you want to deactivate your other PC to proceed to install it in the Sandbox environment. After finishing the test, you will eventually be asked to activate on your other PC again and can do so.
Start11 Clean Boot
A "clean boot" starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs, so that you can determine whether a background program is interfering with your game or program. This is similar to starting Windows in Safe Mode, but provides you more control over which services and programs run at startup to help you isolate the cause of a problem.
Creating a new Windows Administrator Account
For testing, please create a new Windows Administrator account.
Windows 7
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-7
Windows 8
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-8
Windows 10 & 11
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/create-a-local-user-account-in-windows-10
Log in under that account and try. If it fails, and while still under that account, please click the link below for performing a 'clean boot' under it:
Windows Clean Boot Documention
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/929135
Enable Stardock Software
After you've loaded Windows in a clean state, please download this file:
https://cdn.stardock.us/support/uploads/StartStart10_11.zip
Run the batch file in it to start the Start10 service.
See if your issue persists
Start Menu purging and re-installing
Settings back-up
Prior to purging and reinstalling, you may wish to back-up your settings.
Obtaining the purge file
Please follow this link:
https://cdn.stardock.us/support/uploads/Purge_StartALL.zip
Save the file to your downloads folder.
Purging the application
Double-click the downloaded purge file and select "Run as Administrator" if you're on Windows 7/8/8.1/10.
If you are running Windows 8/10/11, you may be notified that Windows is protecting your PC. Select "More info" and then "Run anyway".
Reboot the computer and reinstall the application. It is important to get the most recent version of the application.
Reinstalling
For trials:
Please ensure you have the most recent trial available:
https://www.stardock.com/products/
For Stardock direct purchases
For getting your product and key, please see the following:
https://www.stardock.com/support/productkeyretrieval
For Steam Purchases
Even after using the purge file, you still need to use the 'uninstall' option in the Steam client:
After, re-Install from Steam and Steam only.
Please DO NOT change any of the default settings until you verify that the application is running as expected in its default state.
