Start11 (v1) suddenly looses search and apps until explorer.exe restart

from Stardock Forums

Hi,

since yesterday 20.10.2025 I got my first real issue with this software.

  • For some reason, at some point it would no longer show certain attached links (eg: "Minecraft Launcher").
  • Also, the full application list appears empty, not even folders displayed.
  • In addition, using the search will not come up with the obvious results. For example, searching for the built in "Store" of Windows will only show "fix issues with the store" instead of showing the app result. By this I mean this applies to everything, also for example "task manager" or "terminal". For comparison, "Task Manager" as an app is still accessible via the Taskbar right-click. Other apps are also still there and usable via the default Windows start menu (CTRL+click on Windows Icon in Taskbar)

 

All these issues only go away with a restart of the explorer service (or system reboot); at least I havent figured out how to properly restart the Start11 service.

I cannot narrow down currently what causes it, but have never seen it before yesterday.

 

Start11 (v1) 1.55

Windows 11 Home, 24H2, Build 26100.6901

 

Thanks for any help!

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1,721 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. Would like to suggest do the 30 days free trial on Start11v2 and see if the issue still appear while in it. Just make sure to reboot after the installation.

Thank you,
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

As suggested, I now tried using "v2" via the 30day trial. So far the last 3 days no issues.

Before, I had just cleanly setup my laptop anew, It was fine with "v1" for about a week, before the issue popped up daily again.
Only a restart seemed to fix it, wheres normally I would only put the laptop into hibernation over night.

 

What would be our next steps to resolve this ultimately?

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Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
I have forwarded your problem/question to Stardock Support Team for their assistance. Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates. We appreciate your feedback and patience. Thank you.

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

If Start11 V2 is working for you, and considering all the changes that MS has made since Start11 v1 was introduced (years ago now), you may consider the discounted upgrade:

https://www.stardock.com/products/start11/#purchase

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Where is the discount?

Honestly, if this is your solution to make my already purchased product work properly, I am expecting a free copy or at least an extra discount on top.

Please provide your solution.

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Hi mgru,

Quoting mgru, reply 5

Where is the discount?

Discount options for owning prior versions can be found by clicking the "Upgrade" button of the product page:

image-20250925-135539.png

Best regards,

Adam McGuinness
Stardock Support Specialist

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

Given the symptoms I would suggest something is interfering with Start11s ability to run windows search indexer searches over time.

This could be a resource leak from something else, an OS bug or some other cause.  Given it seems new and Start11 1.x has not changed in a long time it would seem most likely to be external to Start11 itself.  It would be interesting to see the resource usage of explorer.exe when it stops working, both for memory, GDI, USER and handles usage.  Taskmanager can show this.

Why does Start11 v2 not have this issue?  Because the search in v2 is overhauled considerably including out of process searching for non apps and a new enhanced search engine in v2 which runs searches in a different non Windows search indexer way.

Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top

Okay so..

the findings of Search changes for v2 are not ported back as an update to v1, I assume?

Thus, nothing changed about my argument of not being able to use my purchased product fully, while you obviously have the means to provide a solution (as seen in v2).

A satisfactory compensation is still expected.