Start11 v2 does NOT allow restart - probably associated with 12-10-2025 Windows Update

from Stardock Forums

Start11 V2 suddenly has a problem after the Windows Update installed yesterday (12-10-2025).  When attempting to restart the machine with Start11, the window hangs and a restart is NOT processed.  In order to work around the problem, I needed to initiate a user logout via <Ctrl><Alt><Del> and then Sign Out.  I followed this by selecting Restart under the Windows power icon and the machine rebooted normally.  After Start11 V2 was uninstalled, I was able to reboot normally within the user UI using the Windows start menu power Restart option.  Seems that MS has done it again!

start11 v2 restart hang windows update start menu products
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Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. If you have uninstall Start11, try re-download latest version available to you from your account product download page: https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/products. Install it, reboot immediately again. Retest it and report back.

If the issue still appear, we need to know your Windows 11 latest version and OS Build number. Please use Winver.exe to get these numbers. 

Note: Do know that I am on Windows 11 v25H2 (OS build 26200.7462), yet I can not reproduce your issue on my system.

Thank you,
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

I also have Windows 11 v25H2 (OS build 26200.7462) installed.  The updates that installed were:

2025-12 Security Update (KB5072033) (26200.7462)

Security Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB5002819) 32-Bit Edition

Security Update for Microsoft Office 2016 (KB5002812) 32-Bit Edition

Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool x64 - v5.138 (KB890830)

The previous Windows Update session was on 11-12-2025 with no issues afterward.

I'm sure that I already had your latest production version of Start11 v2 installed.  Part of the reason I was trying to reboot is the fact that my anti-malware software (Trend Micro) was having issues trying to perform it's scan of loaded processes in memory after the Windows Update install.  It also hung midstream which is certainly not typical.  As I mentioned earlier, uninstalling corrected the hanging problem with both rebooting and the Trend Micro scan.  

I don't have time to go through what will probably become an extensive diagnosis session right now and I want to have a complete backup beforehand.  Maybe some time next week.

Galactic Civilizations III