Start11 Support FAQ
Stardock Forums
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
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:
This will need to be done from each user account you wish to have Start10 disabled on.
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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 directly
If 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
Windows 7/Modern Start11 Menu Style Shortcuts
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.
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.
Please ZIP the file, upload it to a cloud drive service, and paste a shared link in a thread (existing or new), that would be much appreciated.
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 [email protected], 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.
Start Menu purging and re-installing
Settings back-up
Prior to purging and reinstalling, you may wish to back-up your settings.
It is important to not immediately restore backed up settings before you confirm that a fresh install works as expected.
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
**IMPORTANT** Please save any open documents/work and close out all of your applications including browsers. Your PC may restart after running this .bat file.
Double-click the downloaded purge file and select "Run as Administrator" if you're on Windows 7/8/8.1/10.
For Windows 11, you need to select, ‘Show more options’ to get to the menu.
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.