Start11 menu - blank desktop post installing

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. Need to know more on your system.

1. Windows 11 full version and OS Build number. Please use Winver.exe.
2. Did you reboot right after the Start11 installation is done?

Thank you.
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Hi Basj, thanks for replying back and offering help, and sorry for the delay my end.

To answer your question - my windows version and os build number is: Windows 11 Pro version 21H2 os build 22000.2538

I just tried to install start11 it again, gets as fair as the requesting a reboot (which I accepted last time), and I accept yes, laptop reboots, get the login screen - use my thumb print reader to login/proceed.. goes through the quick logging in screen and then this time I get a blank White screen (sometimes got a blank Black screen).. no menu bar, no task bar, and no viewable desktop - only thing got is a movable mouse pointer. To get it back to usable laptop again have to go through the previous route of alt-ctrl-del, select task process management, kill start 11 task(s), and to services via task manager, disable the stardock start11 service, and then via ctrl-alt-del again reboot the laptop. It's a Lenovo P52 laptop.

I bit of additional information as the P52 also comes with a sep. P1000 quadro graphics (thought it may have been a intel graphics card issue) before disabling start11, I went into bios and set the laptop to use the quadro graphics card by default (not hybrid mode, where the intel graphics card would by default be used).. sadly made zero difference, so not sure if it's a graphics card issue?

Thanks again.

Ian

Just noticed I have a windows 23H2 update pending.. going  to try to update to that. My Lenovo P52 is a fairly recent laptop I purchased, so maybe I should have gone through the updates first.. just I don't like the default windows menus, so kind of jumped the 'gun' there. After windows 23H2 has updated - I will obviously reboot, and try the Start11 install process again.. will let you know the outcome. It's weird as I have a 5 license copy of Start11, and start11 installed perfecting on windows 10 Pro

Yes, please update to the latest Windows 11 v23H2 and try reinstall Start11, test it and report back.

Thank you.
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Hi it took awhile I upgraded to Windows 11 version 23H2 os build 22631.4249, and restart the start11 installation process again from scratch.. there is one small change, the screen now goes completely blank just after installation, prior to getting the reboot notification. if I then just do ctrl-alt-delete and restart my laptop.. after going through the welcome screen/login am faced with the same blank screen.. only solution is to repeat the same method as before via task manager to disabled the start11 service. sadly no luck.

also notice via your accounts section here it isn't showing my laptop as been registered to the software, so suspect something keeps going wrong with the installation process - not 100% completing. Only showing 2 registrations out of 5, the other 2 been windows 10 pro laptops. weird. I have heard that windows 11 can still be pretty buggy at times.. one of the reasons I decided against upgrading to windows 11 on my other two laptops  which still run windows 10 (side note: using 0patch to keep them supported post microsoft windows updates next year).

Only other thought I have concerning the laptop which is having a problem installing start11, is to see if I can disable the anti virus software that was pre-installed with the laptop when I recently purchased it.. but normally when screens start going blank it suggests a graphic card issue but already tried switching from the intel graphic card to the P1000 Quadro one, and made zero difference... sadly with the blank screen cannot get to the graphics settings either.

Not sure if start11 generates an error log file or anything ?

Thanks.

"also notice via your accounts section here it isn't showing my laptop as been registered to the software" - ignore this - rofl never got as far as been able to enter the registration key / email address. Turning off anti virus software made zero change.. also tried changing the display DPI resolution/scaling, this also made zero difference. stumped now.

Please test installation on Windows sandbox :https://forums.stardock.com/505872/start11-support-faq#windowssandbox. Try that and report back.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Thanks, I will try this tomorrow - temp. using openshell replacement of windows 11 start menu in the meantime.

Hi I got windows sandbox installed however hit a major issue on going any further..

via instructions on https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/application-security/application-isolation/windows-sandbox/windows-sandbox-overview

it says on usage..

Copy an executable file (and any other files needed to run the application) from the host and paste them into the Windows Sandbox window.

Sadly  unable to do this.. if i try to drag and drop an executable into windows sandbox it just shows the no icon and won't allow it..

screen capture..

If drag and drop don't work. Have you tried copy and paste? Or you should be able to get to your Stardock account product download page and download Start11 installer directly within Sandbox.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Hi thanks got some information.. firstly got start11 to install in the sandbox, working fine.. subsequently removed.. so at least know it's not a fundamental hardware issue.

I tried a fresh install this time as administrator but sadly same thing happens.. blank screen after logging in.. did the ctrl-alt-del task manager disable service route and rebooted to get back the desktop.. then (perhaps should have done this at the start) looked at the event viewer.. seems to be an explorer error caused by start11 (Start10_64.dll ?) on the start11 installation folder.. here is the error message..

Faulting application name: Explorer.EXE, version: 10.0.22621.4249, time stamp: 0x9d940356
Faulting module name: Start10_64.dll, version: 2.1.1.0, time stamp: 0x66d9d587
Exception code: 0xc0000409
Fault offset: 0x0000000000287f0d
Faulting process id: 0x0x2468
Faulting application start time: 0x0x1DB199BB21793C9
Faulting application path: C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
Faulting module path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\Start11\Start10_64.dll
Report Id: cccfff15-9768-47fb-8fae-7750060f6382
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID

Fault bucket 1458925900746444638, type 5
Event Name: BEX64
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: Explorer.EXE
P2: 10.0.22621.4249
P3: 9d940356
P4: Start10_64.dll
P5: 2.1.1.0
P6: 66d9d587
P7: 0000000000287f0d
P8: c0000409
P9: 0000000000000007
P10:

I hope this helps. Using latest released version of start11 v2.11, and again windows version in windows 11 pro version 23H2 os build 22631.4249. Keeping the software service disabled until the issue is rectified.

Thanks.

"Or you should be able to get to your Stardock account product download page and download Start11 installer directly within Sandbox." - sadly no internet connection in sandbox, but copy and paste worked eventually.

Do you have any third party apps installed that alter Windows Explorer, or have you ever had any third party apps installed that alter Windows Explorer which were uninstalled?

Have you been reinstalling Start11 on top of your existing install. Perhaps running the purge bat will help.

Follow the instructions in the Support area at https://support.stardock.com/space/SHC/1349320730/Start+Menu+purging+and+re-installing

Delete any old Start11 installers, and then redownload a fresh installer from your Account downloads, and try installing again. https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/products

it's a brand new laptop.. with a fresh windows 11 install plus lenovo drivers.. never had any stardock application on it before.

Hi I tried the start menu purge, and then reboot, checked the program files (x86) folder to make sure uninstalled, then reinstall start 11, sadly exactly the same problem (black desktop)  as before and same event viewer error (apart from datestamps).

Just tried running the windows system file checker SFC.exe aka https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/use-the-system-file-checker-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system-files-79aa86cb-ca52-166a-92a3-966e85d4094e - didn't find any problems either.

Please try cleanboot as mention here: https://forums.stardock.com/505872/start11-support-faq#cleanboot. Do follow instruction carefully. Try it and report back.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Ideally what we need is a dmp file from that as the crash information from Event Viewer is insufficient.

Are you at all familiar with WinDbg?

Hi thanks for the reply - sadly never used WinDbg.. but willing to try, if I have any instructions.

I don't personally see the point trying a clean account as won't resolve the issue, other than to throw it back to 'another piece of software is interfering with stardock start11' - which in itself shouldn't causes memory buffer over runs for it to crash explorer and therefore the blank desktop - based on event viewer message. I agree debug information would hopefully be more informative.

Sadly this looks horrifically complicated to use.. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/debugger/getting-started-with-windows-debugging..

I am more inclined to just wait for a future version of start11 which doesn't cause explorer buffer over runs. I think will just leave this unresolved, and use openshell menu for now, which is adequate for my needs. shame there isn't a start11 version which just logs diagnostics as it runs.

also think would have difficulty using windbg given that my laptop is unusable after installing Start11 - no desktop to use.. blank screen / no taskbar.. only functionality I have to disable it is ctrl-alt-delete keys/ task manager / services.

Earlier in this thread you mentioned your Windows version was 22000.2538.

"To answer your question - my windows version and os build number is: Windows 11 Pro version 21H2 os build 22000.2538"

I'm confused about how this could be a brand new laptop with a fresh install of Windows when it was running 22000.2538, which was released in October of 2023.

The fact that you were able to run Start11 in the Windows Sandbox tells me that there is a software incompatibility somewhere.

I know that Lenovo has some proprietary software on some of their laptops which has caused issues with other Stardock software.

Check the following folders for any software you don't recognize.

"C:\Program Files"

"C:\Program Files (x86)"

Something is causing Windows Explorer to crash.

Also, run a scan of your Security software to make sure there is no malware on your laptop.

The 'point' is finding out what is causing the issue.  Doing a cleanboot gets a PC as close to 'clean' as possible.

The issue reads like a Windows Explorer issue.  Are you using OpenShell when trying to install Start11?  If so, that could be bad.  Please uninstall OpenShell, reboot, and try the Start11 installation again.

If it fails (black screen \ no taskbar), do the CTRL + Atl + Del to get to 'Task Manager'.  Find 'Windows Explorer' and 'restart' the process.  If its not running at all (bad but would explain a lot), run it

That all said, if you are able to get it to reliably reproduce (and it seems you can), getting the debug with WinDBG is VERY helpful.  This is the guide we have for it

https://support.stardock.com/space/SHC/1347321935/Manually+Collecting+Start+Crash+Dumps

Sean Drohan
Stardock Product Lifecycle Manager

To answer your question - my windows version and os build number is: Windows 11 Pro version 21H2 os build 22000.2538" - that was correct and later upgraded to latest version as it was a new laptop with a default install or at least that it is how it arrived to myself. Did all the scans to start with nothing found.. in agreement after a sandbox test that something is causing it to make explorer crash, but no idea what. Thanks for help, but to be honest wasted too much time on this now.. maybe in the future I will come to try to install Start11 again with a newer version and it will work.