Start8 was working but will not work now

Did you purchase Start8 from Stardock, or are you using the trial?

If the trial it may be your 30 days has run out.

Make sure you have not altered any of the Stardock files as not being able to open the start menu would be one sign of that.

No files are put in the Windows directory.

I have the full paid version. I have not altered any files in my Windows 8 system or in Start8.

This is Windows 8 Pro with MCE by the way.

Does the start button itself appear?

What happens if you press the windows key on the keyboard?

Also what date does your PC think it is?

The start button does appear. When it press it, I do see it toggle to the darker color. Initially it will bring up the configuration window and afterwards it does nothing but toggle the darker color. The service is running and when restarted, it does the same thing.

I don't know if this is relative, but some software DOES store DLLs inside the Windows system and I'm not sure if this is the case with Start8.

I had issues getting Catalyst software running on an ATI video card. I had to uninstall the software and drivers from add/remove. Remove the folders in 'Program Files' directly, remove the registry entries, remove the driver files inside the Windows directory, and also remove the DLLs installed into the assembly folder. After that, I was able to re-install the software and get it working.

Again, I'm not sure if this applies. I'm just lost. It was working fine for about a month and nothing has changed and nothing I recall has been installed. Unless a Windows update screwed everything up.

Delete start8*.* from the c:\programdata\stardock\registrations folder and reboot.

On restart click the option to unlock Start8 and enter your account e-mail and password and this should unlock the software.

Additionally could you open up the Start8 folder (c:\program files(x86)\Stardock\start8) and right click on start8_32.dll and start8_64.dll and select properties from the menu.  Then click on the digital signatures tab, click on the first signature listed and then the details button.  What does it say for the status of the signature at the top and the signing time?

EDIT: I should point out I mean right click on each file on its own, not select both and then right click!

I nuked the whole 'c:\ProgramData\Stardock' folder as well as the 'c:\program files (x86)\Stardock' folder after uninstall & reboot.

I gave up and decided to do a  system restore to a week earlier and now  I'm back up and running.

It had to be some type of Windows update-related issue.

Thank you.

UPDATE: After the system restore, I installed all the Microsoft updates and re-installed to the latest beta without any further issues.

I am glad it is now working for you.  Out of interest did you at any point delete any digital certificates?  From the sounds of it the root cert may have been untrusted which suggests something took it out.

Also just for future reference if anyone else reports anything similar, what antivirus software / anti malware software do you use?

I did not delete any digital certificates. I don't use any active antivirus/malware software.

It is Windows 8 Pro with MCE (legitimate activated copy) set to receive and install Windows updates automatically.

Something might have been corrupted during these automatic update attempts is my guess. I can dig in eventvwr but I would have to dig through a week's worth and quite frankly, I'm happy with everything now and would rather not.

Also,

Thank you so much for all your help Neil! I really do appreciate it.

Hello,sorry for my bad english

I have the same problem here,i bought a computer 3 weeks ago and i ask to the technician i want windows 7 but he convince me windows 8 with a look of seven.Everything going fine but today my start menu doesn't work and when i right clic the start8 configuration not working.So i really need help,also i don't know wich version i have,i didn't uninstall it because i'm a newbie with PC and i don't want to do something wrong

Thank you

Where did you obtain your computer from exactly?

Those symptoms suggest a corrupted install of Start8 and I would recommend downloading the latest version.

If you have a stardock account that has Start8 on it you can do so via the MyDownloads section of the site.  If not you can download the latest version by going to the Start8 website and downloading the trial by clicking the Try it free button at the bottom of the download page and entering your e-mail address.

https://www.stardock.com/products/start8/download.asp

The trial version can be installed over an unlocked full version without needing to be reactivated.

Hello Neil thanks for replying me.The problem is i don't know if i have a trial version or an unlocked version.I will call the technician who build my PC for more information about start8.

edit:Where did you obtain your computer from exactly?

Concepta systèmes informatique link--www.concepta.com/

I have a similar problem.

Originally had Win 8 Release Preview (64-bit).

Purchased legitimate copy of Start8, verison 1.0.  Ran great.

Win 8 Release Preview today told me that it is expired. 

First, I uninstalled Start8 (just in case of Internet registration stuff). 

Then re-formatted hard drive and installed Win 8 RTM (64-bit).

Bear in mind that this is a perfectly fresh/clean install of Win 8: I installed Start8 1.0, and it won't run.  No start button, no nothing.  Rebooted multiple times.  Still nothing.

Then uninstalled Start8 (it shows up in Control Panel > Programs).  Downloaded Start8 1.10.  Installed it.  No start button, no nothing.  Rebooted multiple times.  Still nothing.  Checked for files in C:\ProgramData\Stardock\Registrations -- folder is completely empty.  Checked certificate signing dates: all say 1/10/2013.  Tried going into folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\Start8 and running the various .EXE files in there.  None of them show anything on-screen.

Task Manager > Services says that "Stardock Start8" service is running.  Task Manager > Processes shows "Stardock Start8 Configuration Utility (32-bit)" [sic] is eating up ~33% of the CPU.  But still nothing appears on-screen.

What should I do now?

I'm having the exact same issue as the above poster, I think it may have something to do with the profile sync from Win8 Beta