Random Deactivation of Start 10

Losing Acctivation

from Stardock Forums

I keep running into an issue where an activated install of Start 10 deactivates and an activation screen pops up and cannot even be minimized. This has happened on a bunch of the machines that I installed o\Start 10 on. I provision and maintain computers for an Audio visual company, we have more than 60 laptops, 40 of them are Windows 10 and I have purchased and installed Start 10 on all of them. I have been ordered to uninstall it from all Company owned laptops because since these machines are only used to run shows an activation pop up that cannot be ignored  while trying to run AV is inadmissible. I reported this problem to support a while back and was told that this does not happen. I am here to tell you that it does and I almost lost my job because of it.

There is no place here for a screen shot as proof, but trust me, this is a real problem. 

 

4,057 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,

Sorry to hear you are having issues. Please try this, press the Windows key and "R" at the same time. A "Run" dialog box will pop up, please paste the path below into the "Open" field and press OK.

%ProgramData%\Stardock\

In the folder that pops up, you should see a folder named Start10. Please delete this folder and all of its contents.

After you have deleted that folder, please attempt to activate once again and it should succeed without any errors.

Try it and report back. Thanks

Basj,

Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

I have no issue activating it. I have an issue whereby the program deactivates itself for no reason and locks up all other functions on the computer till I reactivate Start 10. 

SoundPackager - Customize the Windows sound scheme
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,

I have forwarded your problem to Stardock Support team for their assistance. Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates. We appreciate your feedback and patience.

 

Basj

Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Did you activate them all with the same serial?

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,

Sorry to hear you are having trouble.

Quoting Neil, reply 4

Did you activate them all with the same serial?
End of Neil's quote

They have multiple keys, Neil.

I keep running into an issue where an activated install of Start 10 deactivates and an activation screen pops up and cannot even be minimized.
End of quote

You appear to be on the retail product as opposed to the corp one. 

https://store.stardock.com/corporatepricing

With the retail product, the maximum allowed activations per key is 5.  What appears to be happening is when any given key is reaching a maximum, there is a prompt to deactivate other PCs on said key.  That deactivation of those PCs happens and, within 7 days, the other PCs are asking to be reactivated.  In other words, your own users are deactivating others.

The difference with the corp product is that, while there is a prompt when a maximum is reached, the end user cannot deactivate all the rest - there is just a message to contact their IT admin (you in this case).

While I can convert your multiple keys to a single corp one (that has many concurrent activations associated with it) there are some sacrifices you need to be aware of - the most notable being that your 1 key = 5 activations would be reduced to 1 = 1.  In other words, your 1 key would not be 5 activations on the new single key but just one - 10 keys would not equal 50 activations on the single key, rather, 10 concurrent activations.

I can provide scripts to make any transition to a new key seamless and silent to the end user (no new install would be required, just a key change).

If this is something you still want to look into, please create a ticket here noting a link to this thread and how you would like to proceed.

https://esupport.stardock.com/index.php?/Tickets/Submit

----------------
Sean Drohan
Stardock Customer Service Manager

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Sean,

I activate with my stardock account usually and when I get a notice that it is unable to activate I purchase more licenses. I work on a lot of computers and I install Start 10 wherever I can as it makes it easier for me to walk clients through problem solutions over the phone.

I assume that your activation server knows which licenses are available to activate with.

Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting rogerscomputers, reply 6

I assume that your activation server knows which licenses are available to activate with.
End of rogerscomputers's quote

There is a round robin approach to it but you have keys that are maxed out. You can see what I am seeing by following this:

https://forums.stardock.com/486311/accounts-and-activation-support-faq#deactivateproduct

The way you are managing these, with multiple individual keys, in your environment, is not the best approach - it needs to be the corp product - single key with multiple activations.  As you need to add activation to said key, you would follow this:

https://forums.stardock.com/486311/accounts-and-activation-support-faq#addActivations

----------------
Sean Drohan
Stardock Customer Service Manager

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

I am having the same issue. I buy a 100 licenses but with all the reactivations I burn through them quick.  How do I fix this? Can I get credit for some of these activations? 

Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting is11, reply 8

I am having the same issue. I buy a 100 licenses but with all the reactivations I burn through them quick.  How do I fix this? Can I get credit for some of these activations? 
End of is11's quote

Please place a ticket here with the key information and a detailed description of the issue:

https://esupport.stardock.com/index.php?/Tickets/Submit

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top

I have sent an email to customer support, sales, and put tickets in on both sides and I havent received a response. I cant do any more installations and I have had to put out a notice that all repairs and installs are on hold until its fixed. 

Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting is11, reply 10

and put tickets in on both sides and I haven't received a response.
End of is11's quote

Edit: You placed two tickets, under two different email address, today:

Posted on: 21 April 2020 11:14 AM
Posted on: 21 April 2020 12:23 PM

While we are prompt, you will have to give us some to respond in the order the ticket was received...

I have answered your tickets.

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager