[SOLVED] The Stardock Groupy service is not and cannot be started.

Groupy not working.

from Stardock Forums

******UPDATE: THE SOLUTION TO THIS ISSUE CAN BE FOUND BY CLICKING HERE.

Groupy worked fantastically for a couple of months, but one day it suddenly stopped working. I hovered a Documents window over a Downloads window as usual, and they didn't stack. Also, the added Groupy interface wasn't there anymore (the little "+" button that allowed me to open a new tab within a window). At that moment, I thought that Groupy might have gotten buggy and that it would be easily fixed by force closing it and opening it again to restart it, so I opened the Task Manager, but I couldn't find any Groupy or Stardock processes running. I figured that was the reason it wasn't working, because it wasn't even launched on system start up, so I went ahead and try to launch Groupy.

After I clicked on the program to open it, the "Welcome to Groupy" window came up, and upon closing it a prompt asking if I wanted to "Keep delayed grouping enabled?" came up so I chose "Yes". The program itself flashed for half a second and then it disappeared, so I figured it had crashed. I launched it again with the same result. I checked Task Manager again, and no processes were running so I restarted the PC hoping that would fix it. After Windows 10 started (with all the latest updates installed, by the way) Groupy was still not launched. Again, I checked the Task Manager and no process was running, so I tried launching it from the start menu with the same result as before; "Welcome to Groupy" window --> "Keep delayed grouping enabled?" prompt --> Program flashes on screen for half a second and disappears. I checked the Task Manager and again no process.

At this point I decided to run the groupyPurge.bat BEFORE uninstalling Groupy, however the bat itself didn't seem to do anything. It gave me the following message:

Code: asp.net
  1. </span>The Stardock Groupy service is not started.</span>
  3.  
  5.  
  7. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 3521. </span>
  9.  
  11. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">ERROR: The system was unable to find the specified registry key or value. </span>
  13. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">IMPORTANT.. When you hit enter next, the purge will finish but will force a reboot. You need to save / close any documents you do not want to lose progess on. </span>
  15. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Press any key to continue . . .

(I think the bat message misspells “progress” by the way)

I pressed ENTER but no force reboot was performed. I restarted anyway and Groupy was still installed and still not working.

So, I decided to uninstall Groupy normally, and to run the groupyPurge.bat AFTER uninstalling Groupy. After uninstalling it normally it asked me to reboot the system and I did. I ran the bat and the message changed slightly to:

Code: asp.net
  1. </span>The service name is invalid.</span>
  3.  
  5.  
  7. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 2185.</span>
  9.  
  11. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">The operation completed successfully.</span>
  13. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">IMPORTANT.. When you hit enter next, the purge will finish but will force a reboot. You need to save / close any documents you do not want to lose progess on.</span>
  15. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Press any key to continue . . .

Pressing ENTER did not result in a system reboot, again, but I restarted the system anyway. I reinstalled Groupy using the Groupy1.25_setup_sd.exe and the “Welcome to Groupy” window opened as usual, closing that popped up a prompt to “Keep delayed grouping enabled?” as usual as well, and clicking “Yes” on it yielded the same result. Groupy flashes on screen for half a second and then disappears and it simply does not work on the PC. Just to make sure I opened the Task Manager and no Groupy or Stardock process was running.

I opened a command prompt running as an administrator and typed NET HELPMSG 2185 and NET HELPMSG 3521 as suggested in the log from the purge bat file and with the 2185 one I was told that “The service name is invalid.” and with the 3521 one I was told that “The *** service is not started.” (with the three asterisks being literally three asterisks as not to confuse them with forum filters sometimes changing bad words to that, lol).

I noticed that one of the log messages from the bat also said that “The Stardock Groupy service is not started.” and so I opened the “services.msc” where I found the Stardock Groupy service with a “Status” set to blank (as in it said nothing, it was empty), and the “Startup Type” set to “Automatic” and “Log On As” set to “Local System”. I double clicked on it and “Service status:” was set to “Stopped” with four buttons underneath that said “Start”, “Stop”, “Pause” and “Resume”, only one of which was enabled; “Start”. I clicked on it and it popped up a prompt with the following message:

Code: asp.net
  1. </span></span>
  3. ---------------------------
  5. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Services</span>
  7. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">---------------------------</span>
  9. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Windows could not start the Stardock Groupy service on Local Computer.</span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;"> </span>
  11.  
  13. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Error 193: 0xc1</span>
  15. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">---------------------------</span>
  17. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">OK<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">   </span></span>
  19. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">---------------------------

I clicked on the “OK” button and the prompt disappeared. I suspect this is where the problem lies. What can I do to get Groupy working again?

I apologize for the long ass post, but I tried to be as detailed as possible foreseeing the suggestion of steps that I have already taken and hoping to speed up the process of solving this issue. I’ve also looked extensively on Google and on here for solutions or issues like this one but have not yet been able to find a fix, though I am human, and I could have overlooked something on the way (maybe something really obvious). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

groupy
11,582 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
I have forwarded your questions/problems to the Stardock Support team for their assistance. Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates. We appreciate you feedback and patience.

Thank You,
Basj
Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,

Sorry to hear you are having trouble.

If you create a new Windows administrator account, and with your AV software disabled under it, can you start the Groupy service (or is it already started)?

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

Thanks for the prompt response!

I created a new Local Account and gave it Administrator rights. I don't have AV software, except for Windows Defender, but I disabled that just in case. No Groupy or Stardock process was running and the service was still stopped. Upon trying to start it, the same error message popped up:

Code: asp.net
  3. ---------------------------
  5. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Services</span>
  7. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">---------------------------</span>
  9. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Windows could not start the Stardock Groupy service on Local Computer.</span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;"> </span>
  11.  
  13. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Error 193: 0xc1</span>
  15. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">---------------------------</span>
  17. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">OK<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">   </span></span>
  19. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">---------------------------

I tried to launch Groupy, regardless, and it gave me the same result:  "Welcome to Groupy" window --> "Keep delayed grouping enabled?" prompt --> Program flashes on screen for half a second and disappears.

 

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Its just bizzare that the service cannot be started - I have never had such a case.  Are you on a corp network that restricts software installs?

If you install Start10, can that service be started:

https://www.stardock.com/products/start10/download-trial

Sean Drohan
Stardock Support Manager

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

I installed Start10 and its process is running and shows in Task Manager.

I tried to open it and it won't let me, it pops up the following message. If I click "Yes" it uninstalls and prompts me to reboot. If I click no, it just closes and Start10 doesn't open.

The Start10 service, however, is running.

So I tried to start the Groupy service to see if it would reactivate with the installation of Start10, but I got the same result as before:

Code: asp.net
  3. ---------------------------
  5. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Services</span>
  7. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">---------------------------</span>
  9. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Windows could not start the Stardock Groupy service on Local Computer.</span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;"> </span>
  11.  
  13. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Error 193: 0xc1</span>
  15. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">---------------------------</span>
  17. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">OK<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">   </span></span>
  19. <span style="font-family: 'Calibri', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">---------------------------

This is a personal desktop computer, running Windows 10 64bit. Here are the specs:

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Any other suggestions on this issue? Trying everything on Safe Mode didn't work either. Could I possibly have a previous version installer to try out? I kind of remember updating after 1.20 or 1.21 when it stopped working.

Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top

Please try the following:

-For Win8/10 Users: Open the Start Screen, and type 'cmd'. Right-click on the search result and select 'Run as administrator' from below.

-For 7 Users: click Start, in the start search field type 'cmd'. Right-click on the search result and select 'Run as administrator'.

-Type: sfc /scannow

-Wait for the scan to complete (this can take several minutes)

Some help on how this looks should you need it:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929833/use-the-system-file-checker-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system

If the SFC finds errors, but cannot fix them, please also run the following command in the same command prompt window:

dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Some help on how this looks should you need it:

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-dism-command-line-utility-repair-windows-10-image

The above command should assist with replacing any damaged or problematic system files. Please note, however, since it may require restoring certain files, this process can take some time and you will need to be patient until it has completed.

Please let me know whether this resolves your problem or if you have any additional questions.

Thank you,

Basj
Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

basj, I had already done that to no avail. However, upon further inspection of the error in the Event Viewer, I got this:

I then proceeded to research where errors like this come from and found several reports of what happens.

EXPLANATION: Some programs tend to create a file named "Program" (with no extensions) in the root of your C:\ drive (or in my case it was the S:\ drive). It's unknown why they do this, but exploring this file with notepad or any text editor will often give you a clue of who the guilty party is within its nonsense code full of symbols and text. For me, it was the installation of a well known text-to-speech and speech-to-text program that goes by the name of a legendary and mythical serpent-like creature that I will not mention because I don't know if I'm allowed to. This "Program" file was the cause of the error and the inability to start the Stardock Groupy service. According to the sources I consulted within my research:

The main reason behind this issue is due to [the] name of this file. When Windows Service Control Manager tries to start the ... service, it verifies two paths. SystemDrive\Program and Program Files\Common. The service starts up fine if no files with these names exists. Therefore if you find rogue files with these names, you will see the issues in starting up the service.

*******SOLUTION: The following steps will fix this problem:

  1. Go to the root directory of the drives you have installed on your system (i.e. C:\, D:\, E:\, etc.). and make sure you have the option to "View Hidden Items" enabled in case the file has been hidden by a program.
  2. If you find a file named "Program" without any apparent extensions (or even with), open it using a text editor application. I suggest using the WordPad program that's usually already preinstalled in Windows operating systems.
  3. Browse through it until you find a clue of which program installed it. Often enough, the name of the program will be mentioned several times throughout the code found in the document. It's a big mess in there, so it could possibly take you a while to spot it.
  4. Contact the software developer to see if it's safe to remove, rename or relocate the file. In my case, I no longer had the program installed so I removed it. If you don't want to remove it, you can instead rename it to "Program.OLD" temporarily, which will allow you to see if this is indeed the culprit.
  5. Open the Windows Service Control Manager (often times by pressing the Windows key on your keyboard and typing in the word "Services") and find the Startdock Groupy service.
  6. Right clicking on the service and choosing to "Start" it up again should work now.
  7. Open the Stardock Groupy application by clicking on its shortcut. It should no longer crash and allow you to use Groupy.

It's not entirely clear to me why this happens, and as sdRohan mentioned, I find it bizarre as well. Nonetheless, I hope this fix helps anyone in the future who comes across this issue with Groupy (or any other programs, really). I'd like to thank the Stardock team; although you were unable to help me solve this issue, your prompt responses made me feel like the attention to customer service is not something you neglect, which is definitely something that's not likely to be taken for granted.

Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top

Same here. Flashes on the screen, not for a second as the fellow said, but for perhaps 1/50th of a second, then disappears. Have found no solution.