Win10 - StrartIsBack problem

[bphlpt]

Hey guys. I've been happily running Win10 for quite awhile. A little while ago StartIsBack began acting weird, and I haven't been able to fix it. Even trying to reinstall StartIsBack, either uninstalling the existing installatoin first or not, will not work. I tried installing the apz with both SetupS and the LLstore replacement, and both failed, saying "The specified path is invalid". If I click "OK" It then brings up a StartIsBack Installation window, wanting an installation path. "C:\Program Files (x86)\StartIsBack" is prepopulated, which is right as far as I know, but it won't accept that. It's a permission issue, because I CAN install it in a non- "Program Files" location, but I shouldn't have to do that. I thought that both SetupS and LLStore dealt with the permissions and installed apps where they needed to go, so what's going on and how can I fix it? Yeah, I can do the nuclear option and do a complete reinstall, and it's way past time that I should, but it's the principle of the thing! LOL

 

[Ghost]

Just to mention @bphlpt , did this start happening after a patch Tuesday by chance ?

I would try it in a VM to find if it just a issue within your windows enviroment , install the windows you are using install startisback and find out what happens .

 

[Glenn]

Go into "C:\Program Files (x86)\" right click "StartIsBack" and pick "Take Ownership", this should fix it, it gives the user full access, the alternative is to uninstall it, then delete it. to me it sound like you've turned off UAC, you can NOT turn off UAC, you can only put it to a low setting, else things can't escalate, if they can't escalate themselves to admin or system, trusted installer then you get these kinds of issues where you don't have access. Even LLStore and ssWPI require UAC to be actually on. I can almost guarantee this is the cause of your strife, but if not, running LLStore or ssWPI as Administrator using the context menu or start menu (hold ctrl + shift) and it'll ask to run as admin. but if it doesn't then UAC is blocked and there really isn't a way for them to access C:\Program Files or the x86 one.

 

[bphlpt]

No real progress. I took ownership of "C:\Program Files (x86)\StartIsBack" and changed my UAC setting to the next-to-lowest setting. I double-clicked the StartIsBack apz while holding ctl+shift and UAC control asked if I wanted to allow LLStore to make changes to my system, and I said yes. Then it still errored out with "The specified path is invalid". Installing it to "C:\Bin\StartIsBack" instead works fine, but...

...did this start happening after a patch Tuesday by chance ?

Yes, that seemed to be the cause of my original problem with StartIsBack. But, FYI, StartIsBack does have an update available, v2.9.21. It's shareware, but for $4.95 I considered it worth it. It works correctly with all of the latest Windows 10 updates installed. I could "deal" with the standard Win 10 Start menu, but I really hate it. LOL

 

[Glenn]

Sorry I can't help with this, I've not encountered it yet, if you find a solution before I get the "privilege" of a customer bringing back a device to fix it. I bet it is a Update causing problems, I mean why would Microsoft not make ssWPI and LLStore no longer have access to certain folders essential for them to work... it's not like they even test their code anymore, they just expect their AI to get it perfect every time, they use claude BTW - copilot isn't worth them trying to develop with - true story.

Look I got away from fighting with MS, they beat me into submission 2 years ago, I decided then if they are going to release updates and break my OS and I have to spend time fixing it, as well as it reverting things and moving everything about. I rely on my muscle memory, on windows 8, xp and 7 I could walk someone through how to fix something without a PC or screen in front of me. Now I couldn't walk them through how to do something on Windows 10 or 11 even if I had a computer in front of me - they might be running a different version slightly that has it moved or renamed!

I'm not coming back to Windows, I will look at each new release to see what I'm "missing out on", but apart from that, I am happy in Linux Mint, it's LTS and does what I need, often better than how I did in windows, the only things that ever move are my percentage of space remaining on my PCs drives - the way it should be.

I'm not trying to press people to move, just letting everyone know how I am going. I'll be back with a update to the FaceTagger soon, it's been a rough couple of weeks for multiple reasons.

 

[Ghost]

I just installed StartIsBack from their main page and it runs perfectly for me . Only issue was Chrome blocked it at first but I worked that out and installed it and it asked for me to Run This .. or Cancel , Win 10 IoT enterprise LTSC for me .

@Glenn I have UAC set to Never Notify in account settings , no issues for me unless there is another setting .

May want to check the other apps that might be hindering its execution , like anti virus and such as I remove anti virus for my use needs .

EDIT = I noticed it did not install to the Program Files (x86) folder , it installed toooo ...
C:\Users\Steve\AppData\Local\StartIsBack , I chose 'Install for me'

EDIT 2 = I uninstalled it and did the 'Install for everyone' and it installed to the Program Files (x86) folder , so it uses 2 different locations for which is selected , but it still works for me , hope this helps in some way LOL .

 

[vanTorX]

Maybe look at Open-Shell start menu? I tried sometimes to make StartIsBack menu configured as I can configure Open-Shell menu, unrolling the menus like this plus the nice bluish color... I believe it can be done but why bother, I don't expect much from the menu except that it unrolls like this and looks nice