Activation issues on Start10 and Fences

from Stardock Forums

Ok, so this issue started when I raised a separate issue on this forum post: https://forums.stardock.com/503873/universal-applications-menu-is-empty

Since then, and I believe it's coincidence more than a related issue, I have to reactivate Start10 and Fences on almost every reboot, or if my machines have been left on and logged into Windows for 2-3 days. I'll either get a popup near the system tray telling me the Fences licence couldn't be found, or I'll get an activation window pop up when I click the Start10 start button asking me to activate. Every time I activate using either my email and password, and I've also tried using a licence key instead, they activate successfully but deactivate themselves after 2-3 days.

I've tried the following, as recommended in the above post already:

> Purge uninstall / reinstall

> Removal of Start10 and Fences3 folders in %programdata%\Stardock then reactivate

> Whitelist C:\ProgramData\Stardock in AV

> Check that license.sig is present when re-prompted to activate - it is

I'm getting the same issue with Start10 on all five machines that I have (two PCs, three laptops - all running the latest 20H2 version build 19042.867 of Windows 10 Home or Windows10 Pro. I've tried a purge uninstall / reinstall on all five machines and tried the folder removal before reactivating on both PCs and one laptop. It's starting to drive me nuts! I don't have any other Stardock software installed, just Start10 on all five machines and Fences on one machine (so far, I don't want to install it on the others while this issue is ongoing). I only purchased Fences last week, so it was a fresh install and I was already having the activation issue with Start10 at the time. What else can I try?

3,493 views 7 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,

I have forwarded your report to the Stardock support team for their review and recommendations.

Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates.

We really do appreciate your feedback, thanks.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

The next time it occurs, please check to see if you license.sig file exists:
%programdata%\Stardock\start10\license.sig
%programdata%\Stardock\fences3\license.sig

If the license.sig file is missing that is part of the problem.  Try activating again, verify the file exists, then reboot.  Let us know if the file exists or not after a reboot.

The next time it occurs, if the license.sig file exists, could you please send the file to me.  

Galactic Civilizations IV
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

I've checked for the license.sig file on the last few occasions and it's been present each time. Next time it happens I'll send you the file. 

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

If the license file hasnt been deleted, go ahead and send it to me now so I can validate it.  Also, let me know what the timestamp is on the file.

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

So I've been looking at this in some more depth and have found that if the license.sig file is still present, it's completely empty - a zero byte file. The last few occasions, the file is missing completely. I've whitelisted the c:\program data\stardock folder in both my AV (McAfee) software and Malwarebytes and there's nothing in the logs of either showing it's quarantined or repaired any files in this folder; so I'm 100% confident it's not my AV / security / anti-malware software. I've been monitoring and logging what's been happening on my PC and laptop and trying to correspond this with the issue I'm seeing. I'm now 90% certain it's AVG PC TuneUp causing this issue - I had the activation issue on three machines just after AVG PC TuneUp had completed its automatic maintenance. I've been using AVG PC TuneUp (and TuneUp Utilities before it) for 14 years and Start10 (and Start8 before it) for 8-9 years and haven't had this issue until now, so something has changed either in your license files or in AVG PC TuneUp's engine. I've disabled my 'System Junk' cleaning for now until I'm certain what's causing the issue. Are you familiar with AVG PC TuneUp and know where the conflict may lie?

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

We are aware of this issue with AVG tuneup and it has been reported to them and they assure us that they have resolved the bug.  It might take a day or two to download the updated config file.  The issue is all their end.

Exactly why they decided the license files were junk data I have no idea.

More info here : https://forums.stardock.com/504069/get;3802369

Reply #7 from Stardock Forums Top

Yeah, I caught up with some of the other forum posts after I'd posted the above reply and found the same post. I've disabled the automated cleaning of 'junk' anyway, for now, and will re-enable it in a few days.

What's odd, though, and I'm not sure if it's coincidental or a sign of changes made to AVG TuneUp, or even a completely separate issue, is that the 'disappearing' license.sig file is new for me - probably around 3-5 days. Before then, the license.sig file was always present when I had this issue. I had only noticed when I had the issue on 18th March that the license.sig file was present but was a blank file with zero bytes. Before the 18th, I'm sure that the license.sig file was present and around 2-3KB in size. This is consistent with some other reports on forum posts pre-dating 18th March, so I'm also confident that I wasn't the only one with this issue.

Regardless, I'll assume that the issues were caused by AVG TuneUp for the time being and, if I do ever experience the activation issue with a still-present license.sig file then I'll let you or T-Man know.