Unable to Upgrade to Win11 Because Installer Sees Start10

Start10 Won't Completely Uninstall!

from Stardock Forums

Attempting to move from Win10 to Win11; the installations hangs because it believes Start10 is still on the machine. I've uninstalled Start10, tried to ensure that the folders and registry were removed, rebooted, tried the Stardock "wipe all versions of Start" - - nothing works.

Looking for ideas to wipe the traces of Start10 out of the system so I can install, then I'll reinstall Start11

Registry location? Other files that may have to be manually removed?

Thanks in advance for the help

S

personal computing start menu products
18,092 views 13 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top

What i would do is reinstall start 10....see it's ok....then install start 11 over.... then install win 11.  I cannot see that not being logical ... as the registry should only then be aware of start 11 ....;)

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Unfortunately that didn't resolve - Start10 leaves something in place when you install Start11 on top of it

Star Control: Origins
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top

OK....[I've yet to even bother with Win 11] ...but normally the process would be to unload Start 10, then uninstall...then reboot fully then update to Win 11.  If that process wasn't successful I'd leave it to one of our guys in support who may have a batch file for a system purge for you...;)

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. Please try purge part of this guide as mentioned here: [link]. Reboot after the purged. Retest it. Report back here.

Thanks
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top

BTW...in the interim I've moved this thread to 'Support'...;)

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Sigh - this was tried already, as reflected in my original thread. 

Seems the START series leaves some level of artifact on the CPU even after you try uninstalling/upgrading in place/wiping; probably in the registry. What manual extraction do I need to do and where?

Very frustrating experience

Reply #8 from Stardock Forums Top

Thanks. Unfortunately I've already tried, along with a couple of others. I think it's at the point of having to do manual review and editing of the registry as the base uninstaller, the wipe START, and other registry "cleaners" aren't getting the job done

Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting sschwark, reply 8

Thanks. Unfortunately I've already tried, along with a couple of others. I think it's at the point of having to do manual review and editing of the registry as the base uninstaller, the wipe START, and other registry "cleaners" aren't getting the job done
End of sschwark's quote

That would be a question that only the developer of start 10 could answer. He does pop on from time to time.

I do have one last idea. With picky pcs in the past I have had luck using a bootable image loaded onto a flash drive to finally get an OS installed

Windows installer and ISO link. I prefer rufus, but Microsoft's will work as well

https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11

Reply #10 from Stardock Forums Top

Thx - also attempted that yesterday; still failed at same point. Believe nuking the machine by doing a complete clean install Win10Pro then clean install to Win11 would work, but then I'll have to manually reinstall everything.

Bottomline: Start10 has turned from being an asset to a liability

Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top

Issue resolved - but was a real hassle. Don't recommend this for most users:

1. Completely uninstalled all versions of START

2. Used the "purge" program (https://forums.stardock.com/486022/start10-support-faq#reinstalling) and did full reboot

3. Reviewed and still found folders from START, manually deleted (BTW START11 has a lot of files marked START10...)

4. Checked registry and found entries for START8 .ini files - removed

5. Ran both CCLeaner and Advanced Uninstaller Pro registry cleaners and did full reboot

Win11Pro installation is now moving forward

Bottomline - none of the Stardock uninstallers really "uninstall" and there are a variety of things that may cause Microsoft to believe that an old version of START is still on the system  

Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
I have forward your problem/question 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