Should I remove Start8?

What percent of users and experts removed it?

7% remove it93% keep it

Overall Sentiment

Good

What do people think about it?

(click star to rate)

How common is it?

Global Rank #8,941

United States Rank #12,947

Reach 0.0428%

Lifespan of installation (until removal)

< 6.34 days

187.12 days >

Average installed length: 98.32 days

Versions

Version	Distribution
1.10	11.14%
1.1	4.62%
1.09.3	0.12%
1.09.2	0.12%
1.09 Beta 2	1.07%
1.09	0.36%
1.03	19.19%
1.02	9.60%
1.01	5.33%
1.00	10.43%
1.0	34.83%
0.98	0.59%
0.95	0.59%
0.90	0.47%
0.87	0.12%
0.86	0.71%
0.85	0.71%

Typically installed together

Stardock Start8

Other programs by Stardock

Rankings

#8,936 Bonbon Quest by Oberon Media
#8,937 CyberLink PowerDVD 16
#8,938 oursurfing uninstall
#8,939 EPSON NX330 Series Printer Uninstall by SEIKO EPSON
#8,940 Nero 2016 Content Pack by Nero AG
#8,941 Start8 by Stardock
#8,942 Acer Crystal Eye Webcam 2.0.8 by SuYin
#8,943 MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition 7.7
#8,944 Zoner Photo Studio 12
#8,945 Performancer by PerformerSoft
#8,946 Facebook by SweetLabs

Start8

from Stardock Corporation

Remove Start8 by Stardock

What is Start8? (from Stardock)

We put the "Start" menu back in Windows 8. We accurately recreated the most used desktop feature billions of users depend on every day and packed it with additional functionality. Windows 7-style Start menu with Windows 8 enhancements.

Overview

Start8 is a program developed by Stardock. The most used version is 1.0, with over 98% of all installations currently using this version. Upon installation and setup, it defines an auto-start registry entry which makes this program run on each Windows boot for all user logins. It adds a background controller service that is set to automatically run. Delaying the start of this service is possible through the service manager. The software is designed to connect to the Internet and adds a Windows Firewall exception in order to do so without being interfered with. The main program executable is Start8Srv.exe. The software installer includes 32 files and is usually about 13.47 MB (14,120,276 bytes). In comparison to the total number of users, most PCs are running the OS Windows 10 as well as Windows 7 (SP1). While about 34% of users of Start8 come from the United States, it is also popular in Germany and France.

Program details

URL: www.stardock.com

Installation folder: C:\Program Files\Stardock\Start8

Uninstaller: "C:\Program Files\Stardock\Start8\uninstall.exe" "/C:C:\Program Files\Stardock\Start8\Uninstall\uninstall.xml"

Estimated size: 13.47 MB

Files installed by Start8

Program executable:	Start8Srv.exe
Name:	Stardock Start8
	Stardock Start8 Service
Path:	C:\Program Files\Stardock\Start8\Start8Srv.exe
MD5:	ad01def7b8cfe32034d10ebc58e69984

Additional files:

Start8tweak.exe - Stardock Start8 Advanced Tweaks
SasUpgrade.exe - Stardock Application Services (Sas License Upgrade)
SdAppServices.dll
SdDisplay.exe - SdDisplay
Stardock.ApplicationServices.dll - Stardock.ApplicationServices
Start8Shell32.dll - Start8 Shell Extension
Start8Shell64.dll
DeElevate.exe - DeElevate Application (De-elevation tool)
DeElevate64.exe
Start8ThemeEdit.exe - Start8 Theme Editor
ExtractS8Theme.exe - Stardock Start8 (Stardock Start8 Theme Extractor)
hlp.exe
Start8.exe - Start8
Start8_32.dll - Start button for Windows 8
Start8_64.dll
Start8_64.exe
Start8Config.exe - Stardock Start8 Configuration Utility
Start8Srv.exe - Stardock Start8 Service
sddlc.dll - Stardock SDDLC (SDDLC)
SDActivate.exe - Activate (Product Activation)
uninstall.exe (by Indigo Rose) - Setup Factory Runtime (Setup Application)
lua5.1.dll

Behaviors exhibited

Service

Start8Srv.exe runs as a service named 'Stardock Start8' (Start8) "Stardock Start8 Service".

2 Startup Files (User Run)

Start8.exe is loaded in the current user (HKCU) registry as an auto-starting executable named 'Start8' and executes as "C:\Program Files\Stardock\Start8\Start8.exe".
Start8_64.exe is loaded in the current user (HKCU) registry as an auto-starting executable named 'Start8_64' and executes as C:\Program Files\Stardock\Start8\Start8_64.exe.

Startup File (All Users Run)

Start8_64.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'Start8_64' which loads as "C:\Program Files\Stardock\Start8\Start8_64.exe".

Windows Firewall Allowed Program

Start8Srv.exe is added as a firewall exception for 'C:\Program Files\Stardock\Start8\Start8Srv.exe'.

Resource utilization averages
Show technical details

Start8.exe
Memory:	772 KB	21.09 MB average
Kernel CPU:	0.00002654%	0.016088% average
Start8_64.exe
Memory:	718.29 KB
Total CPU:	0.0000103206%
Kernel CPU:	0.00000558%
User CPU:	0.00000474%
CPU cycles/sec:	708
Start8Srv.exe
Memory:	714.67 KB
Total CPU:	0.0001080434%
Kernel CPU:	0.00009515%
User CPU:	0.00001289%
CPU cycles/sec:	1,151

How do I remove Start8?

You can uninstall Start8 from your computer by using the Add/Remove Program feature in the Window's Control Panel.

On the Start menu (for Windows 8, right-click the screen's bottom-left corner), click Control Panel, and then, under Programs, do one of the following:

Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall a Program.
Windows XP: Click Add or Remove Programs.

When you find the program Start8, click it, and then do one of the following:

Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall.
Windows XP: Click the Remove or Change/Remove tab (to the right of the program).

Follow the prompts. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove Start8.

OS VERSIONS

Win 10 98%

Win XP 0%

HOW IT STARTS

Automatically starts? Yes

(Found in the run registry)

USER ACTIONS

Uninstall it 7%

Keep it 93%

Windows

Which Windows OS versions does it run on?

Windows 10	98.10%
Windows 7	1.78%
Windows XP	0.12%
Which OS releases does it run on?
Windows 8 Pro	43.82%
Windows 8 Pro with Media ...	14.49%
Windows 8	12.11%
Windows 8.1 Pro with Medi...	5.11%
Windows 8 Single Language	4.75%
Windows 8.1 Pro	4.75%

Geography

33.97% of installs come from the United States

Which countries install it?

United States	33.97%
Germany	7.24%
France	4.43%
United Kingdom	3.69%
Thailand	3.25%
Canada	3.10%
Italy	2.66%
DZ	2.51%
Spain	2.22%
Mexico	2.07%
Netherlands	2.07%
Russia	1.77%
Belgium	1.48%
Brazil	1.48%

PC manufacturers

What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?

Hewlett-Packard	22.39%
Dell	18.03%
Acer	13.28%
ASUS	12.52%
Toshiba	9.68%
GIGABYTE	7.02%
Lenovo	7.02%
Samsung	6.83%
Intel	2.66%
Medion	0.57%
Common models
HP Pavilion g6 Notebook P...	3.23%
HP Pavilion g7 Notebook P...	2.82%
Dell XPS 8500	2.42%
HP Pavilion 15 Notebook P...	2.02%
Dell Inspiron 3521	2.02%
HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook ...	1.61%

About Stardock

Stardock is a software development company that initially developed for the OS/2 platform, but switch to Windows.

Publisher URL: www.stardock.com

Learn more about Stardock Corporation

3 comments

jrc-fc•over a year ago

Program works, sort-of. But typing in the search box displays a font that is outsized (obsure, hard to read) and cannot be corrected by changing screen fonts or resolution. This might qualify as an early experimental beta of a beta, not by any stretch a finished program, worthy of spending money - even $5

WasSatisfyUntil •over a year ago

Problem with Start8 after updating to Win8.1 . Cant uninstall the program.

Yoho•over a year ago

It's a fantastic add on for those who want to bring back the start menu, it's even possible to remove the charms and bars of windows 8 from inside Start8. The problem is that I don't know how to uninstall apps from within the start 8 menu, and also the pc hangs up sometimes with the dock installed, but these are minor issues of a very good product. I hope they get fixed soon though.