Start11 v2 for Business contains features and functionality not present in the home version. For customers who have purchased the business version of Start11 v2, the following documentation will enable you to deploy controlled scenarios like layouts and locking Start menu content.
Getting Started
Locating your version
To make sure that you have the correct version installed, open Start11 v2 and navigate to the About section. In the ‘Version’, you should see the words ‘Business edition’ listed.
If you do not see the Business edition branding, you need to locate your Start11 v2 Business key, use the ‘Deactivate license’ option shown in the image, and then activate the with your business key. You may need to close \ open the Start11 v2 config after changing your keys to see the updated branding.
Updating
We recommend you update the app before creating any deployments by clicking the “Check now” button in the About panel.
Creating a deployment
Creating the deployment is easy; create a Start11 layout you would like to deploy, export it, and then link to the deployment file via a registry key on a destination PC.
Creating your Layout
To create your Start menu layout, open the Start11 v2 configuration panel and configure it to the desired specifications.
Once complete, you will need to export the configuration. You can do this by opening the configuration panel, clicking “Settings backup”, and then clicking “Backup settings to a file”.
In the location of your choosing, it will create a “.S11Backup” file.
For a typical deployment, the saved “.S11Backup” file would need to be in a location accessible to all the PCs you want to use it - a network share for example.
Layout Limitations
There are limitations for Windows 7 and Modern menu styles. These two menu styles do not currently support the deployment of pinned apps to the Start menu. We would recommend choosing the Windows 10 style for these scenarios where app pins and order are important.
In addition, pinned items on the taskbar are currently not supported for deployments.
If Windows 7 or Modern styles with pinned apps are required for your deployment, please contact corpsales@stardock.com as we can provide additional assistance with these scenarios.
Deploying the Configuration
To ingest a configuration on a destination PC, on one, you will need to create a new registry key, define the path to the file created during the export, and then restart Explorer or reboot the device.
Assign Loading Configuration
On the destination, on a PC that already has Start11 v2 installed, in the registry, navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8
You will need to create a new key ‘String Value’ named
SettingsImportPath
After the key has been created, double-click and enter the path to your configuration file as the value.
If done correctly, it will look like the image below.
Click OK once you have entered the file location.
To validate that this worked correctly, make any change to a menu style on the local PC, restart Windows File Explorer, and it will load your configuration. Likewise, if you change the S11Backup file, restart Windows File Explorer, it would load those new settings.
Override Deployments for Specific Devices
Start11 v2 contains functionality that allows you to assign a default configuration file and then lets you assign device-specific configuration files too.
In the same registry location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8
Add the key String Value with a value of 1
AllowLocalImportPath
This feature is useful for scenarios where you have a specific set of devices that need a customized menu.
The key for this is SettingsImportPath which takes a full path to a settings backup saved from S11. This is stored here: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8
If AllowLocalImportPath is in the same place with a value of 1 then it will try to read the key from HKCU\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8 first
Lock Menu Configurations
For scenarios where you not only want to deploy a standard configuration but also want to lock the menu from manipulation, Start11 v2 has options to lock the Start menu from being altered by the end user.
Enable Lockdown Mode
To enable the lockdown feature, navigate to the following location in the registry
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8
Add the following String Value with a Value data of 1
S11_MenuLockDownMode
After entering this registry setting, you will need to restart Explorer (or reboot) for the change to take effect. After
Override Lockdown Mode
When deploying Start11 v2 with a locked-down configuration, it is possible to override local devices that need the ability to change the default configuration.
Navigate to the following directory in the Registry Editor
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8
Add the following String value
S11_MenuLockDownModeAllowUserOverride
Set the Value data to 1
Then navigate to:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Stardock\Start8\Start8.ini\Start8
and add the String value
S11_MenuLockDownMode
with a value of 0
After completing these steps, Explorer needs to be restarted or rebooting the device will put the computer into the desired state.
After completing these steps, the endpoints will load the configuration file that was created along with the desired controls for locking and unlocking.
If you run into any scenarios where the configuration is not applying correctly, please reach out to support for additional assistance.