Start Is Back - 2.1 release

[inaski007]

This used to work great, but today I encountered a bug that stays even after a reboot. If I try to open control panel objects like "Sound" or "Task Scheduler" through the start menu search, or pinned to start menu, it just quickly flashes the metro screen but does not open anything.

Does it open normally after the first time it fails?

No, I can't open them from the start menu. Only from control panel or the metro screen. It's weird because at first it worked, I'm using beta 4. And by the right click menu I meant the one that is default in win8 desktop, with many tools in it in in the lower left corner.

[gman00]

Hello,

I am trying StartIsBack on Win8, and so far, very nice...

I believe I have found a bug though. I have multiple copies of the Firefox menu item.

i.e. when I click on 'All Programs', I see

Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox (2)

Mozilla Firefox (3)

Mozilla Firefox

(Yes, I shouldn't have this, but I was playing around... <grin>)

When I go to the 'Search programs and files' box, and look for 'firefox', only ONE entry is displayed, 'Firefox (3)'. It should be showing all four entries.

Thanks

GS

Edited November 3, 2012 by gman00

[vinifera]

I am very hesitant to forcefully pay for apps that add features that really should be in the OS that I have already paid for

then cry to microsoft for NOT ADDING THEM

its NOTHING new that other dev's are re-adding, porting or adding features to Windows OS that "should" be there

[Servelius]

This used to work great, but today I encountered a bug that stays even after a reboot. If I try to open control panel objects like "Sound" or "Task Scheduler" through the start menu search, or pinned to start menu, it just quickly flashes the metro screen but does not open anything.

Does it open normally after the first time it fails?

No, I can't open them from the start menu. Only from control panel or the metro screen. It's weird because at first it worked, I'm using beta 4. And by the right click menu I meant the one that is default in win8 desktop, with many tools in it in in the lower left corner.

Alright, why don't you outline the steps too reproduce it.

Of what I've tried:

1. Open the startisback menu and search for 'Sound'. From the search results I choose 'Sound' and the sound menu appears as it should. All's perfect.

2. Goto charms or metro, hit Win-Q and search something, then launch it, and it starts up fine.

I see no problem.

[MagicAndre1981]

1 question. Does StartIsBack work with multiple Desktops (Dexpot or Desktops from Sysinternals)?

[Servelius]

1 question. Does StartIsBack work with multiple Desktops (Dexpot or Desktops from Sysinternals)?

It does. I use Dexpot and DeskSpace, I often switch between my desks and I see no problem at all.

[Servelius]

1 question. Does StartIsBack work with multiple Desktops (Dexpot or Desktops from Sysinternals)?

No problem with Desktops from Sysinternals either.

P.S. One issue with Sysinternals though, if you switch to another desktop and then hit startisback's metro hotkey, it launches metro and automatically switches you to the first desktop. Apparently, such behaviour is by Sysinternals' design.

Edited November 3, 2012 by Servelius

[mlauzon]

I just found out about this app recently and joined the forums because of that, I haven't had the chance to install Windows 8 yet. I don't want to read through 25 pages just to see if this has been answered, so I am asking it anyway, even if it has been asked before.

Can you still use the Windows' login screen if you want to password protect your desktop?

[inaski007]

This used to work great, but today I encountered a bug that stays even after a reboot. If I try to open control panel objects like "Sound" or "Task Scheduler" through the start menu search, or pinned to start menu, it just quickly flashes the metro screen but does not open anything.

Does it open normally after the first time it fails?

No, I can't open them from the start menu. Only from control panel or the metro screen. It's weird because at first it worked, I'm using beta 4. And by the right click menu I meant the one that is default in win8 desktop, with many tools in it in in the lower left corner.

Alright, why don't you outline the steps too reproduce it.

Of what I've tried:

1. Open the startisback menu and search for 'Sound'. From the search results I choose 'Sound' and the sound menu appears as it should. All's perfect.

2. Goto charms or metro, hit Win-Q and search something, then launch it, and it starts up fine.

I see no problem.

It used to work like that for me too but not anymore. They open normally in the metro search, but not in the start menu. I have no idea what caused it so I don't know how to reproduce it. I have tried rebooting and uninstalling and reinstalling the menu and still it works like this. Other than that it works great so it's only a minor annoyance.

[Servelius]

It used to work like that for me too but not anymore. They open normally in the metro search, but not in the start menu. I have no idea what caused it so I don't know how to reproduce it. I have tried rebooting and uninstalling and reinstalling the menu and still it works like this. Other than that it works great so it's only a minor annoyance.

It would be great if you could outline the exact steps to get that bug - this way bugs are located and get fixed. You could create a new user account to try StartIsBack there, and see what's different in it.

[Keeperos]

Attached you'll find a visual of the translucency issue

That's not an issue, that's just the lack of special handling for RP. In RTM it looks as intended.

Please try to describe flickering. Does only top-left 20x20 corner trigger it? Does flickering happen when you move mouse or when it stays also? Do you have any tweakers installed? Try downloading skip metro suite and check if it running it resolves the issue.

Not top left (as in started apps), the flicker happens when I untick "enable top screen edge (snap)" and mouse over the area that would normally switch the pointer to the hand image. The flickering happens regardless of whether the pointer stays static or moves and happens to all the icons and shortcuts on the desktop but nothing else, not the gadgets, not the mouse pointer, not the taskbar nor the wallpaper.

I installed several start menu programs before this but I always uninstalled the previous program before installing the newer one. Also, I tried the skip metro suite but it doesn't work at all, I choose hot-spots to hide but there's no effect.

Like I said in my previous post I am still on build 8400, will buy and install the RTM version this weekend (already bought a new SSD for it) and do a clean install (the 8400 was an upgrade from Windows 7) and retest everything then.

Ok, Just clean installed the RTM (9200) version of Win8Pro and now *all* the issues I mentioned are gone, works 100% correctly AFAICT. Will keep reporting on any new findings I might come across. Only issue I keep having is accidentally activating the charms bar hotspot, I would REALLY like it if the top and bottom right hotspots were enabled/disabled separately, I would like to keep the bottom right but disable the top right.

[rickytang]

I posted my donation. So I think I can comment

Can you please restore the lower-left hand charm? Well it's not really a charm. To access this menu (with startisback not installed) I can move the mouse pointer to the lower left-hand corner and right click. This is very useful. Other than that I see an issue on a laptop when going to the Metro start menu. To produce:

1. control+windows key to go to Metro Start menu

2. Notice that the cursor is the windows "hand" icon.

3. I have to click anywhere to bring the Metro start menu to the forefront. This is the issue.

4. Click on a tile to select it.

My laptop was running a previous beta and this is also seen on Beta 4. My desktop does not display this behavior. Thanks again.

[Tripredacus]

[...] so all I ask is that you do price it reasonably and to allow use on multiple machines with one purchase instead of forcing activation per machine because then it can quickly become very expensive.

I totally agree with that. If I were you (Tihiy) I would use a login system instead of serial keys... That way you would allow use on multiple machine and monitor how many are running using that account.

...Every program is crackable, no matter how many protection/obfuscation techniques you use there will always be someone to bypass them you know, there's a great chance that those people who want to use your product on multiple machine but can't without purchasing a new license will just download a cracked version somewhere... Just saying

Man you guys are the RUDEST EVER... Just saying ...

We can use this opportunity to make a suggestion.... such as offering a Site-License for the final product.

[Servelius]

I posted my donation. So I think I can comment

Can you please restore the lower-left hand charm? Well it's not really a charm. To access this menu (with startisback not installed) I can move the mouse pointer to the lower left-hand corner and right click. This is very useful.

As far as I know, the lower left-hand corner is on to-do list, and likely it will be available soon.

Other than that I see an issue on a laptop when going to the Metro start menu. To produce:

1. control+windows key to go to Metro Start menu

2. Notice that the cursor is the windows "hand" icon.

3. I have to click anywhere to bring the Metro start menu to the forefront. This is the issue.

4. Click on a tile to select it.

My laptop was running a previous beta and this is also seen on Beta 4. My desktop does not display this behavior. Thanks again.

I cannot reproduce this bug, but other folks may be able to. Can anyone else confirm this bug?

[rickytang]

I posted my donation. So I think I can comment

Can you please restore the lower-left hand charm? Well it's not really a charm. To access this menu (with startisback not installed) I can move the mouse pointer to the lower left-hand corner and right click. This is very useful.

As far as I know, the lower left-hand corner is on to-do list, and likely it will be available soon.

Other than that I see an issue on a laptop when going to the Metro start menu. To produce:

1. control+windows key to go to Metro Start menu

2. Notice that the cursor is the windows "hand" icon.

3. I have to click anywhere to bring the Metro start menu to the forefront. This is the issue.

4. Click on a tile to select it.

My laptop was running a previous beta and this is also seen on Beta 4. My desktop does not display this behavior. Thanks again.

I cannot reproduce this bug, but other folks may be able to. Can anyone else confirm this bug?

I think re-producing may be difficult. It's on a Macbook Pro running Windows 8.