Serious StartIsBack problem

[Gustavus]

I installed StartIsBack 1.7 30 day trial on a new build Windows 8.1 machine. I like having the familar Start menu again -- but have a serious problem with it.

There is a Turn Off Computer button in the lower right hand corner as expected. If I click on it with the left mouse button as I did in Windows XP to open the Turn Off Computer box the machine goes through a restart. I've done this several times so am sure this is consistently happening. If I right click on the Turn Off Computer button a menu box opens with five items: Switch User, Sign out, Lock, Restart and Sleep. No Turn off button at all. I have verified that the Restart and Sleep buttons initiate the appropriate actions. So far as I can tell there is no way to actually turn off the computer from the Start menu.

I have uninstalled, downloaded the software again from the home site and reinstalled with identically the same results.

I am about to download the McAfee StartIsBack uninstaller and dump the software but thought I would ask here if anyone has encountered this strange problem. I would like to have the familiar start screen but don't want to have the only way I can turn off the machine be to hold down the power button.

Thanks

 

[Ketchup]

Have you tried Classic Shell? It is free and I didn't experience any issues the last time I tried it.

 

[PliotronX]

I actually encountered this as well. I had to disable all kinds of stuff like wake timers in power options and then there was a problem where pc would turn on at 2 in the morning for maintenance BS. Classic Shell is a good choice too.

 

[Gustavus]

ketchup79

Thanks for the reply. I was blaming the restart on StartIsBack since that behavior first appeared after I installed StartIsBack. I uninstalled it and did a Malware bytes scan -- clean bill of health -- and then did a shut down from the Windows 8.1. The computer restarted on it's own. So I have a problem that was apparently coincidental with installing StartIsBack. Could have been caused by it, but it has survived removing the software.

Have to find a solution since this is intolerable.

 

[Ketchup]

This could be a restart, or it could be a crash right before the shutdown is complete, which can cause a restart. In either case, I would start by looking in the event viewer for windows and system events around the time of the shutdown events.

 

[Berryracer]

been using StartIsBack since it was released and never had an issue with it!

StartIsBack is the best Start Menu alternative app for Windows 8/8.1 hands down! I've tried them all

Summary:

Classic Shell: It's good, but very basic and finding the options that I want is way too difficult and it seemed to cluttered. I wouldn't ever use it again.

Start8: Is good, BUT, for someone like me who formats and reinstalls a lot testing new drivers, software, etc, it's horrible because if you activate it a few times, even if it's on the same PC with the same computer name, specs, OS, etc, your license will be blacklisted within 3 or 5 times. Good luck on waiting for customer service to re-activate it for you.

Another bad thing about the above Start Menu apps is that they require a service on startup to function.

Now the best......

StartIsBack:

a) It is like ripping the Start Menu directly from Windows 7 and throwing it onto Windows 8! It's the exact same Start Menu.

b) It has the easiest and most simplistic options to easily change the settings like what you want to appear on your start menu, control task bar and start menu transparency, etc.

c) It requires no service on startup to work, it integrates itself into the shell

d) you can re-activate it as many times as you like as long as it's on the same PC with no limits

e) it costs cheaper than any other Start Menu alternative app out there $3 USD for a single user license

 

[Gustavus]

I went into Power Management and set the power button to shut down when either on battery (this machine is a laptop) or on charge. Now if I press the power button a screen comes up saying Shutting down etc. and the shutdown proceeds to apparent completion -- the light ringing the power button goes out. I haven't stopwatched it, but in roughly six seconds the ring light around the power button comes on and the machine does a normal turnon. That is precisely the behavior if I do a turnoff from the screen. The only way I can actually get the machine turned off is to depress and hold for sometime the power button. It even turns itself back on if I close the lid after the light on the power button goes off if it was turned off in a turnoff sequence -- as opposed to crowbaring it by holding the power button down until everything stops.

 

[Gustavus]

berryracer

My problem is not with StartIsBack as I have confirmed. I will reinstall it when I find how to stop my machine restarting on it's own.

 

[PliotronX]

Also disable Intel smart connect the worst feature ever in the BIOS, disable wake on LAN on your NIC, etc..

 

[Berryracer]

berryracer

My problem is not with StartIsBack as I have confirmed. I will reinstall it when I find how to stop my machine restarting on it's own.

oh yes, just wanted to let you know that you are using the best Start Menu app good luck on the issue though

 

[Gustavus]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions.

I spent most of today trying to solve the problem of the machine turning itself on. I'm long since retired so can affort the time to do such a foolish thing -- besides which as I mentioned earlier, I'm stubborn and don't want to admit I can't fix something so simple. Found an enormous number of posts on several sites from people who have a similar problem -- but nothing I found was either possible (they had different hardware) or worked. I think I have changed just about every power management setting there is, unchecked watching for "magic packets" etc. For the moment I will turn it off by holding down the power button for ten or fifteen seconds. Would never do that with one of my main machines, but this is a laptop whose use will never be very important.

 

[Ketchup]

You could always switch the main function of the button to hibernate. Windows 8 does not need to do a full restart very often.

Another option would be sleep. Sleep resumes much faster than hibernate, but does use the tiniest drop of power while in that state.

 

[Gustavus]

ketchup79

When I saw your post I figured putting it to sleep would be better than the forcible power down. In the Turn Off Computer menu box there are only four entries: Sign out, Sleep. Shut down and Restart -- no Hibernate. But it does the same thing with Sleep as with Shut Down. It apparently goes to sleep, and then after a few seconds delay comes back on. At least as it is now, the only way I can get the machine to not be on with the display illuminated is to hold the power button closed until it is truly off.

You won't believe it but in more than one thread I read
today I saw the suggestion to remove the battery!!

 

[ccoder83]

If you want to shut it down and startisback++ doesn't work, you can use the Windows 8.1 default:
1. Windows key + I then click on Power, and you should be able to shut down.

If you want to add the hibernate button (this will work for startisback++)
1. search for 'Power Options' using the search bar (win key +s), and open it
2. Tap or click Choose what the power button does and under Shutdown settings, select Hibernate (if it's available).
3. If it's not available, click on 'Change settings that are currently unavailable', then you should be able to select Hibernate.

This will then appear in startisback++. Hope that helps in some way, and that I'm not pointing out the obvious.

 

[Gustavus]

ccoder83

Thanks for the suggestion.

If I press the Windows key and I the menu including the Power options opens which has shut down as a selection. Pressing Shutdown causes the computer to announce it is shutting down which it does -- the ring light around the power button goes out. After six seconds it boots back up on it's own as I have described. So far the only way I have found to actually turn the machine off is to hold the power switch closed for around 15 seconds. It does not reboot on it's own in that case.

 

[Ketchup]

Check attached devices. May be a problem with the device itself or it's driver.

 

[ccoder83]

That seems to be a strange problem, although it is possible for Windows to turn a PC on after it's completely powered off. There are other things you could try (I may be repeating some previous suggestions):

1. Troubleshooter: Open 'troubleshooting' by searching for it after pressing 'win key' + W, select 'Power' and go through the wizard.

2. Power Options: Open 'Power Options' again by searching it using 'Win key' + W. Once opened select 'change power option' for your current plan, and select 'restore default settings for this plan'

3. Task Scheduler: Open 'task scheduler' by searching for 'schedule tasks' by pressing 'win key' + W. Check if any 3rd party applications' tasks are waking the computer by clicking on the task in the top centre window. Then click the 'conditions' tab in the bottom centre window, and ensuring 'Wake the computer to run this task' is unchecked.

4. System Restore: When I first installed startisback it blue-screened my Win 8.1 where it would keep restarting at the blue screen. I did a system restore, and installed it again, and it's been working so far. Just in case your issue may have been caused by it.

5. BIOS Settings: Check your BIOS for Power Settings that may be instructing your laptop to turn on again. eg., after a power failure

These are all the things I can think of right now.

 

[Gustavus]

Thanks for the replies. I will systematically try your suggestions. Here is sort of a summary/

This isn't much of a computer -- and still wouldn't be, even if it worked properly. Plain vanilla minimal machine: Toshiba C55 B5202 with Windows 8.1 with BING preinstalled. No hardware modifications. The only addition is a Logitech wireless mouse -- but the problems persist if the nanoreceiver is removed and the mouse turned off. I have set it to boot into desktop without asking for a password since I am the only user. It connects to my wireless LAN for net access, but have never been able to get it to share folders and files with other machines on the LAN. Spent an unreasonable amopunt of time trying to get it to see and be seen in either Workgroup or Homegroup. Before the Toshiba support time window closed I allowed Toshiba techs to take remote control of the machine and they not only failed to get it on a Work/Homegroup, but screwed it up so badly I had to do a system restore after they gave up.

I don't expect or need much from it: e-mails and net browsing when on travel and hopefully the ability to work on papers on the plane and in hotel rooms. No games, no remote access to other computers or cloud storage.No movies or other graphic entertainment. I might have been able to get by with something simpler, but my eyesight forces me to have a larger display.

The computer will spend large amounts of time in a briefcase or side pocket of a suitcase, so I must be able to turn it off, as opposed to sleep or hibernate -- although neither of those is a possibility with it turning itself on about six seconds after it is turned off.

Again thanks. I will try the suggestions.

 

[Gustavus]

The problem may be fixed. The BIOS was version 1.20 dtd. 5/2/2014. I flashed to BIOS version 1.50 dtd. 10/23/2014.

Now if I click on Sleep instead of restarting in six seconds the ring light around the power button slowly pulsates. The machine does not turn itself back on. If I move the mouse it awakens to the screen it was on.

If I click on Turn Off the ring light around the power button goes off and stays off.

Apparently the BIOS was corrupted. I am inclined to blame StartIsBack since I first noticed the problem after installing StartIsBack, but it may have had nothing to do with the problem.

Thanks for all the feedback. If nothing else it kept me going when I would probably have given up without your suggestions of things to do and try. I hope the problem really is fixed as it appears to be.

 

[ccoder83]

Awesome!! That's sounds like a success story, glad you've managed to solve it, and it stays fixed

 

[Gustavus]

Final post

The problem is diefinitely fixed. In the last day I have both put the computer to sleep and shut it down several times with no spurious restarts. I also allowed Microsoft updates to install and auto shutdown with no difficulty. I have also allowed SuperAntiSpyware to reboot -- again with no problems.

Flashing to a new BIOS solved the problem. Have no idea of how the original BIOS got corrupted, but the main thing is the problem is solved

Thanks to all who responded to my call for help.