Accounts and Activation Support FAQ

Getting purchased products and keys

When you make a purchase from the Stardock store, you'll have the option to log in (if you already have an account), create an account or check out as a guest (no account is created).  In any case, you will receive an email with instructions on how to download your products and keys.

Below will detail the methods to use for getting your products and keys at a later date depending on how you purchased (account or guest checkout).

Accessing Products Through Email

After any purchase, the following link can be used to have product installers and keys emailed to the email account that purchased them:

https://www.stardock.com/support/productkeyretrieval

While this page will work for both account holders and Guest Checkout purchase, that page is the only way a Guest Checkout purchase can retrieve products and keys at a later date if they have lost their receipt.

Accessing Products Through a Stardock Account

If you have a Stardock account, you can access it here.  If you don't have a Stardock account, you can create one here.  You can also use that page to convert a Guest Checkout email to a full account by just supplying a password (and replying to a subsequent verification email).

All of the purchases you've made through our store can be found in this location. Also, if you have an Object Desktop or WinCustomize membership, you can easily check how many days you have left of your membership.

Purchases not showing up in 'My Downloads'

With the exception of Object Desktop purchases, no product will appear in your account under ‘My Downloads’ until the product has been activated at least once. Once activated that 1st time, it will then show under ‘My Downloads' under the account that activated it.

Please also see this article for how to have your product installers and keys emailed to you:

Getting purchased products and keys

Changing your email address

Stardock Accounts

If you want to change your Stardock account information, please visit the site below to access your Stardock account:

https://www.stardock.com/accounts/accountinfo

Even if you no longer have access to the email address you used to set up your account with Stardock, you can still use it to log in and change it here. You can use this site to change other account information as well.

If you no longer remember your Stardock account password, you can reset it here:

 https://www.stardock.com/accounts/resetpassword

For password resets where you no longer have access to an old email address, we can update your account for you. For verification purposes, we require at least two of the following:

• Your full name

• Address at the time of your last purchase

• Order number of purchase or the serial number \ product key from one

Click here to create a support ticket to submit this information with your request.

Changing your username or password for your account

While logged into your http://stardock.com account, click your avatar image in the upper right of the page, then 'Settings':

From the 'Login' tab, you will be able to change them:

Merging two accounts

If you have access to both email accounts, you can merge your registrations here:

https://www.stardock.com/accounts/registrations/

If you do not have access to both accounts, we will need information for both accounts such as one of the following:

• Order numbers associated with each account

• The full physical address associated with the account 

Click here to submit them.

How do I close an account?

If you would like to remove all of your information from Stardock, please use the form linked here.

Reprinting Invoices

Clients with an existing Stardock account

After logging into the Stardock store ( https://store.stardock.com/myaccount) and selecting "Order History", you can view order invoices and refunds for your account.

Clients that used Guest checkout

You can upgrade to a full Stardock account using the email address you used to purchase here (you set any password you like there):

https://store.stardock.com/createaccount

You can then access your purchase(s) \ invoice(s) here:

https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/orders 

Activating Stardock Software

For purchases made directly from Stardock, you can get your key(s) from here:

https://www.stardock.com/support/productkeyretrieval

Activation Via In-app Prompt

The images in this example will show Fences but the dialogue and the procedure will look and be the same regardless of the product. If your activation method does not look like any of the images below, please click here.

To activate, click the 'Enter Product Key' button.

Enter in the product key you received and your email address and click 'Activate'. If you do not have your product key, you can go here for instructions on how to retrieve it.

If you already have an account and have activated the product previously, you can click the 'Stardock Account' option at the bottom to activate with your Stardock account credentials instead.

If the activation is successful, you will see a dialog stating so.

Offline Activation

If there is a problem activating, you may see the following:

In this case, your Internet connection may be functioning but your ability to connect to the activation server may be blocked. Click the 'Offline Activation' button to proceed.

Click 'Save Activation Request'. A dialog will prompt you to save the .req file. Save it to a location of your choosing. You will then see the following:

If your machine is able to access http://activate.stardock.com/ you can go there and upload the .req file which will give you a .resp file to save to your computer. You can then click the 'Select Activation Response' button to browse to where the .resp file is saved. This will complete the activation.

If you are not able to access http://activate.stardock.com/ from the machine you are activating on, you will need to bring the .req file to a machine that has internet and complete the process there and then bring the .resp back to the machine you wish to activate on. The .resp file can also be loaded using the 'select offline file' option as seen on the initial activation screen in the second image at the top of this webpage above.

If you receive any errors trying to upload the req file or download the resp file (404 errors), please try another web browser like Internet Explorer, Chrome, Edge, or Firefox

Troublshooting Activation Issues

Please see:
https://support.stardock.com/space/SHC/1350696976/Activation+Troubleshooting

Offline / Manual activation

If there is a problem activating, you may see the following:

In this case, your Internet connection may be functioning but your ability to connect to the activation server may be blocked somehow. Click the 'Offline Activation' button to proceed.

Click the 'Save Activation Request' button. A dialog will come up asking you to save the .req file. Save it to a location of your choosing. You will then see the following:

If your machine is able to access http://activate.stardock.com/ you can go there and upload the .req file which will give you a .resp file to save to your computer. You can then click the 'Select Activation Response' button to browse to where the .resp file is saved. This will complete the activation.

If you are not able to access http://activate.stardock.com/ from the machine you are activating on, you will need to bring the .req file to a machine that has internet and complete the process there and then bring the .resp back to the machine you wish to activate on. The .resp file can also be loaded using the 'select offline file' option as seen on the initial activation screen in the second image at the top of this webpage above.

If you receive any errors trying to upload the req file, or download the resp file (404 errors), please try other web browser like Internet Explorer, Chrome, Edge or Firefox

VIDEO: Creation of the .REQ file on the PC that needs activation

VIDEO: Submit the .REQ file from PC with internet access at http://activate.stardock.com/ 

VIDEO: Submit the downloaded .RESP file, finish on PC that needs activation

Activating Stardock Software (Pre-2014)

If the prompt for activation does not come up when launching the product, typically there will be an option to activate within the 'Help' section of the configuration menu for the application. Note that in this example Fences is used but the options will look the same for the other products.

Select the "Unlock" button.

Select the "I have a serial number" button and fill in the form.

Fill out the form. Note that the product key is the same thing as the serial number.

Select ‘Register’

How to review and manage your current activations

Clients with an existing Stardock account

To view your current activations and which PC they're activated to, click below and log in:

https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/products/

Once logged in, you can click View Product Keys, for example: 

Then click the '…' icon

A window will then display the requested information: 

(From here you can also deactivate the activated PC's)

Guest checkout purchases (no account)

Create an account using the email used for purchase: https://store.stardock.com/createaccount

Then use the process detailed above.

Order History Method

Primarily used for resellers, this option is best used for people who do not have the actual products registered under their accounts, but made the actual purchase of the products.

Login to your Stardock account and select Order History:

From this page, click the “Download Product Key Status .CSV

Open the file in Excel, or similar program:

Under the Registered To column, it will display the name of the computers that the product is activated on. (NOTE: in this example, the product is not activated)

How to deactivate Stardock products

There may be times when you want to deactivate a Stardock product on one PC so you can activate it on another.

Stardock Website Deactivation

This method is especially useful if you had PC issues that prevented you from deactivating from within the app.

Clients with Stardock accounts

For clients with accounts (did not use 'Guest Checkout'), you can deactivate products from your account page using the https://store.stardock.com/myaccount/products link:

Guest Checkout Clients

If you do not have an account (used guest checkout), you can still create an account here to use this feature: https://store.stardock.com/createaccount

Use the same email and whatever password you like.

Within a Product

From the machine you wish to deactivate, open the configuration for the application and then go to the help/about section and then click the following (Start11 is shown in the following example):

On the window that comes up, click the 'Deactivate Local Machine' button and then click 'Deactivate'. This will free the activation up so you can activate on another machine of your choosing.

The 'Update Product Key' option would allow you to specify a new key to attempt the activation with. This would be applicable if another license was purchased and you wanted to activate with that product key.

Silent Installation & Activation

Silent Install

Running any app installer via a command line with /s switch will silently install.

Adding /noreboot will not reboot the machine post-install.

After any install (manual or silent) is done, the Stardock Activation window is shown as well as the config UI or the app:

If your desire it to have an end-to-end silent install \ activation, in your script after the silent install, you would include the following before any silent activation.

taskkill /f /im Fences.exe
taskkill /f /im SdDisplay.exe

Silent Activation 

Most of Stardock's current applications can be activated via the command prompt. The command line option will activate the application without exposing the application or activation UI.

Command line example

Start11
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\Start11"\SASUpgrade.exe -prodId=2663 -prodName="Start11" -company="Stardock" -ver="1.0" -email="[email protected]" serial="PRODUCTKEYGOESHERE"

Variables

prodId
The internal Stardock product ID is unique to every product line

prodName
The Stardock issued product name. This must be accurate. (Example: Fences4 <-note no space in name and version)

company
For Stardock products, this will always be “Stardock”. Do not enter your company name or the activation will fail.

version
The version being installed.

serial
The serial \ product key for the registration.

email
Email address of the account the current registration is activated under or the email account it is to be attached to if activating for the 1st time

Stardock Product IDs

‘ProdID’ and ‘ProdName’ table for command line activation

Activation Verification

If a command line activation was successful, a product-specific license.sig file will be created in the app-appropriate folder in\ProgramData\Stardock. For example, a successful Start11 activation will have a license.sig file created in:

\ProgramData\Stardock\Start11

Example Video

The example video below is for Fences but can be used for any of the apps above:

https://cdn.stardock.us/support/uploads/sdComPromptAct.mp4

Installation Return Codes

When using silent installation, the installer returns specific exit codes to indicate success or failure. This is critical for enterprise deployment tools like PDQ Deploy, SCCM, and other automation platforms.

Universal Success Codes

• 0 - Fresh installation success

• 1641 - Success, restart required

• 3010 - Success, restart required

Stardock Specific Success Codes

• 9 - Successful upgrade installation (reboot still required when installing over existing version)

Common Error Codes

• 1602 - User cancelled installation

• 1603 - Fatal error during installation

• 1618 - Another installation is already in progress

• 1633 - This installation package is not supported on this platform

Installation Logs

Installation logs are automatically created during both silent and interactive installations. These logs can help troubleshoot installation issues.

Log Location

Installation logs are stored in:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Temp\[ProductName] Setup Log.txt

Examples:

• %LOCALAPPDATA%\Temp\Start11 Setup Log.txt

• %LOCALAPPDATA%\Temp\Groupy2 Setup Log.txt

• %LOCALAPPDATA%\Temp\WindowBlinds Setup Log.txt

The log files appear at the top when sorted by date and contain detailed information about the installation process, including the final exit code.

Troubleshooting Upgrade Issues

How to deactivate with the command prompt

Most of Stardock's current applications can be deactivated via the command prompt. The command line option will deactivate the application without exposing the application or activation UI.

Command line example

Fences 4

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Stardock\Fences\SdDisplay.exe" -deactivate -prodID=2664 -prodName="Fences4" -company="Stardock" -prodVer="4.00"

Variables

prodId
The internal Stardock product ID is unique to every product line

prodName
The Stardock issued product name. This must be accurate.

company
For Stardock products, this will always be “Stardock”. Do not enter your company name or the activation will fail.

version
The version being installed.

Stardock Product IDs

Deactivation Verification

If a command line deactivation was successful, a product-specific license.sig file will be removed from the app-appropriate folder in\ProgramData\Stardock. For example, a successful Start11 activation will no longer have a license.sig file created in:

\ProgramData\Stardock\Start11

Redeeming a Steam Key

If you purchased a Stardock game / DLC from us, purchased certain products from one of our software partners, or received a gift key for registering, you will do so via the Steam client.

For Steam games purchased directly from Stardock, you can get your Steam key from here:

https://www.stardock.com/support/productkeyretrieval

For any Steam product that was purchased from one of our software partners, you need to refer to your receipt to get your key.  If you no longer have your receipt, you will need to contact the vendor directly.  

You will need the Steam client open (not the Steam website) to be able to activate the game. (obtain the Steam client here: http://store.steampowered.com/about/  )

Once you have your Steam key and Steam installed, open Steam.  At the bottom left click ‘Add a game’ and select ‘Activate a Product on Steam’

The Sins game pictured is just an example:

Next, you have a new window with a couple of screens with agreements, instructions, etc.  You will then be prompted to enter your key.

After that, you will get confirmation and install info screens.

That’s just about it.  You can click the downloading area at the bottom of Steam to open up your downloads, and you can also view them from your Steam library.

If your game/software is already in your Steam library, you do not need to do this.

Why is my Steam version asking for a product key?

Problem

While rare, sometimes a Steam version of our software products (not games) will prompt for a product key when it should not.

It's important that

• You do not have any other version of the software from any other source (http://stardock.com for example)

  • If you do, you need to uninstall that other version

• That you are logged into Steam and not as a 'guest'

Solution

• In the install directory of the product in question, run sassteam.exe and see if you are able to use the product again.

  • Fences:
    \Program Files (x86)\Stardock\Fences

  • Groupy:
    \Program Files (x86)\Stardock\Groupy

  • Start10:
    \Program Files (x86)\Stardock\Start10

  • Multiplicity:
    \Program Files (x86)\Stardock\Multiplicity

  • Curtains:
    \Program Files (x86)\Stardock\Curtains

  • DeskScapes:
    \Program Files (x86)\Stardock\DeskScapes

If the above fails, uninstall/reinstall from within Steam (and only from within Steam) and try again.

What is the activation server address and port

Did not receive verification or trial activation email

Please try the following:

• Try to activate the trial again so as to trigger sending another activation email 

• Check your spam \ junk folder

• If you have your mail forwarded from another web-based account (Hotmail, Gmail), check that other account directly as well as its spam \ junk folder.

• If you have an alternate email, please try using it instead.

Do you have an offline activation method for a trial?

For problems with activation pertaining to a trial version, unfortunately, we do not currently have have an offline activation system in place.

In lieu of being able to experience the trial, if you purchase the product (which does have an offline activation method), and it does not meet your needs, we will refund it.

Activation Error: 205

Stardock Purchases

Current activation method

Older Activation Method

Each is shown when your computer name has non-Western characters or symbols in it. To avoid this, you would need to change the name of your computer so that it contains only Western characters and then try to activate it again. 

Steam Purchases

What to try…

• Ensure that Steam is running and you are logged into the account that purchased the product

• If you are connected via a VPN, disable it and try again.

• If you have any AV software that restricts any type of HTTP traffic, please temporarily disable it.

• Go to the install directory of the application and try manually running sassteam.exe. Nothing will open but the product may then be activated.

If all fail, please follow these directions for collecting your activation logs and creating a ticket for them

https://stardock.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SHC/pages/2493022220/Collecting+Activation+Logs

Error: 212 or Product Keeps Prompting to Activate

Problem

Even after a successful activation of a Stardock product, the client will keep being prompted to activate - immediately or over time.

Solution

Press the Windows key and "R" at the same time. A "Run" dialog box will pop up, please paste the path below into the "Open" field and press OK:

In the folder that pops up, you should see a folder named PRODUCTNAME (<-- the product that is giving you the error). Please delete this folder and all of its contents.

After you have deleted that folder, please attempt to activate it once again and it should succeed without any errors.

Activation window buttons do not respond to clicks

Problem

After entering in the proper credentials to activate a product, the buttons to proceed to not respond to clicks.

Solution

There are components of IE (Internet Explorer) in that window. If you have restrictions on IE (some do), the 'Activate' but may fail to respond to clicks. The options are:

Set Internet Options to its default settings

Do a search for ‘Internet Options'

Security → Medium → Apply →

Use the command line to activate

An alternate option would be to use the command line activation method.

Click here to see command line activation directions

Adding activations to an existing key (single key only)

Existing Stardock Account

You can log into your account and purchase additional activations for any key - for example:

Resellers

If you are a reseller trying to purchase additional activations for a client and their key, go to the product page for the product and select the business option. From here click on the Add activation to an existing key link found under the Single Key and Multiple Keys options

This will then take to a page to validate the user key and continue the order process