Start10 crashes Win10Pro on Surface Pro 3

from Stardock Forums

A customer wanted a Windows 7 environment so I have installed Start10 on a Surface Pro 3 running Windows 10 Pro.

Whenever I try to access the Themes section Windows will have a fit and the icons become really large.

The Surface Pro 3 uses a weird resolution of 2160 x 1440 (3:2) and normally (at 100%) the icons are really small. Microsoft got around this by increasing the "text, apps and other items" size to 150%, and therein seems to lie the problem. When reduced to 100% the Start10 works perfectly, no crashing seen at all, but when increased to anything other than 100% it crashes and the icons become huge, largely spaced and take up the whole screen, basically making the Surface Pro 3 unusable.

Closing Explorer.exe and reopening fixes the problem, but only temporarily.

Uninstalling Start10 fixes the problem. Installing another Windows 7 "skin" such as Classic Shell also crashes the Surface Pro 3.

I have tested this on other Surface Pro machines running Windows 8.1 Pro and they ALL crash.

I have talked to Intel (the makers of the graphics drivers) and they say that they've been made specifically for Microsoft and they cannot fix it, and Microsoft tell me it is a "third party" problem because without Start10 or ClassicShell their Surface Pro 3 works perfectly.

Can anyone help?

2,313 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

If Classic Shell crashes, you should report it in their forums, not to Stardock.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

I don't think you understand my problem. It happens with ALL "skins" on ALL Surface Pro 3 tablets. I want to know if Stardock knows why this happens. Microsoft say that the Surface Pro 3 is stable without Start10 therefore it is the 3rd Party Program developer's issue (i.e. Stardock).

Multiplicity - Control multiple PCs using one keyboard and mouse
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

I am confused.  Nothing you have reported sounds like a crash.

Could you please provide more details including screenshots of the issue.

I will say if it occurs with other software then the problem is probably not with our software, but I will also say we have had no other reports of anything even remotely similar and I know we have people using it on Surface Pro 3s

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Locate Start10.exe, right click, properties, compatibility, check the box for Disable display scaling on high DPI settings. Let me know if that helps since you said at 100% DPI it worked fine.