Everyday on the forums I see that we are getting many new users to our websites and products.  I also see that some users are new to the whole "desktop customization" thing and might not know where to start after they purchase something like Object Desktop. 

So I want to give a mini-tutorial on how to get yourself up and running when you purchase something from Stardock and need to install it through Stardock Central.

So what is Stardock Central?

Well basically it is an enhanced download manager that allows users to install and manage Stardocks software products.   It also includes integrated chat so users can interact with the community through forums, IRC, etc.

When you purchase a product such as a subscription to Object Desktop, you will receive an e-mail with your registration information including a serial number.  You will also get a link to download Stardock Central.  For whatever reason if you happen to lose this e-mail, or accidentally delete it, just go to the support page and enter your e-mail address that you purchased with, and you will get an e-mail with all your registrations associated with that address.

So when you download the Stardock Central installer just double-click to install as you would any other program.  Now your installation will start.

Click next to begin the installation.

In the next screen you can choose your destination folder, and click next again.  You will then come to the "Start Installation" screen.  Click next to continue installing.

Now click "Finish" to complete the installation.

Now that the installation is complete, SDC should start up and should prompt you to enter your Stardock.net information.

Now that registration is complete you will now have the option to "show pre-release" versions".  Basically this means you will have access to the betas of programs you have access to on Stardock Central.  For instance, current subscribers to Object Desktop have access to the current WindowBlinds 5.5  beta which supports Windows Vista.

If you want to have access to the betas then make sure the box is checked, if you just want the current version of the software then make sure it's unchecked. 

After that Stardock Central will open.  Now it's time to enter your registration info.  Go to "tools" in the menu, then select "Register Products", and the dialog below will pop up.  From there you can select your product and enter the serial numbers you received in your e-mail and click "update".  Now you are ready to download.

Since I registered an Object Desktop subscription, I'm going to install IconX first.  As shown in the image below, just select the program and click "install".  After it's done installing you can right-click the program, and from there you will have access to several options.  One of these options is the ability to archive your download.  For more information on this check out an article on archiving and restoring.

You can repeat these steps for any of the programs you have access to.  In the next article I will explain the integrated chat features and more that are part of Stardock Central. 

• Stardock Central
• Object Desktop
• Stardock Support