I've been playing for a month with no issues. Last night the game crashed and closed out....now the start up client won't work. Not sure what's next to get it back on line.

what you mean the start up cleint will not work, what are the indications?

I click the STO icon on my desk top and nothing will happen. The window does not start up at all. In the task manager it shows STO running...but visually there is nothing there.

sounds like a stuck window
there are two fixes that may help

1.
•Launch your Champions/star trek Online Launcher. It will do the whole sit there on taskbar and tray with nothing showing.
•Open up task manager (right click on task bar, select Task manager, or press ctrl+alt+del and select Task manager).
•In task manager, minimize and then maximize said champions/star trek online launcher program through task manager (right click on the champs/star online application in the taskbar list.)

2. the other is to download and run this program.

http://files.champions-online.com/Sh...herWindows.exe

That worked...thanks PegasusMD. Much appreciated. <S>

The game has been crashing for me ever since the patch earlier today. Is this a common problem or just me? Seems to be happening when I'm on mission: Seeds of Descent. Haven't tried other zones yet.