"Windows 10 Start Menu Not Working" - Help!

[swee'pea99]

The start button on my Father in Law's laptop suddenly stopped working. Which meant among other things that he couldn't close it down properly, but had to use the power button. I did some googling and found many reports of this sort of thing happening after a windows update. Had he had a recent update? Yes he had. Ok, so, as the easiest option (he's not daft, but he's not Mr IT either) I had him do a system restore, to a fortnight back. It worked. Problem gone. Hooray.

A week later, it's back. Has there been a windows update? Yes. Ok, so (following instructions found online) I got him to uninstall the latest windows update. He did. The problem remained. I got him to download and run Advanced Systemcare, which sometimes spots and fixes problems. It didn't fix this one. I got him to open a command prompt as administrator, and run a sfc /scannow command. No change. I'm pulling my hair out and he's understandably frustrated.

Any ideas, suggestions very much appreciated.

 

[MartinQ]

cant remember why, but i used
https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu
for a time a couple of years ago. Maybe worth a try if things are not easy to fix.

 

[lazybloke]

Possibly it's waiting to do an update and never managing it because it's having power forcible removed rather than a clean shutdown.

There are several ways to access the Power menus to see if there's an "update & shutdown option".Letting this complete cleanly might fix the problem once and for all.

Click the on-screen graphic with the mouse?
Use the Windows button on the keyboard?
Use th Ctrl Esc key combination on the keyboard?

Then use tab, arrow keys or spacebar to access the Power menu and navigate to an appropriate shutdown option.

If none of that works, Ctrl Alt Del should bring up an action menu where you can use tab , arrow keys and space buttons (or mouse ) to choose the shutdown options.

 

[Milkfloat]

@swee'pea99 Have you tried these methods to see if it still even exists - https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/133178-restart-start-menu-windows-10-a.html

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks a lot. Had a quick look at github which was plenty to see that it's way over my head, but it was a kind thought!

Possibly it's waiting to do an update and never managing it because it's having power forcible removed rather than a clean shutdown.

There are several ways to access the Power menus to see if there's an "update & shutdown option".Letting this complete cleanly might fix the problem once and for all.

Click the on-screen graphic with the mouse?
Use the Windows button on the keyboard?
Use th Ctrl Esc key combination on the keyboard?

Then use tab, arrow keys or spacebar to access the Power menu and navigate to an appropriate shutdown option.

If none of that works, Ctrl Alt Del should bring up an action menu where you can use tab , arrow keys and space buttons (or mouse ) to choose the shutdown options.

Thanks - that sounds like an easy one to try for starters.

@swee'pea99 Have you tried these methods to see if it still even exists - https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/133178-restart-start-menu-windows-10-a.html

I haven't, but again, I will.

 

[swee'pea99]

Update: well, no joy, but some progress.

No half-done updates, so move on to Plan B, and...

"You see in the list where it says 'Start'?"
"No."
"'Start' doesn't appear in that list?"
"No."

Hmmm. Ok, let's try another way...

"Ok, go down that list until you reach StartMenuExperience..."
"It's not there."
"There's nothing that says 'StartMenuExperience'?"
"No."

Hmmm...

Upshot, I pointed him in the direction of a fresh Win10 update/install, as outlined here. He's giving it a go. Fingers crossed...

 

[Grant Fondo]

Update: well, no joy, but some progress.

No half-done updates, so move on to Plan B, and...

"You see in the list where it says 'Start'?"
"No."
"'Start' doesn't appear in that list?"
"No."

Hmmm. Ok, let's try another way...

"Ok, go down that list until you reach StartMenuExperience..."
"It's not there."
"There's nothing that says 'StartMenuExperience'?"
"No."

Hmmm...

Upshot, I pointed him in the direction of a fresh Win10 update/install, as outlined here. He's giving it a go. Fingers crossed...

I had to do the same a few weeks back after some hardware changes, did the trick

 

[mistyoptic]

For future, I suggest you install the free version of TeamViewer on both machines so that you can see his screen and if need be have some measure of control, i.e. Clicking what you mean, not what they think you mean.

I realise that doesn’t help right now but for future sanity. We use it for the PILs and it helps. Works with an iPad too although Apple restrictions mean you can only view the screen and not take control

 

[swee'pea99]

For future, I suggest you install the free version of TeamViewer on both machines so that you can see his screen and if need be have some measure of control, i.e. Clicking what you mean, not what they think you mean.

I realise that doesn’t help right now but for future sanity. We use it for the PILs and it helps. Works with an iPad too although Apple restrictions mean you can only view the screen and not take control

Thanks, I have mooted the idea of doing the same with google's version of that, and he's up for it, but we're still basically phone-based for the mo. One step at a time. I think if this kind of thing becomes common it may well be something we use.

For the moment, you'll never guess - he did the clean reinstall, and it completed, then threw up an error message:

This app can't open . There is a problem with Cortana. Reinstall the app from its original location.



How Long, O Lord, How Long?

I've since found and sent him to check out this MS page. All looks sensible, and pretty straightforward, though whether it'll get him anywhere, God alone knows

 

[DCBassman]

Alternative shutdown method: surprised nobody's mentioned using Alt+F4. Hold Alt, tap F4 until everything closes, then you get a dialog box with all the shutdown options in it. Choose the one you want, hit enter or click ok. If no programs are running, the box opens immediately after the first F4 tap.

 

[DCBassman]

Another handy tip: from Win 8 onward, right click where the Start button is and you get a comprehensive menu of links or actions, some of which are otherwise a bit hard to find.