Windows 10: After Windows 10 Upgrade, Most Apps in Start Menu are Gone...

...and there doesn't appear to be a way to add new apps.

I asked a pair of questions on this topic over at SuperUser that is outlining my issues with the start menu in Windows 10.

The summary is that the Start Menu seems to be relatively broken for me after doing a Windows 10 upgrade.

If I go to Start > All Apps I do NOT see all the apps that are in the two "Start Menu" folders [1]. I do not know why this is.

If I try to search for an application that is c:\windows\System32 by typing in part of the name ("note" to show "notepad", "paint" to show "mspaint"), those applications are not found. However, if I type in the full name ("mspaint" or "notepad"), the applications are found with the title of "run command" [2], and not "desktop app" [3]. All these applications should show up as Desktop App.

Also, I am unable to drag and drop any file onto the start menu (neither by right-click on explorer and choosing "pin to start" nor by dragging and dropping a shortcut to the start menu).

I've tried everything I can think of to solve this problem. I am not sure what to try next. It is extremely irritating because it makes launching an application very frustrating now.

Any help would be awesome.



[1] the two folders are:
C:\Users\Patrick\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu
and
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu

[2] screenshot of an app that shows up as "run command"




[3] screenshot of an app that shows up as "Desktop App"




:)

 

Windows 10 - Critical Error: Start Menu Isn't Working

I recently upgraded to windows 10 and started to receive a critical error with the start menu after a week in. I tried different solutions through command prompt and none of them worked. I noticed that most my apps would work until I attempted to use
edge. Edge became my default browser when upgrading to windows 10, so I changed the default browser to explorer 11 and the critical error has gone away.

 

Windows 10 Update

After the Windows 10 update on my laptop, many icons are gone and what is left is rearranged. Most of the apps I downloaded are gone - not in the "All Apps" section nor on my Start Menu like they were before. Do I have to download apps again and try
to remember where everything was before? What about the icons I had?

 

Can anyone help with this? I've started a bounty over on SuperUser for a very similar question. Even suggesting something to try would be great.