Windows 10: Can't open programs from the start menu

Hi, everyone. So this issue just started happening today. I am currently on the anniversary build and when I search for a program in the start menu and try to open it, it won't open. Things like run, Chrome, etc. all won't open. Basic windows apps such as the calculator seem to open just fine along with "check for updates" etc. I've tried sfc /scannow with no luck, running a malware scan, and everything is fine. For some reason my desktop notifications have also stopped working as well. I tried restarting my computer, but this hasn't worked either.

I tried booting into clean boot and safe mode as well, but it is still broken. When I created a new user account to test if it was working, I could use the start menu just fine and I was receiving notifications. On my main account it is still broken. I noticed that another person was having almost the same issue in this thread Programs Won't Open in Seach/Start Menu - Windows 10 Forums However, a restart doesn't work for me and it doesn't seem to happen on a timed interval. Is this a known issue with the current update? Thanks for the help in advance.

:)

 

Windows 10 Start Menu Programs Incorrect Location

I looked in both of those locations and the program in question was not listed in either place. In my start menu, when I click on it, it attempts to reinstall the program from the CD which I do not want to do. However, the same program has an icon on my
task bar which, when clicked on, opens the program normally. I am using it this way for now but since the one on the start menu does not work, it would be nice to at least be able to remove it. I cannot as there is no way to remove it. The only thing I
can do is unpin it from the start menu which takes the app icon off the large screen but the program remains in the list area. The only option it gives me there is to repin to start screen or uninstall. Nothing to remove it from the list.

What I can't understand is why the program functions properly from the task bar but not the start menu. Why can't I just copy that icon from the task bar to the start menu? Again, no option to do that. The only choices I get on that is to unpin from taskbar.

 

Can't run Powershell or cmd.exe as administrator

I have exact issue, but I don't have avast. Has anyone else found a fix that did not include Avast. This was sudden (March 9, 2018). I can't open Start Menu, can't run Task Mgr, can't run any programs from Win-X menu, can't get powershell to run elevator
(nor can will cmd), and none of the native Settings programs run. Bizarre.

 

Okay, well something weird just happened. Right after I posted this thread, I saw a flood of recently added items going through my start menu. I started opening programs that I couldn't run from the start menu before and all of a sudden everything was working fine again. Even the notifications started working properly as well. This is a very odd bug and it seemed to fix itself without a system restart. Hopefully this isn't a reoccurring issue. It would be nice if someone could report if this is a known issue though.