Windows 10: I'm done with the Win10 Start Menu + apps

Most likely. I'm also now trying to remember if this started before or after the Windows Anniversary Update. I'm starting to think it was after.

 

That's a good story about Corel. Revo Uninstaller will also take care of things like that.

The Anniversary Update has only been out for about a month. Based on your first post, sounds like it was happening before the AU came out. At any rate, we could have a look at your installed programs, and then maybe determine if a repair install using an in-place upgrade may be in order to set things straight once and for all.

Have you run the sfc /scannow and DISM tools at all?

 

I do have REVO Pro but find it sometimes still leaves some registry entries which CCleaner will usually find. I tried scannow one of the other times and it didn't do anything. In fact, I can't remember scannow ever fixing anything any other times I've run it for other things over the years.

What are DISM tools and anti-telemetry programs...?

I have to head out shortly but will get back to you with the installed apps list a bit later.

 

No rush. I will be a bit busy for a while now.

The Fast Startup turned OFF. Once that's done, if there are still problems, the [SR] log generated will give some clues.
At an admin command prompt:
Code: findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\Logs\CBS\CBS.log >"%userprofile%\Desktop\sfcdetails.txt"[/quote] It's important to have a look at this report, as there have been times when persistent problems were MS-induced, and not fixable.

DISM would be the next step if System File Checker can not fix everything.

Failing those, a repair install using an in-place upgrade usually does the trick.

 

p.s. If you don't know what anti-telemetry programs are, then I suspect you are okay, and didn't run any. They are these silly programs that claim W10 spies on you and you have to stop it.

 

I agree with this, doing a system file check should be the first step. This actually fixes a lot of issues. After that I would highly recommend backing up your data and doing a clean install. The way disks are imaged at the factory, well lets just say it is not always the most reliable. Hiccups happen especially when they are imaging 1000+ drives at a time.

 

Ah! Looking at the link, I remember DISM now. I came across it before but put off trying it because it sounded very involved. I never did get around to it.

Also, when I got home yesterday I found a Windows update (KB3189866) had downloaded and was waiting to install, so I put that through. I'd like to see if that may have fixed this issue so I used the PowerShell script I mentioned earlier to get the start menu working again. Everything is back working so now I'll wait and see if the start menu breaks again.

Thank you, guys, I really appreciate the interest you've taken in this!

 

Sounds good. Keep us posted. Cheers!

 

Update: It's been about a week since my last post and everything seems okay. I'm going to assume the last cumulative update fixed whatever the update before it broke.

Thanks again guys.

 

Good news. Thanks for the update.