Windows 10: Loss of Edge, Calculator, Notifications, Maps and now the Start Menu.

This morning ( 2016-05-12), I lost Edge while busy posting a comment on this forum, next was calculator, disappeared from my system, then Maps, and then when I tried to see what was going on, the "start menu" also disappeared on me!.

At the same time, I now see I can't access One Drive on line, and, [Settings/Accounts/Your e-mail and accounts] is now not displaying anymore, only the line of rolling blue dots.

Logged on with my MS account .......

Any ideas anyone where I should start looking?
Will a reversion to a restore point help?

Thanks
Geoff
On MS 10586.318. Win 10 Pro.

The only update that I am aware of today was the Google Chrome update to version 50.0.2661.102

:)

 

Few apps do not respond some times

Some times these ( Start menu, notification bar, Microsoft edge, maps, store ) not responding properly.

 

Loss of Windows 10 Start Menu and Edge Icon and synched email

Hi everyone

I installed Windows 10 about 4 weeks ago (previously had Windows 7 Home) and initially every thing went well. Then 2 weeks ago whilst using the pc, it froze and subsequently I lost the Start applications menu. The Edge Browser icon disappeared as did the
synched email function.

System restore does not recognize a useful recovery point. I can access the net via Google Chrome and still have access to emails via outlook installed on my pc..

Any advice, please?

 

Someone just reported similar symptoms having had the most recent Win 10 update KB3156421 to .318.

I wonder..?

You can surely try a system restore point, and it's strongly recommended to use disk imaging routinely (e.g. Macrium reflect (free) + boot medium + external storage) to allow you to recover easily and quite quickly from difficulties.

 

A fast fix you could try first, if it does not work we can try something else:

In Windows, the hidden file UsrClass.dat stores quite a number of user account related information. In cases when the profile seems not be functioning properly, a simple reset (delete / recreate) of this file might in most cases solve the issue.

Open File Explorer, type %localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows in addressbar and hit Enter to open the AppData\Local folder. Select View menu in Explorer, enable Hidden items. Now delete the UsrClass.dat file and reboot.




When rebooted and the UsrClass.dat file is not found Windows will create a new one. Check if everything works, post here if not.

 

Kari,

Thank you for the help! Will keep you posted of developments. I have not reverted to a restore point, as I would rather understand what is going on before doing anything.

What I did do yesterday was to rune sfc /verifyonly, which repoted back no issues with the OS sw and, If I create a new user using the in-built admin account, that new user account is completely normal.

best

Geoff

 

Unfortunately, Nothing has changed as far as restoring access to the start menu etc.

A new userclass.dat file was created (8kB) compared to the old file which is 3584 kB in size.
I saved the old file so I can restore it if nec.

best

Geoff

 

It was worth a try.

Repair install is the next thing I would try: Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 Forums

If you want to, you can use SFC and DISM commands first to check if they can fix your Windows system.

• SFC Command - Run in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums, Option Three: To Run SFC /SCANNOW Command in Windows 10
• DISM - Repair Windows 10 Image - Windows 10 Forums, Option One Step 5: To Use DISM /RestoreHealth Command

 

Did all the normal stuff.

Ran sfc /verify only -- get no errors showing up.
Ran sfc /scannow - ditto no problems
Ran Dism ... scanhealth --- show nothing is wrong.

Only problem seems to be with my online MS account.

If I create a new user ( local account), all is is well and everything works.


Not keen on the "repair install yet, Still prepared to FF some more before I resort to that .


Compiling a log file with what I have found so far that does not make sense. Traced the problem back to a Windows Defender update that took place on the 4th May 2016, which is the first time there were unexplained times when MS Edge stopped working.

 

Have you tested switching temporarily to a local account? Tutorial: Local Account - Switch to in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums.

If the issues go away when in local account you can then decide if you want to try the same account again switching it back to an MS account or create a completely new account copying your data from the old account to it.

Why? You know that a repair install keeps all your files and installed software, leaving them intact?

 

Live Tiles have been an on again and off again issue for a long time. It is just possible that Microsoft is pulling certain tiles from the OS, because they are not getting used as they thought that they were. If they show in Universal App's and you can open them, the repair install can end up causing bigger headaches. A Restore point does not always work. As for backup software, there is better options than Macrum.

 

I created a new account (local) and that works perfectly well. ALL the missing apps are available and work, so does the Start Menu.

Does this mean in fact that nothing is actually wrong with the OS after the updates, as is confirmed by all the normal checks?
So IF this is true what on earth "damages" an existing MS account?

What I can't do is retain the existing MS account and switch instead to a local account, as the data for the existing account refuse to load so the option to switch to a local account is just not there .

Well I am not sure of that ..... I have lost some things before.

I am now more than bit intrigued by this repetitive failure that plagues all of us that have accepted the so-called "free" upgrade from a previous version of Windows. As the problem repeats itself over and over again. I am not all impressed with the fact the MS can't find the cause and fix it, or, know exactly what is causing but are not fixing it, or, know what causes it but don't have fix for it....

 

Just spent the weekend "restoring" to a previous restore point ( twice, two different restore points) and the problems remain. So what does one conclude if a restore point fails? Is it just possible that the "damage" does not have anything to do with the OS, but in fact is something corrupt in the user data, in which case the problem just remains ...? Does the creation of a "restore" point only address the OS etc, and does not in fact "store" anything specifically related to user data, specifically, anything on your device related to user profiles?

And I completely agree with you on the "repair install" in relation to universal apps. What does a repair install do if there is nothing wrong with the universal Apps files and files relating to the start menu? The more I scratch the more I seem to find that none of these solutions do anything if there are no corrupt/lost files in the first place.

An Intriguing question that has now arisen with me is what is actually the best way of working? Using ONLY a local account on each device ( like we used to all these years) and laughing off this idea of a "universal MS account" that can be used on more than one device? Is this not where the problem in fact lies?

 

All that you have to do to restore the tiles is go through the steps listed in the tutorial. There is no need to go through a bunch of restore points.

 

Whoa! -That was strange! Just lost everything on my Start page, so on a whim, I signed out and then signed back in, and Start page is back and all correct tiles . . . what the?