Windows 10: Start menu not working

I am running Windows 10 in VirtualBox, your reply has reminded me to export this installation in case of further problems.

 

Well hopefully the new build comes soon and it will fix that problem. I haven't had that issue.

 

Sounds like you got the problem under control. . .hence my idea is worthless (do a restart and do a recovery. . .Hope you have no further problems. . .*Smile

 

All is well at the moment. But I still don't know the cause of the problem.

 

The start menu quit working this morning. It was working yesterday (March 6). I installed Classic Shell, which so far seems to work fine. I can't seem to access the Universal UI (the old Metro) at all... no problem for me since I never use it.

 

I have also tested the StartIsBack start menu on Windows 10. It will work fine at this point. A correction on this... StartIsBack will work with Build 9926, it will Not work with Build 10041.

 

I have a problem with the 10041 build.

I think I've narrowed it down to using the "store" app or updating/installing an app from their. After doing so when I click start I am left with the a persistent search box that never disappears and no start menu.

I have trawled the thread, performed the action on the other page to no avail. Only thing it seemed to do was move the search box.

 

I had problems with build 10041 and I went back to using build 9926 for the time being. Build 9926 works better for the things I want to do with Windows 10.

 

No experimental tab, no box to check. I have tried turning on the start menu switch in the personalize menu, but it shuts back off. I have tried reinstalling, adding all the updates to today (Sept 5), scanning the drive, so far no success. Probably the next is to make a new user.

 

Check out tweaking.com and his Windows Repair tool. I am in no way affiliated and an advanced user. I would normally not consider an app like this, but the free version fixed the exact same problem for me. Try it and follow step by step. I ended up purchasing the Pro version just out of appreciation for the pain it saved me.

 

For weeks I was unable to access start menu, notification center, cortana, , vpn wouldn't work right, windows updates kept stalling, and SFC never found anything to repair, no updates from MS to fix, but tweaking.com free tool solved it all. It's clunky, and takes a while to run, but it sure worked. Thanks noonna2678 for suggesting the tool!

 

*Sad*Sad

 

*** FIXED ***

None of the above suggested Windows O.S. fixes resolved the problem for me. I did not want to do a Windows Refresh or create a new user account, because I have a highly customized setup that takes a day or two to fully re-configure.

I implemented a work-around - installed "Classic Shell" software - a free (optional donation) 3rd Party replacement for the Windows Start Menu that I downloaded from the developers website at Classic Shell - Start menu and other Windows enhancements. Nortons, McAfee, WOT, & LinkExtend all said it was OK, so I gave it a go in a VM first, before installing on my physical machine. I was so impressed I donated, even though I am retired and have no regular income *Smile

I have since noticed that there are Classic Shell threads on TenForums.

Classic Shell does not fix the associated problem of nothing happening when you right click on a taskbar icon to pull up a action menu, or when you click on the date/time to pull up a calendar. However it did give me back a Start Menu.

BTW - When the Windows 10 Start Menu is dead, you can access 'Settings' by right-clicking on taskbar date/time then clicking 'Properties'

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