I, like many others have been plagued by the nonfunctioning Start Button and Search Window. And I have only had the upgraded Windows 10 (from Windows 7) for about a month. Multiple web searches have yielded multiple possible fixes, but it seems none of those fixes apply to all cases or to all who are experiencing this problem nor do any seem to be permanent.
My question is: Has anyone heard or does anyone know just what Microsoft is doing about this ongoing problem? Is there an update/fix in the works? Is there a permanent fix or remedy to this problem that I just haven't found yet?
Hi, some have found Avast antivirus to blame. But that's by no means the only possibility.
As you've upgraded, not clean installed, it is possible you have some conflict with an installed program.
You could try a clean boot, and see what happens, and then install Shellexview (free), make sure you hide MS shell extensions and disable the rest. (Doesn't require you to log off).
After that, I'd suggest an in-place upgrade repair install. (Instructions available in the Tutorial section).
What are the behaviors of the non-functioning Start Menu? Does it just not open when you click the Windows logo?
Upgrading is great to secure your digital entitlement, but I always recommend a clean install of Windows 10 right afterwards. Those systems seem to be quite a bit more stable and have less issues than ones that were only upgraded.
The start button (and search window) do not open, they do nothing when left clicked. The start button (but not the search window) will respond when right clicked. This has happened 3 times, right out of the blue, since I did the upgrade. The temporary fix that has worked for me has been to right click the start button, open task manager, go to windows explorer and then restart windows explorer. Then after everything is back up/on and running on the desk top and task bar I close task manager, restart my laptop and the start button and search window are working again. **Found this "fix" after much searching and use it because it is the simplest.
Looks like I may have to check out the clean install route/process. Could be an adventure, as I am one of "those people" that does fine when my computer is functioning OK but has absolutely no tech sense, knowledge or ability to deal with situations when things go wrong.
Hi, Have you seen my post? An in-place upgrade repair install is a lot less painful.
Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 blog
However, this will not help if you have a 3rd party program conflict so my approach is logical.
I've not been able to find a solution to this since I upgraded back in November. Occasionally it will start to work again, then stop after a shutdown.
Only thing I've found to do is install Classic Shell start menu and use it instead. Works perfectly. My new laptop with a fresh install of Windows 10 so far has worked flawlessly. I'm assuming the problem is a corruption due to the upgrade from Windows 7. However i have years and years of file associations and directory links on this machine, and I'm unwilling at this point to wipe everything and install fresh. So, I used Classic Shell. Works great.
As an aside, the latest big upgrade to windows 10 also wiped out my Soundblaster X-FI, and I'm unable to unistall the drivers. Needless to say this upgrade was not painless for me.
Hi, like you, I use Classic Shell as the Win 10 start menu is all but useless to me and worse than useless as it fails to express my hierarchical start menu properly.
However the menu has always worked, both in a 32 bit upgrade and a 64 bit clean install now with a lot of desktop programs installed.
Experimenting with Shellexview should be painless - it's a great free tool from Nirsoft, often used to diagnose context menu issues, for example. As ever, before changing settings, make a backup for safety.
However, you also mention Cortana (the search box on the taskbar- which can be hidden if you wish) is not working properly.
The in-place upgrade install may well fix those problems, unless it's a conflict , hence check conflicts first.
It also keeps almost all associations and programs (I found one association changed afterwards).
You can save and recover your associations (see Tutorial section).
Note that if the 'big upgrade' was to build 10586 (November build) that did reset associations to MS default- very annoying. Hope they won't repeat that.
Of course you can just take the view I basically do- use win 10 as a desktop, ignore Cortana and the Win 10 start menu, and don't bother if they're broken. (Whereas I prefer to keep them working).
Does the Soundblaster show in Device Manager? If not under "View" you can choose to "Show Hidden Devices"As an aside, the latest big upgrade to windows 10 also wiped out my Soundblaster X-FI, and I'm unable to unistall the drivers. Needless to say this upgrade was not painless for me.
