Windows 10 Start Menu and Search not working.

[jacobston]

Friday evening I booted up my computer, but I noticed that none of the tray icons were loading at the bottom right of the taskbar, and no other applications' icons were loaded either. Clicking and right-clicking on the windows icon, notification icon and search icon all does absolutely nothing. The computer was working Friday afternoon without any issues, and now everything except the taskbar is working without issue.

So far, I have tried googling a solution, but none I have found have worked so far. I have rebooted several times using the button on the front of the computer, I restarted explorer.exe, I tried running the system file checker and repairing the windows image from the command prompt, and I tried rebooting some more but I still have the same problem.

If anyone knows of anything else I can try, it would be much appreciated. I would rather not have to completely reinstall windows to fix this, but if I have to I still have my old Windows 8.1 product key.


EDIT: here is a screenshot of the issue.

EDIT2: I forgot to mention, when I looked in the task manager, I noticed the Cortana process was not listed where it was been in the past. It is also worth noting that I can get into the classic control panel through the task manager, but cannot figure out how to get into the win 10 settings as I normally would.

EDIT3: The start menu seems to be working again, for now. I tried to enter the bios to boot in safe mode. I wasn't able to do so, however, as I accidentally hit escape and setup resumed normally. When I made it to my desktop, everything seemed to load normally.

[Rockin Robbins]

Windows Explorer runs all those services you were missing. For some reason one time when you started your system Explorer must have crashed on loadup. When that happens it's supposed to automatically restart, but obviously didn't.

As usual a reboot won't ever tell you what went wrong but it will fix it.

Please note that the Windows 10 update process has been abnormally buggy and there's nothing you can do about it.

[Catfish]

What happens to me a lot of times, is that Win 10 restarts automatically, after i have started the shutdown sequence. Instead of remaining in "off" position, it blinks, beeps, and restarts.

This is not energy saving or after updates with a restart, but the usual shutdown process which does not work ~ 50 percent of the times.

Any idea ?

[DragonRider]

"Windows Explorer runs all those services you were missing."
Yes this is correct.

For some reason one time when you started your system Explorer must have crashed on loadup.
No this is not right the problem you have is with a program or a driver not Compatiblewith Windows 10.


When that happens it's supposed to automatically restart, but obviously didn't.
If it is a I.E. crash then yes this will happen.

As usual a reboot won't ever tell you what went wrong but it will fix it.
No Windows 10 will attempt remove the problem and then load drivers that will work correct. this takes time and will look like windows 10 has crashed but it has gone into a hold mode while it trys to right the problem.

Please note that the Windows 10 update process has been abnormally buggy and there's nothing you can do about it
Really how many times have you done this to make this statement ?. All the times I have completed this process I have had no problems. also all the post that help you with problems like this one are lost in this thread.

[DragonRider]

Originally Posted by Catfish

What happens to me a lot of times, is that Win 10 restarts automatically, after i have started the shutdown sequence. Instead of remaining in "off" position, it blinks, beeps, and restarts.

This is not energy saving or after updates with a restart, but the usual shutdown process which does not work ~ 50 percent of the times.

Any idea ?

Yes your system is "wake by lan" I did post how to fix this but it was lost in the bitching going on in this thread

Edit.... Try looking here http://shmf.larsbundgaard.dk/index.php?topic=1892.0

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by DragonRider

Yes your system is "wake by lan" I did post how to fix this but it was lost in the bitching going on in this thread

Says the only one doing the bitching! Yikes, buy a vowel! And analyzing systems without information is voodoo, not helping. You don't know anything about what drivers he's trying to run on his machine and can't truthfully make the statement you made.

The only possible truthful answer is the generic one I gave. There was a problem of unknown nature with the Windows Explorer system. It had a problem, shrugged its shoulders and checked out. There's a possibility that the user ran out of patience before the system could correct itself. Possibly the system was hung. The possibility of a driver is very unlikely since the machine has been running normally for some time before the incident.

Since he rebooted and the system now works normally it is no longer possible to diagnose the exact nature of the malfunction. Even error codes set are usually generic in nature and can point at effects rather than causes.

As to Windows 10 updates, a widely known problem, even with the very few updates so far. I suggest following Infoworld's Woody on Windows column and Susan Bradley's Windows Secrets website, both of which are required reading in today's atmosphere of defective and sometimes deceptive updates.

And finally, when rebooting a system after a similar transient and inexplicable error it's best to make sure you do a cold boot and not a warm one. Turn the machine completely off, don't just do a restart. Then power the machine back on from completely dead. The cold boot process is different from the warm boot process and will rectify more situations.

[DragonRider]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

Says the only one doing the bitching! Yikes, buy a vowel! And analyzing systems without information is voodoo, not helping. You don't know anything about what drivers he's trying to run on his machine and can't truthfully make the statement you made.

The only possible truthful answer is the generic one I gave. There was a problem of unknown nature with the Windows Explorer system. It had a problem, shrugged its shoulders and checked out. There's a possibility that the user ran out of patience before the system could correct itself. Possibly the system was hung. The possibility of a driver is very unlikely since the machine has been running normally for some time before the incident.

Since he rebooted and the system now works normally it is no longer possible to diagnose the exact nature of the malfunction. Even error codes set are usually generic in nature and can point at effects rather than causes.

As to Windows 10 updates, a widely known problem, even with the very few updates so far. I suggest following Infoworld's Woody on Windows column and Susan Bradley's Windows Secrets website, both of which are required reading in today's atmosphere of defective and sometimes deceptive updates.

And finally, when rebooting a system after a similar transient and inexplicable error it's best to make sure you do a cold boot and not a warm one. Turn the machine completely off, don't just do a restart. Then power the machine back on from completely dead. The cold boot process is different from the warm boot process and will rectify more situations.

If you were a 100% about what you are saying you would know that the problem this user posted about is caused by cold booting but with the wake by lan still turned on

[DragonRider]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

As to Windows 10 updates, a widely known problem, even with the very few updates so far. I suggest following Infoworld's Woody on Windows column and Susan Bradley's Windows Secrets website, both of which are required reading in today's atmosphere of defective and sometimes deceptive updates.

That right there is the diffrence I am doing it for real not just reading about it. and who would read something a toy story Character says anyway lol

[Rockin Robbins]

I am merely giving people the sources of information so they are not dependent on elitists. Computers are understandable and governable by normal people and I help them to do that.

That means I don't just spout judgments. I support my contentions and give people the tools to make up their own minds. I give general conclusions when specific conclusions are not able to be made with the information supplied. You imply that is foolishness. I say let people make up their own minds and give them the information to reason it out for themselves.

You do not have a crystal ball to tell you that jacobston has an incompatible driver or program. Yet you "confidently" pontificate that is exactly what he has. You, in spite of your superior knowledge and expertise, are more likely wrong than right.

When I supply links and suggest people read something I am not saying that I merely read about things. I build and maintain many systems. But that isn't important.

What IS important is backing up my opinions, letting others learn what we both should know and become their own experts, qualified to make their own decisions to manage their own systems with competency.

Helping people is giving the the tools to do the job themselves and to test the conclusions you and I have come to. When supplying information becomes cause for derision and personal attack that says a lot about you and nothing about me. That right there is the difference....

[Rockin Robbins]

Originally Posted by DragonRider

If you were a 100% about what you are saying you would know that the problem this user posted about is caused by cold booting but with the wake by lan still turned on

Just had to quote that so people could actually believe how little sense your post made.

First, the user did not say whether he was cold booting or warm booting. Therefore it is impossible to make the statement "the problem this user posted about is caused by cold booting." And what "but with the wake by lan still turned on" must be some bizarre output by Google Translate. There is no way short of a clandestine spyware you installed in his system that you could know what his wake on lan status is. (LAN means local area network) This kind of problem happens all the time in computers that are not connected to a LAN and which have wake on LAN disabled in what used to be called a BIOS.

And again, making fun of my distinction between cold booting and warm booting reveals a troubling lack of knowledege from someone claiming authoritative knowledge.

Cold boot vs warm boot from the Microsoft website. This is a bit dated but contains the important information that with a warm boot not all settings are reinitialized. If your error is there, a warm boot will not fix the problem. This article is not the source of my knowledge in this matter, nor does it contain the entirety of my knowledge in the matter, but it does provide a basis for further research by those interested in understanding on their own.

[DragonRider]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

Just had to quote that so people could actually believe how little sense your post made.

First, the user did not say whether he was cold booting or warm booting. Therefore it is impossible to make the statement

In trying to make yourself look superior you failed the only reason for the fault causing the system to
Keep turning back on when told to shut down by the user is because he has turned off the “fast Boot” option but didn’t know about also turning off the “Wake by LAN” option in the Bios settings.
So his machine is already set to Cold Boot Try reading all the words.

[Jimbuna]

Thanks guys, this thread is of immense value to a great many here, myself included. Well certainly the parts appertaining to the computer related issues.

[Onkel Neal]

Ok, I don't know why there's so much animosity over this topic, but I am closing this thread.