Windows Start button not working

Anonymous
2010-11-11T12:49:00+00:00

The Windows start button is not working. When I press it nothing happens. SO I cannot shut down the computer in the normal manner or access any programs other than ones with desktop icons.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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Anonymous
2015-02-14T05:42:28+00:00

Hi,

I faced a similar issue! The following worked for me

  1. Right click on the Start Button and select "Run"
  2. Type "regedit"
  3. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER>Software>Microsoft>Windows>CurrentVersion>Explorer>Advance
  4. Create a new DWORD (32-bit) value, call it "EnableXamlStartMenu"
  5. Restart Explorer​ from task manager.

Hope this helps!

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Anonymous
2010-11-11T15:34:40+00:00

Hi nickthomp.

Does start menu open if you press the windows key on the keyboard?.

Can you right click the start menu orb and choose properties, if so

In the Customize Start Menu dialog box, click Use Default Settings, clickOK, and then clickOK again.

Also try.

1 .   Press Ctrl + Alt+ delete on the keyboard and click on task manager.

2 .   Click on the Process tab and locate explorer.exe in the windows and click on end task.

3 .   Click on File and then click on New.

4.   Type explorer.exe and press enter.

Hope his helps.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-01-28T19:15:17+00:00

    You might be able to narrow it down by taking note of the time it occurs, restarting the computer and immediately going into the Event Viewer (click Start, type event and choose Event Viewer from the list of matches above). You may find hardware or software that is generating a critical error marked by the time stamp of when the Start button crashes.

    I would also check the Device Manager for any hardware reporting an error. Click Start, type device and choose Device Manager from the list of matches above. Look for yellow exclamation icons that note trouble areas.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-01-28T18:29:39+00:00

    Sorry - I have windows 7.

    Windows key or ctrl esc don't work either.

    I just upgraded from another Lenovo that was also running window 7 and it had pretty much the same

    software on it, but I never had this happen before.

    Because it is random, it is not easy to do a clean boot and try each program given the reboot fixes it.

    Thanks,

    Dennis

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-01-28T18:23:20+00:00

    If you have a "relatively new Lenovo w530 loaded", I'll assume for now that you are running Windows 8 or 8.1. Please confirm the version of Windows that you are running so we are comparing apples with apples.

    What happens when you try one of the keyboard shortcuts to the Start menu? Tapping either the Windows key or Ctrl+Esc should launch the Start menu.

    There may be an app that is causing a conflict or protection fault. There is a long process to determine the problem by starting the computer with a Clean Boot and then manually starting the programs that run in the background one-by-one to see what is causing the problem. TBH, there are very likely many more programs automatically starting with Windows than you need to run a healthy computer as every installation seems to want to lodge itself somewhere into the boot process. Click through the following for more information.

    How to perform a clean boot to troubleshoot a problem in Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8

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