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
    2016-01-23T10:12:56+00:00

    Hello,

    Thank you for the acknowledgement.

    It is quite difficult and time-consuming when you have to reinstall all the lost programs.

    Thank you

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-01-23T11:19:14+00:00

    Now restored back to 8.1!

    Couple of minor glitches I had to sort out but all stable again. I will monitor forums for a while to make sure Microsoft have actually made some effort to fix all these issues before I consider going back to 10. The nagging upgrade box will be ignored!

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-01-23T11:58:37+00:00

    I'm now on to my second failure with Windows 10, again the Start button not working.  The first time I had to do a complete reinstall, lost all my Office programs (2010) but I still had installation key.  Unfortunately I had Publisher 2003 which I lost too and in one of my 'tidying up get rid of what you don't need anymore' frenzies had chucked that disc away, grr.  Not too bad, I thought  - till it failed again a couple of weeks ago. And of course Windows 10 is so different from 7 & 8 that I can't find where I used to go back to a restore point, and I don't know how to get back to my old Windows 7 (or it might have been 8) Anyone help me?  I'm so totally sick!

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