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
    2016-01-24T08:58:39+00:00

    Hello Sheryl,

    Thank you for your response.

    I appreciate your time.

    I would suggest you to refer this article to go back to previous version of Windows.

    Refer:

    Going back to Windows 7 or Windows 8.1

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/going-back-to-windows-7-or-windows-81

    Note: You may need to re-install all the programs which you installed after Windows 10 upgrade. I highly recommend backing up your personal files and data onto an external hard drive to avoid potential loss of data.

    Please keep us updated.

    Thank you

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-01-23T13:18:53+00:00

    I feel your pain.

    If you upgraded to Windows 10 more than 30 days ago you won't be able to simply roll back to your previous 7 or 8.

    I'm in a similar position as I upgraded from 8.1 months ago when 10 first launched it's free upgrade. I have had the Start Button & no modern apps working problem several times but one or other of the fixes sorted it until I installed the 112015 major Windows 10 update, since then I have been stuffed & hobbling along with a broken system as I cannot afford to lose all of my old software, programs & settings by a full re-install, (like you I don't have discs for some of the stuff).

    To access the System Restore options with a broken Start Menu;

    1. Hover your mouse over the Start Button and RIGHT Click on it - select Control Panel and Click, this should bring up the old style Control Panel

    2) Click on the Recovery icon - you should then see the system restore options to see if there's a restore point available (Open System Restore).

    If there is a restore point there then you can try restoring to it to see if that solves the problem, (Windows 10 deals with Restore & Recovery differently than previous versions of Windows but you can still create manual restore points the same as always).

    I assume that there won't be any restore points there, (all of mine were wiped by upgrading to the latest 112015 build of Windows 10), so you can also try accessing the modern recovery system like this;

    1. Hover your mouse over the Start Button and RIGHT Click on it - select File Expoloer and Clikc
    2. On the menu bar you should see the modern settings symbol with the words Open Settings below - double click on that, (may seem a bit slow to appear but should open the modern settings box).
    3. Click on the Update & Security icon
    4. Click on the Recovery option
    5. Select the Go Back To AN Earlier Build option - see if it will allow you to roll back your system?

    If not then you are back to square one.

    Good luck.

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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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