Windows 8 Start Screen and Apps Not Responding

Anonymous
2012-11-17T18:46:01+00:00

I upgraded to Windows 8 Pro on its release date.  It had been working fine for me until yesterday (11/16/2012).  Suddenly, I can't get the Start screen to respond.  I'm unable to launch apps, access the Charms bar, etc.  By pressing WinKey + D multiple times, I am able to get the Desktop to load.  Once loaded, the Desktop seems OK though I can't access Charms from it either.  

I tried the Apps Troubleshooter from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=271185, but it didn't find any problems.  Also, my screen resolution is above 1024 x 768, my video driver is current (I checked for updates via Device Manager), I do NOT have UAC disabled, and I'm logged into my own account (which is linked to my Microsoft account).  Also, I do not have a 3rd party AV/security product installed, just Defender.

In Event Viewer, I do see repeated errors from Time Broker (listed as TimeBroker.exe or  svchost.exe_TimeBroker).  The error message reads, "The Time Broker service terminated unexpectedly."  That didn't seem to be a problem until yesterday, but I don't know what to do about it.

I would appreciate any suggestions or advice.k

Matt

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-11-19T23:57:41+00:00

    I was able to get to the desktop by hitting ctrl alt del and signing out. When I signed back in, I immediately went to the desktop. It seems that you have a little time before the explorer service hangs to get into there. Once there, you can go to task manager and run msconfig from there (if the run command won't show up).

    You can also boot to safe mode using these instructions.

    http://www.howtogeek.com/107511/how-to-boot-into-safe-mode-on-windows-8-the-easy-way/

    Just boot without networking... since that seems to lock up the system.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-11-19T23:22:56+00:00

    my machine will not go to the desktop win+d or to the run prompt win+r or via mouse commands. Alt tab brings up the window and I can get MS config to run but the screen will not make that window active if I select it via alt-tab.  so now how to I get this machine into safe mode.

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-11-19T19:00:42+00:00

    Hi MattMinyard,

    Did you happen to install any of the other updates mentioned later in this thread?  In particular KB2769034, KB2769165 and KB2770917?

    Are you able to possible perform a System Restore to go back to before they were installed?

    Please take a look at the following:

    To restore your PC using System Restore

    1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.

    (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.) Enter Recovery in the search box, tap or click Settings, and then tap or click Recovery. 2. Tap or click Open System Restore, and follow the prompts.

    From the article here.

    Please let us know.

    Thanks!

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-11-19T16:09:09+00:00

    I also got this behavior a while after I installed the updates that is mention in this thread.

    (Only thing I installed after the Windows Updates was some 'Metro' Apps. )

    I reverted to the restore point prior to the updates and everything worked again. I then did a Windows Update again and install all the same updates again. (To check If I could recreate the problem) But this time I did not get any problem. Rebooted a couple of time of times to verify that the problem did not come back. 

    I then created a manual restore point so I can revert to this state again if the issue comes back.

    Guess the update in combination with somethings else triggers this problem. Problem are what the "else" part is. So far (2days) the problem has not returned.

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  5. Anonymous
    2012-11-19T15:00:55+00:00

    Yes, same problem here. Applied the 13 Nov updates ( KB2769034, KB2769165 and KB2770917) on 15 Nov. Got the unresponsive problem, as mentioned above, suddenly on the 18 Nov. Between these 3 days, I did not make any software or hardware changes. There was an AVG Antivirus update between but doubt that's the problem. I had to reinstall windows 8 pro, after which, I applied the rest of the prior updates except for those 3 mentioned above. Will be keeping an eye on this thread.

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