UPDATE: June 21, 2016 – Microsoft has released a free repair tool for the Windows 10 START menu. You can read very brief explanation and download it here.
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It was a dark and stormy nighty in April when I installed Windows 10 build 10041 (on the fast ring) and the START button stopped working… ok enough fun. If you have installed a recent Windows 10 build you may find that the START button and all of the modern apps either do nothing or error out with messages about .NET or PARENTAL CONTROLS.
In my case I just installed a free START menu utility (I like START 8 or CLASSIC SHELL) that you might have install on Windows 8, and waited for Microsoft to release the next build of Windows 10 that I hoped would be installed automatically as I am on the FAST RING. It did not because Microsoft changes Windows Update to be a ‘Modern App’ which means it will not run. Soooo, I thought was pretty smart to just download the build 10074 ‘.EBD’ upgrade file from a site and run through the conversion to .ISO and then do an in-place upgrade (which just means run SETUP from the DVD and tell it to upgrade). That did work… for 3 days. This morning my START menu was dead again, AAARRRG!
Microsoft needs to get its Application developer jobs to fix this but until they do, here are solutions that have worked for us:
The I found the fix:
Thank you UHLIK from THIS thread on the Microsoft Forum after reading THIS thread on the forum.
Another fix for the The Start Menu Does Not Work problem is:
UPDATED: August 19, 2015: A third fix I have used successfully is:
A forth fix I found came directly from Microsoft Partner support:
If none of these fix the Start Button, you can try our advanced solution to the Windows 10 Start Button not working, which has solved the issue for me twice already this month and you can read about it here.
If you have had enough, you can just give up and REFRESH you machine.
This will reinstall Windows 10 but it will keep all of your files (Documents, Pictures…) but it will kill all of the programs that have been installed. Everything that is dead will be in C:\WINDOWS.OLD so you can fish out anything that is missing, but you will have to reinstall your programs, like Microsoft Office.
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Ran into same problem after upgrading a "New" Computer with just Windows 8.1 pre-installed to Windows 10
The only option that worked for me was option "4"
with the following change.
Rather than going Windows+R route I "Right Clicked" the "Start Menu" and went to "Command Prompt (Admin)"
Ran PowerShell and copied & pasted the command line.
The Start Menu was re-populated and worked after that
Thank you for your comments..
I tried some ... but they didn't or couldn't work...
And then I remember that I removed the Search bar tool from the taskbar..
Decided to bring it back...
And then it worked...
I guess the Start Menu and the Search tool are tied together..
Well this worked for me... and hope it works for you..
None of those worked for me either. And on yhe refresh pc one, there was no refresh option on my menu. So im blindly selecting troubleshoot options. Sigh. Cost me $100 & lost a client because i couldnt finish job in time. Arg windows! I knew i should have stuck w 7.NOT a happy camper
I can't even get to the control panel... the Win 10 icon and the Search box next to it are dead... Everything else seems to work.
If you can bring up a CMD prompt you can type CONTROL.EXE to bring up the Control Panel
I simply pulled the plug on it by removing my battery without shutting down, since my power button puts my laptop to sleep. Everything began to work perfectly. No lost files, nothing. I was worried about having to reinstall anything again especially my office package. Let me know if this works for you.
1- File not found
2- application identity is already running (start is grayed out, stop is available)
3- clicking on the add user button in the settings does nothing
4- can't run powershell in admin mode because right-clicking icons on the taskbar also does nothing
I do not want to have to refresh the computer because I'm certain the error will just show up again, since it worked for the first few days after installing win10, and only bugged out after.
thank you after now it worked for me!!!
MS just released a new build of Windows 10 (10532) so you might want to try to download that. I quick search found http://microsoft-news.com/download-windows-10-build-10532-iso/
The 4 solutions listed have not worked for me. If I were to create a system restore point before I try the refresh my PC option, will I still have to reinstall programs like Microsoft office?
If you created a RESTORE POINT now and then restored to it, nothing should change (which is not helpful). If you have a version of Windows with a previous Restore Point, you could try, bringing up a CMD, typing in CONTROl.EXE (to launch the old CONTROL PANEL), then launch SYSTEM, click the SYSTEM PROTECTION TAB, and selecting SYSTEM RESTORE. On my machines System Restore was disabled by default, which is seriously uncool.
Hi, i am trying the powershell solution.
Takes a lot of time.
Lots of red signals.
I will inform you when i finish.
So weird though.
Trying to find why this happened I can say this:
I was at a customer, I tried to connect an old Printer, while I connected an internet usb stick. Suddenly it froze, so i shut it down. After that it couldnt boot from the SSD.
Then, it booted but in a condition that:
Nothing from the new menus work. Only windows 7 menus.
Start button didnt work.
Internet explorer didnt work. Meaning only the edge.
Anyway i will also send mail to microsoft. this is pretty serious.
Oh, great job by the way, man.
Hi,
I have tried all but the final method on this to try and restore my wife's laptop into full functionality. None have worked. The DISM states it cannot find the apps. The applocker one states it cannot find the file. The application identity doesn't really affect anything on her laptop. The powershell command gives me access is denied, not matter what account I use.
She cannot access the start menu unless using one of the downloadable ones. The notification center does not do anything when you click on it, just does a short desktop refresh flicker.
It sounds like you are down to a REFRESH or trying to install the latest build http://microsoft-news.com/download-windows-10-build-10532-iso/
Step 1: Right-click the Start button and select Command Prompt (Admin) from the context menu.
Step 2: Type Powershell in Command Prompt and press Enter.
Step 3: Paste the following text in the Powershell window and press Enter.
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}
Wait for the command to run and ignore the red error prompts if they arise. The Start Menu should be operational now.
Use the this fix if you cannot right-click the PowerShell icon on the task-bar.
If you need to bring up a POWESHELL window but cannot right click on the START BUTTON, you can press CTRL+ALT+DEL, select TASK MANAGER, click MORE DETAILS, click FILE menu, click CREATE NEW TASK, type in POWERSHELL.EXE and select the CREATE THIS TASK WITH ADMINISTRATIVE PRIVILEGES .