Taskbar/Start button not working!

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  1. Posts : 33
    Windows 10 Version 1511- build 10586.164 (64bit)
       #191

    lmaneke said:
    Glad you finally found a fix. It's funny that a bad index would cause that to fail, but in this case, Start, cortana, and the taskbar are all part of one process.

    Hope this fixes others PCs
    I have mixed feelings about it after a day of it, Insight into an area I hadn't thought of, but it is not a permanent fix. I have to do it every time a sign on with that one user. Three steps is all it takes and no restart needed. Now I'm focused on Win-Update problem.
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  2. tfc
    Posts : 1
    Windows 10 x64
       #192

    Taskbar/Start button not working! (SOLVED for me)


    Spud said:
    I have had this problem a few times and I think it is related to fast start up which can be disabled in control panel -> power options -> choose what the power buttons do (left side). When my start button refuses to respond I go to the task manager -> details tab -> find explorer -> right click -> Analyse wait chain -> where I find that explorer is hanging, waiting for a response from an instance of svchost.exe with a PID (Process ID). I have then been killing that PID of svchost which causes windows to shut down with a semi dramatic blue screen, but when windows restarts I have normal operations.

    The question is how can a problematic instance of svchost persist from one start up to the next? Well this is where I think fast start up comes in. To speed up the boot process it is saving a load of information to hard disk when you shut down, this is then loaded back in, unfortunately along with some problems. Too early to be sure that this is the answer but so far so good, and killing the instance of svchost has been the quickest and most reliable means of getting the start menu back for me so far.
    You set me thinking. I was having the same problem with a friend's laptop. I was just preparing myself to have to go through the list of recipes for fixing the problem.

    Your post reminded me though that I had vaguely noticed in passing that the laptop was not slow on startup. I thought that your suggestion was a promising line of approach, and I elected to try it first.

    I changed the setting, but it didn't make any difference.

    Then I noticed that the Power button settings were 'Hibernate' for both battery and Powered. Now I had shut down the laptop, after changing the 'fast start up' setting, using the 'ShutDown' option from Windows 10 itself after [Alt]+[F4]-ing until everything was closed. So I would have expected the Shutdown to be a true Shutdown.

    I just wondered if perhaps the ShutDown command in Windows was taking its cue from the settings on the Power Button. So, I changed the settings on the Power Button to ShutDown, instead of Hibernate.

    Bingo! The following startup was clearly different, and was obviously loading fresh and everything worked. All the settings and task bar items had returned!

    Thank you very much for your suggestion!

    I have no idea what caused the problem in my case, but I wonder if the high incidence of people saying that various suggestions made here and in other threads 'didn't work' for them is mainly caused by people not effectively getting a clean start after 'fixing' the problem?

    Using your suggestion, I have only made sure that a startup is a clean startup. I have changed no other parameters, and the problem went away.

    Thank you. I think that you saved me a lot of effort. Well Done!
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  3. Posts : 33
    Windows 10 Version 1511- build 10586.164 (64bit)
       #193

    Spud said:
    I have had this problem a few times and I think it is related to fast start up which can be disabled in control panel -> power options -> choose what the power buttons do (left side). When my start button refuses to respond I go to the task manager -> details tab -> find explorer -> right click -> Analyse wait chain -> where I find that explorer is hanging, waiting for a response from an instance of svchost.exe with a PID (Process ID). I have then been killing that PID of svchost which causes windows to shut down with a semi dramatic blue screen, but when windows restarts I have normal operations.

    The question is how can a problematic instance of svchost persist from one start up to the next? Well this is where I think fast start up comes in. To speed up the boot process it is saving a load of information to hard disk when you shut down, this is then loaded back in, unfortunately along with some problems. Too early to be sure that this is the answer but so far so good, and killing the instance of svchost has been the quickest and most reliable means of getting the start menu back for me so far.
    I like this idea and will try it as soon as the problem reappears. I just downloaded a fresh copy of Win-10 and refreshed from it instead of my Recovery partition. All four users in this laptop are workin for now. Thanks for the idea. I tracked down the PID too, just to get the annoying popup off my screen. Thanks again.
    Last edited by StoneD1612; 03 Apr 2016 at 20:36.
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  4. Posts : 270
    Win-10
       #194

    Not sure which one of the millions of the above suggestions really worked, but it started working. MS should hire some retirees back to put them straight.
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  5. Posts : 33
    Windows 10 Version 1511- build 10586.164 (64bit)
       #195

    dustymars said:
    Not sure which one of the millions of the above suggestions really worked, but it started working. MS should hire some retirees back to put them straight.
    Unfortunately, I tried most of them. What worked for me was downloading a fresh copy of Windows 10 and restoring from that instead of the one in my Recovery partition. (sorry, I didn't realize I posted that already)
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  6. Posts : 197
    Windows 10 v2004 build 19041.329
       #196

    Arian said:
    Just registered to share my solution (and the cause).

    1. Problem:
    - Couldn't rightclick my taskbar programs and couldn't use my search. Clock popup only worked occasionally.

    2. Cause:
    - Skype

    3. Solution:
    - Update Skype

    I had my task bar broken twice. The first time I just updated Skype by chance and it worked afterwards.
    A week ago my task bar broke again. Now I wanted to be sure:
    I updated Skype and as soon as the installation was finished my taskbar was fixed. I could rightclick on my icons and also use the search again.
    Hi. I have Windows 10 Home, version 1511 build 10586.164. Since my OEM (HP) worked their magic and restored my four months-old laptop to its proper state after having been screwed up by the January Windows Updates, I've only had some minor intermittent niggles. One of the is (or was) the Search window/magnifying glass would work.

    I've just tried your solution (remove Skype) Arian and it's worked. I went to Control Panel > Programs and searched there for/removed Skype. Thanks!!
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  7. Posts : 197
    Windows 10 v2004 build 19041.329
       #197

    StoneD1612 said:
    I've never used Skype or even know if it's on here. I'll try it on my user that's not working.
    **UPDATE** I DO NOT have Skype on my system. When I tried on the user that has no Start or Store, or Search, I didn't even have a way of finding it. Thanks, anyway.
    Hi StoneD1612. I'm with you - I don't want/need Skype - but when I removed it (per Arian's suggestion), my Search window worked again. May I suggest that you go to Control Panel > Programs and search for Skype there. You should find that there's a small App called something like Skype video ad/tutorial. That's what was causing my problem. Even though I don't want Skype, I had this advert video that I didn't know I had. Remove it from Control Panel and see if it works for you.
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  8. Posts : 270
    Win-10
       #198

    I found these hideous entries at: C:\Users\me\Tracing\WPPMedia\Skype_MediaStackETW-6.0.8944.324-lcsmedia_vnext_release4(rtbldlab)-x86fre-U.etl

    Wonder if I delete them things will be better?
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  9. Posts : 197
    Windows 10 v2004 build 19041.329
       #199

    dustymars said:
    I found these hideous entries at: C:\Users\me\Tracing\WPPMedia\Skype_MediaStackETW-6.0.8944.324-lcsmedia_vnext_release4(rtbldlab)-x86fre-U.etl

    Wonder if I delete them things will be better?
    You need a techie to answer that but as WPP Media is a huge advertising company might that be one of those trackers? I use SuperAntiSpyware (free) to stop those - since having Win10, the number of tracking cookies it's picked up has gone from 3 or 4 a day to 25/30 a day>
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  10. Posts : 33
    Windows 10 Version 1511- build 10586.164 (64bit)
       #200

    Interesting that Microsoft Support says this is ' Answered'.
      My Computer


 

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