Programs Won't Open in Seach/Start Menu


  1. Posts : 52
    Win 10 Pro (1607)
       #1

    Programs Won't Open in Seach/Start Menu


    Ran into a small problem after upgrading to the Anniversary Update. The update fixed a lot of my problems after I did a clean install so that was very good. I just have one small issue but after that's fixed I should be perfect.

    The only problem I'm having now is when I search for programs like Control Panel, it shows up but when I go and click on it, it won't open. When I hover over it, it turns gray (like it should) but besides that, nothing happens.


    Recent items seems to work and so does web portion of it.

    What's also weird is some programs like Steam allows you to right click on that and go to a certain game (its like a shortcut). That works but left clicking it doesn't.


    The start menu is pretty much the same story. In the list of programs that were installed, I can't open any of them. If I click on Calculator a small thin bar appears below it that's filled partially. Other then that, nothing else happens.

    I was looking around the forums and I saw that some people created new user accounts to see if was happening to just one account. I was unable to create an account in control panel (clicking on Add a new user... in CP didn't work) so I opened up Run and ran netplwiz which allowed me to access the account page and add a new user in. I added a new user with Admin privileges.

    I switched over to the new account and everything was working there. Searches were working, programs could be selected from the search area and in the start menu list, everything was pretty much perfect. Then when I switched back over to my main account, the same problem is still there. I think it has something to do with the users...

    Not sure where to proceed from this. Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction.
    Last edited by Alphaheat; 10 Sep 2016 at 17:37.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 52
    Win 10 Pro (1607)
    Thread Starter
       #2

    I've been trying to mess around with it but to no avail...
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 52
    Win 10 Pro (1607)
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Update:

    So in order to get some work done, I switched over to the second account temporarily so that I could use the Search function to access my programs. I was able to start all my programs up right from the start menu and search area.

    I was working on Adobe Illustrator for about half and hour and wanted to switch over to Photoshop. However, once again I am unable to run any programs from the start menu and search. To confirm my assumptions, I closed out of Illustrator and tried opening it from the start menu and the search area. It did not open.

    So now I am certain that there is something preventing me from opening the files. In the time interval of 30 minutes, it went from working to not working. Perhaps something was downloaded in the background by Windows?

    Awfully strange and infuriating.

    Can someone offer me some input on this?
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 52
    Win 10 Pro (1607)
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Update 2:

    Restarting my PC got the search and menu to work. Applications could be started without any problems. After about an two hours, it stopped working again.

    This time I was able to pinpoint the exact time it stopped working. I was able to open a program from the start menu and about a minute later, I tried to open another program and it didn't work.

    Something is definitely messing with the search and start menu.

    Really annoying...
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 52
    Win 10 Pro (1607)
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Update 3:

    Not sure why this was moved to this subsection because Windows programs like Control Panel are effected as well.

    So I feel like this problem comes and goes. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Restarting my PC does seem to fix the problem for a while but it just goes back to not working after a while.

    Any help is greatly appreciated! I know I can't be the only one with this problem. I looked on the forums for some similar cases but most of the time the threads are months old.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #6

    Hi, suggest you try a clean boot to eliminate 3rd party program conflict.

    If the same thing still happens, check it doesn't in Safe Mode.

    The remaining possibility might then be a scheduled task.

    All the above assumes something installed or configured is causing this. Please try the above and report each case.

    When the start menu doesn't respond, do shortcuts on your desktop work?

    And did this problem start only after updating to the anniversary build?
      My Computers


  7. Posts : 52
    Win 10 Pro (1607)
    Thread Starter
       #7

    dalchina said:
    Hi, suggest you try a clean boot to eliminate 3rd party program conflict.

    If the same thing still happens, check it doesn't in Safe Mode.

    The remaining possibility might then be a scheduled task.

    All the above assumes something installed or configured is causing this. Please try the above and report each case.

    When the start menu doesn't respond, do shortcuts on your desktop work?

    And did this problem start only after updating to the anniversary build?
    Shortcuts on my desktop works. All the programs works it just won't open in the start menu and the search area.

    The Anniversary Update fixed a lot of the problems I had before which was even worse. I can live with this but its just an annoyance.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 42,734
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #8

    If the same thing still happens, check it doesn't in Safe Mode.

    The remaining possibility might then be a scheduled task.
    (You said this happens after about 2 hours)
      My Computers


 

  Related Discussions
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 10 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 10" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

© Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:27.
Find Us




Windows 10 Forums