Start button not working

pblanco · 19 Apr 2021

I have an Hp laptop running version 20H (OS build 19042.928) and the start button is not working. This happened after I got remote support for a program that was returning some errors. The people who gave me support for said program have spend an entire week trying to fix both that issue and the fact that the task bar was not working either. The task bar is now working, but I still cannot access the calendar and the notification center. The start button is still not working.

All updates have been installed and they already tried creating a new user.

I would really appreciate help on this matter as it almost seems like my only option now is to format my computer which I would obviously like to avoid.

Brink · 19 Apr 2021

Hello pblanco, and welcome to Ten Forums.

You could try restarting the Start menu using an option below.

Restart Start Menu in Windows 10

If that doesn't help, then you could try re-registering the Start menu below.

Re-register Start Menu in Windows 10

pblanco · 19 Apr 2021

Brink said:

Hello pblanco, and welcome to Ten Forums.

You could try restarting the Start menu using an option below.

Restart Start Menu in Windows 10

If that doesn't help, then you could try re-registering the Start menu below.

Re-register Start Menu in Windows 10

Thank you!

I tried both solutions, for the first one I get the following error: "ERROR: The process "StartMenuExperienceHost.exe" not found." The second option runs and doesn't return any errors but nothing changes.

Brink · 19 Apr 2021

Have you already tried restarting the computer?

pblanco · 19 Apr 2021

Brink said:

Have you already tried restarting the computer?

Literally hundreds of times...

Brink · 19 Apr 2021

In that case, you could try doing a repair install of Windows 10 to hopefully fix it without losing anything.

Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade

dalchina · 19 Apr 2021

This happened after I got remote support for a program that was returning some errors.

Hi, once you have this fixed, have you considered how to protect yourself from future bad situations? E.g. what would you do if your system disk failed?

The regular and routine use of disk imaging is recommended here endlessly. If you had a disk image, created before all this happened, you could have had your PC up and running again in an hour or so. E.g. Macrium Reflect (free) + large enough external storage.

Ensuring you have System Restore points available can also help resolve many issues that can arise - providing restoring one actually completes of course (it may not always do so). But great when they do.

Brink's excellent tutorials include one on creating a SR point on a schedule- useful as Win 10 is somewhat erratic in doing so.

Hope the in-place upgrade repair helps.