StartMenuExperienceHost.exe stopped working ...

Hi, possible clue:

Take a look at the event viewer Applications and Services Logs - Folder: Microsoft\Windows\ShellCommon-StartLayoutPopulation. In there I see information events 1402 and 1403 that seem to correlate with StartMenuExperienceHost crashes.

Hello 22Green, Are you using windows event viewer application to find the folder?

Here is an event that was just saved to my event log in the folder I described. The Process ID reported, matches StartMenuExperienceHost.exe pid. I do not know how to resolve this issue yet. But this is a clue. I just tried resetting the start menu layout to default. No joy. But when I reset it to default there were a few tiles that could not be created. Maybe I need to resolve that too. The actual error event is below at the bottom.

Log Name: Microsoft-Windows-ShellCommon-StartLayoutPopulation/Operational
Source: Microsoft-Windows-ShellCommon-StartLayoutPopulation
Date: 05-30-2024 4:33:34 PM
Event ID: 1402
Task Category: (1002)
Level: Information
Keywords:
User: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Computer: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Description:
Data Store Cache secondary data reconciliation start.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-ShellCommon-StartLayoutPopulation" Guid="{97ca8142-10b1-4baa-9fbb-70a7d11231c3}" />
<EventID>1402</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>4</Level>
<Task>1002</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x4000000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2024-05-30T23:33:34.0990225Z" />
<EventRecordID>45515</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="16096" ThreadID="8740" />
<Channel>Microsoft-Windows-ShellCommon-StartLayoutPopulation/Operational</Channel>
<Computer>XXXXXXXXXXX</Computer>
<Security UserID="XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX" />
</System>
<EventData>
</EventData>
</Event>

Log Name: Application
Source: Application Error
Date: 05-30-2024 4:33:30 PM
Event ID: 1000
Task Category: (100)
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Description:
Faulting application name: StartMenuExperienceHost.exe, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0xe07647a2
Faulting module name: ucrtbase.dll, version: 10.0.19041.3636, time stamp: 0x81cf5d89
Exception code: 0xc0000409
Fault offset: 0x000000000007286e
Faulting process id: 0xf50
Faulting application start time: 0x01dab2e847981913
Faulting application path: C:\WINDOWS\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperienceHos t.exe
Faulting module path: C:\WINDOWS\System32\ucrtbase.dll
Report Id: c15bcb65-b958-48bd-9797-57b50ac1c88a
Faulting package full name: Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_10.0.19041.4239_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy
Faulting package-relative application ID: App
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Application Error" />
<EventID Qualifiers="0">1000</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>100</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2024-05-30T23:33:30.1974631Z" />
<EventRecordID>553242</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="0" ThreadID="0" />
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>StartMenuExperienceHost.exe</Data>
<Data>0.0.0.0</Data>
<Data>e07647a2</Data>
<Data>ucrtbase.dll</Data>
<Data>10.0.19041.3636</Data>
<Data>81cf5d89</Data>
<Data>c0000409</Data>
<Data>000000000007286e</Data>
<Data>f50</Data>
<Data>01dab2e847981913</Data>
<Data>C:\WINDOWS\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperie nceHost.exe</Data>
<Data>C:\WINDOWS\System32\ucrtbase.dll</Data>
<Data>c15bcb65-b958-48bd-9797-57b50ac1c88a</Data>
<Data>Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_10.0.19041.4239_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy</Data>
<Data>App</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

Jimbo93 said:

Hello 22Green, Are you using windows event viewer application to find the folder?

Here is an event that was just saved to my event log in the folder I described. The Process ID reported, matches StartMenuExperienceHost.exe pid. I do not know how to resolve this issue yet. But this is a clue. I just tried resetting the start menu layout to default. No joy. But when I reset it to default there were a few tiles that could not be created. Maybe I need to resolve that too. The actual error event is below at the bottom.

Log Name: Microsoft-Windows-ShellCommon-StartLayoutPopulation/Operational
Source: Microsoft-Windows-ShellCommon-StartLayoutPopulation
Date: 05-30-2024 4:33:34 PM
Event ID: 1402
Task Category: (1002)
Level: Information
Keywords:
User: XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Computer: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Description:
Data Store Cache secondary data reconciliation start.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-ShellCommon-StartLayoutPopulation" Guid="{97ca8142-10b1-4baa-9fbb-70a7d11231c3}" />
<EventID>1402</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>4</Level>
<Task>1002</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x4000000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2024-05-30T23:33:34.0990225Z" />
<EventRecordID>45515</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="16096" ThreadID="8740" />
<Channel>Microsoft-Windows-ShellCommon-StartLayoutPopulation/Operational</Channel>
<Computer>XXXXXXXXXXX</Computer>
<Security UserID="XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX" />
</System>
<EventData>
</EventData>
</Event>

Log Name: Application
Source: Application Error
Date: 05-30-2024 4:33:30 PM
Event ID: 1000
Task Category: (100)
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Description:
Faulting application name: StartMenuExperienceHost.exe, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0xe07647a2
Faulting module name: ucrtbase.dll, version: 10.0.19041.3636, time stamp: 0x81cf5d89
Exception code: 0xc0000409
Fault offset: 0x000000000007286e
Faulting process id: 0xf50
Faulting application start time: 0x01dab2e847981913
Faulting application path: C:\WINDOWS\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperienceHos t.exe
Faulting module path: C:\WINDOWS\System32\ucrtbase.dll
Report Id: c15bcb65-b958-48bd-9797-57b50ac1c88a
Faulting package full name: Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_10.0.19041.4239_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy
Faulting package-relative application ID: App
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Application Error" />
<EventID Qualifiers="0">1000</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>100</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2024-05-30T23:33:30.1974631Z" />
<EventRecordID>553242</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="0" ThreadID="0" />
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>StartMenuExperienceHost.exe</Data>
<Data>0.0.0.0</Data>
<Data>e07647a2</Data>
<Data>ucrtbase.dll</Data>
<Data>10.0.19041.3636</Data>
<Data>81cf5d89</Data>
<Data>c0000409</Data>
<Data>000000000007286e</Data>
<Data>f50</Data>
<Data>01dab2e847981913</Data>
<Data>C:\WINDOWS\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperie nceHost.exe</Data>
<Data>C:\WINDOWS\System32\ucrtbase.dll</Data>
<Data>c15bcb65-b958-48bd-9797-57b50ac1c88a</Data>
<Data>Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_10.0.19041.4239_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy</Data>
<Data>App</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

oops seems my attachment didn't post last reply. Its up now. Yup using event viewer..

Doesn't look like MS is addressing this issue for some reason. I'm going to ignore it and when I finally upgrade to Windows 11 one day i'll consider the issue resolved then.

22Green said:

oops seems my attachment didn't post last reply. Its up now. Yup using event viewer..

Doesn't look like MS is addressing this issue for some reason. I'm going to ignore it and when I finally upgrade to Windows 11 one day i'll consider the issue resolved then.

I guess it is MS little way of saying that if you want this fixed then switch to Win11. When I switch to Win11 will be when my computer that I am using uses it's last data. I plan on using Win10 beyond the Oct. 2025 date of non support. There is no way I will upgrade/downgrade my computer with Win11 now as I have read to many horror stories on the MS Forum about people that did that even though their computer was Win11 ready. When I want Win11 I will buy a computer with it already installed and maybe by then they will have flushed out and killed the many bugs it still has crawling around in it.

Don

So it's live with the problem indefinitely (which isn't too difficult) or wait for a possible 3rd party fix (which is a great big maybe).

The auto industry does planned obsolescence too, but they don't deliberately sabotage their older models.

Jimbo93 said:

Well I believe it is fixed on my computer. There were a few things I tried, resetting the start menu layout, re-registering all original apps.

But nothing made a difference until I tried an older method for restoring the startmenu layout found here which seemed to do the trick:

How to Backup, Restore, Reset Start Menu layout in Windows 11/10

First you activate the built-in Administrator account. Then you sign in with that account and rename the TileLayer\Database folder under your normal user account. You might want to create a restore point or take a backup first. Don't forget to deactivate the built-in Administrator account.

Cya.

Thank you for your reply and I do not know about anyone else here but I am not about to start doing this and doing that in my computer from The Windows Club even though it has a good rating in order to fix a problem that MS caused with their updates and they are the ones that need to fix this. If I am going to do all that you and the Windows Club suggests that I do then I might as well re-install Win10 and I will not do that. A comment at the bottom of that procedure from six years ago stated it was no longer working. All the apps I use are now on my Task Bar so I really do not need to open the Start Menu to use an App and there is no problem using Start to Shutdown, Restart, Sign-Out, Sleep, PowerShell etc.etc. on my computer so I can live with that and maybe MS Devs will get off their collective ***es and acknowledge this problem. Thank you again for your reply and suggestion.

Respectfully,
Don

I'll share my theory of what is going on. With current builds of W10, I do not believe that old Database folder I renamed is used anymore. It doesn't exist on W11 Pro. Further, none of the files in that folder (there are around 10 files or so) had been modified since 2017 on my W10 Home computer at work. After renaming the folder, the problem disappeared. I think MS changed how they are storing the layout data in some past build. I was able to modify my start menu and the changes remained after restarting. So everything is fine. logs look good etc.