Start Menu Error

Since the 29th March this year, I have been seeing the following Application Error. I have run the Start Menu diagnostic tool and the 2nd and 3rd snapshots below are the results. The second of the tool snapshots appears to show that the two applications ShellExperienceHost and Cortana are not installed correctly. I have run SFC /Scannow and DISM Scanhealth and Checkhealth and they all come back with no problems. I have also run DISM RestoreHealth but it didn’t help. Running the “Reregister the Cortana and ShellExperienceHost” packages for both applications gives positive results for ShellExperienceHost and Cortana. But the problem has not gone away.
Further investigation I think reveals that Cortana is no longer included in Windows 10 as a default. In fact in the Details tab of the task manager it says that Cortana.exe is suspended. I have tried loading it from the Microsoft App store but the information doesn’t appear to be loaded. I have also tried the tutorial of how to enable or disable Cortana in Windows 10 which hasn’t worked, so I am at a lost of what to do next.
Event xmlns.docx

parsonm said:

Since the 29th March this year, I have been seeing the following Application Error. I have run the Start Menu diagnostic tool and the 2nd and 3rd snapshots below are the results. The second of the tool snapshots appears to show that the two applications ShellExperienceHost and Cortana are not installed correctly. I have run SFC /Scannow and DISM Scanhealth and Checkhealth and they all come back with no problems. I have also run DISM RestoreHealth but it didn’t help. Running the “Reregister the Cortana and ShellExperienceHost” packages for both applications gives positive results for ShellExperienceHost and Cortana. But the problem has not gone away.
Further investigation I think reveals that Cortana is no longer included in Windows 10 as a default. In fact in the Details tab of the task manager it says that Cortana.exe is suspended. I have tried loading it from the Microsoft App store but the information doesn’t appear to be loaded. I have also tried the tutorial of how to enable or disable Cortana in Windows 10 which hasn’t worked, so I am at a lost of what to do next.
Event xmlns.docx

It sounds like you've already taken several troubleshooting steps to address the Start Menu error you're experiencing. Maybe Create a New User Account.

Go to ---Settings>Update & Security >Recovery >Reset pc ---which should clean up files untouched by dism and sfc.

joeandmargo - Your suggestion to Recovery - Reset pc is this the same as the tutorial (16397) from Sean, Repair-install-windows 10-in-place-upgrade? If not what is the difference?
Secondly, as some fixes for this problem suggest copying the ucrtbase.dll from the sysem32 to SysWoW64 folder. The details of this file and others are below. Could someone check there 64k system to see if you agree with what is installed on my desktop.

System32
Ucrtbase.dll ver 10.0.19041.3636 27/10/2023 1022kb
Ucrtbase_clr0400.dll ver 14.32.31326.0 24/06/2022 808kb
Ucrtbase_enclave.dll ver 10.0.19041.3636 27/10/2023 491kb

SysWoW64
Ucrtbase.dll ver 10.0.19041.3636 27/10/2023 1155kb
Ucrtbase_clr0400.dll ver 14.32.31326.0 06/05/2022 712kb


As you can see there are differences between the two folders. Although ucrtbase.dll has the same version in both folders, the file size is different - which I don't understand. The same applies to ucrtbase_elr0400.dll, again different size files for the same release. And ucrtbase_enclave.dll is not in the SysWow64.
Thanks.

The sizes must be different because you're comparing the 32bit Vs. 64bit versions of the dll.
I looked in my Win10 Pro system, it seems to match yours.

In-place upgrade is when you start the Windows setup, either from CD or USB, while Windows is up and running.
Everything is left intact, Windows is repaired.
Recovery / reset this PC is a more "thorough" procedure, Windows is reinstalled, all apps are uninstalled and
deleted, there is an option to retain personal files.

For a name brand PC with the manufacturers apps, etc, there are other considerations, see here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...#bkmk_reset_pc