critical error start menu

Hi, if you can quote a link to your previous thread, and to the particular tutorial you're referring to, and the exact error message you are receiving, plus how you are trying to launch the start menu, someone might be able to help you.

Can you also confirm whether this happens in Safe Mode?

Have you tried an in-place upgrade repair install?

Thanks!

The details of the in-place upgrade install are there in the link.

Essentially: boot into normal mode and do a Windows install.

Please read all - should be clear.

Good.

Well, I can understand, but we are not the designers of the OS nor do we have the tools, information or time to do the necessary investigation. The interaction of the OS, hardware and 3rd party programs is extremely complex. It just takes one small thing to be wrong, and we don't always have exact fixes.

Now your system is working, do start to use disk imaging routinely.

Creating disk images lets you restore Windows and all your disks and partitions to a previous working state, quickly and probably without technical help.

You can recover from:
- a failed disk drive (restore to a new one)
- ransomware (which encrypts your disk)
- user error
- unrecoverable problems from failed updates to problem programs
- unbootable PC (hardware faults aside)

Images also act as a full backup- you can extract files too.

You can even use images to help you move more easily and quickly to a new PC.
Can be used with Laplink software to transfer your build automatically to another PC

Imaging can even help you sleep at night knowing you have a second chance.

Many here recommend Macrium Reflect (free) as a good robust solution and more reliable than some others. It’s
- more feature rich
- more flexible
- more reliable
than Windows Backup and Restore system images.

It's well supported with videos, help and a responsive forum.

There are other such programs, free/commercial, some with simpler interfaces, but Macrium R is one of the most robust and reliable.

How long does it take?
SSD+ USB3 - maybe 15 mins for the first system image, less thereafter
HDD + USB2 - maybe 40-50 mins
That’s with little personal data, few programs installed.
- of course, depends how much you have on C:
(You can and should image all your partitions and disks)

Once you've created your first image, keep it updated with e.g. differential imaging- which images just changes from the first image, more quickly, and creates a smaller image file.

You need a backup medium - say- twice as large as the total amount of data you are imaging to keep a reasonable number of differential images. This will vary dependent on the number of images you keep, so is only a rough practical guide.

Some comment that system restore isn't always reliable; if it works and solves the problem, great. But sometimes restores won't work or fail. And of course a restore point only covers a limited number of aspects of the system. That’s where disk imaging comes in.

Excellent- wise move.