Cortana

Hi Cortana is easily 'broken' e.g. by changing various of the settings (Win 10 Settings). Certain services are also important.

First, have you worked through this?
Cortana - Turn On or Off in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Second, OO shutup (freeware) includes a 'reset' feature for settings.

Third, can you post a screenshot? I'm guessing you mean Win S opens Cortana, but you have just 3, not 5 icons down the LHS as you say the notebook is missing.

Assuming you get a Cortana window, but not functional, is any particular message displayed?

And finally, please confirm you can open the start menu.

dalchina said:

Hi Cortana is easily 'broken' e.g. by changing various of the settings (Win 10 Settings). Certain services are also important.

First, have you worked through this?
Cortana - Turn On or Off in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Forums

Second, OO shutup (freeware) includes a 'reset' feature for settings.

Third, can you post a screenshot? I'm guessing you mean Win S opens Cortana, but you have just 3, not 5 icons down the LHS as you say the notebook is missing.

Assuming you get a Cortana window, but not functional, is any particular message displayed?

And finally, please confirm you can open the start menu.

Thanks, I have tried all your suggestions without success, contacted Microsoft Technical Support, after a 2 hour session same result.

Streamer

This is a commonly reported problem (just try searching for "cortana disabled by company policy"). I encountered this after fiddling with Settings, and couldn't find a solution. Perhaps there is one...

I keep periodic disk images (I use Aomei Backupper) - Macrium Reflect Free is recommended - there are others.

I restored a recent disk image- I keep a log of changes I make- and redid the significant changes. I've avoided fiddling with settings since. If you don't use disk imaging, you really really should.

Note too that System Restore is disabled by default in Win 10, so unless you've enabled this, that option isn't available.

Oh, conversely, you could have a look at this:
How to Properly Disable Cortana in Microsoft Windows 10 - Windows Forums
- it tells you how to use Group Policy for Cortana. Maybe it will help.