Windows 10 Start button problem

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It ain’t nice to fool with Mother Nature. Just got this from DD: Suddenly the windows Start button (i.e. the flag) stopped working, but the right clic
[See the full post at: Windows 10 Start button problem]

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Most likely, this is related to another CCleaner function. It cleans out the Windows Icon Cache. Without clearing that out after messing with the Tiles, Windows Explorer (File Explorer) gets confused when setting up the Desktop and the Start Menu.

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Can I just make an image backup of Win7 with the rescue disk, then upgrade to Win10. Make an imaage backup and rescue disk, store it. Reinstall Win 7 from the image and rescue disk?

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If Start button gets messed up and typically this happens to the Search area (Cortana) at the same time, then using PowerShell is the only reliable way to fix the issue.

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It is a bit complicated to provide solutions itemised for each Universal App here, but this PowerShell command would normally do the job and a lot better than CCleaner. It is also fully supported.

Get-AppXPackage | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml”}

I would wish CCleaner was used only for analysis and not for actual implementation. It could cause a lot of damage unless used very carefully. A lot more damage than regedit. It is a very powerful tool and really not for common and routine use.

Get-AppXPackage | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml”}

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Possibly. Ed Bott says it’s OK. I’m still not sure, but I’ll be writing about it in July. No need to do it before then, by the way.

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The start button stops working?! Good grief, I’ve never known such a thing in all the versions of Windows I’ve used. Combined with the pages and pages of problems on Reddit and Microsoft answers I can’t say I’m eager to move to this beta OS. Not to mention the baked-in spyware, forced updates, UWP, adware…sorry, I’m just still not convinced.

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I’ve never had a problem with ccleaner, I think as long as you stick to the default checked options you should be fine. It’s once you start playing with the unchecked options that problems can really start.

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Respectfully disagree.

I use CCleaner all the time, and it never wrecks anything. Along with Glary Utilities, it’s one of my maintenance standby’s.

There are ways to set CCleaner beyond its default settings, and this is where serious damages can occur. Also, CCleaner can remove even the Windows Store App, which would result in reinstalling Windows 10 completely.

So there are ways to misuse CCleaner and make a real mess. But in its intended default uses, CCleaner rarely causes Windows problems which did not exist before using CCleaner.

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DD, try this. Open CCleaner. In the menu on the left, in the System group, is Start Menu Shortcuts checked? Is anything checked in the Advanced menu, particularly Menu Order Cache? If so, uncheck these. One of these settings may have caused your issue when you ran CCleaner. Or try asking in Piriform’s support forums–somebody there may know exactly what does this in Win 10. Unchecking the right box may prevent it.

If in happens again anyway, and you’re not deeply in love with Win 10’s tile interface on the Start menu, try downloading Classic Shell here:
http://www.classicshell.net/
and installing it. It works great and makes Win 10’s Start menu look and work more like Win 7’s. Many people who don’t have a touchscreen display prefer it to Win 10’s Start menu.

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I agree with what you say about CCleaner – when I first used it, I almost wiped my entire hard drive since I didn’t know how to use it properly. I managed to stop it in time.

However, it is unfortunate that regular users have to work with PowerShell to fix problems. It too, can be dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing. It does have a “whatif” parameter whose actual name escapes me, but many people would not know that.

I am glad that I don’t use Windows 10.

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I have used CCleaner for years without any problems whatsoever. So I sincerely and politely ask ch100 and others that claim that this utility is so dangerous to give specific examples of actual damage done and under what circumstances, settings, etc. This information would be of great interest to us all and a real help. Thanks to those responding to this request.

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If start menu doesn’t open, cortana box doesn’t work and apps have frozen … This is an ongoing issue I’ve experienced on insider and v1511 builds. Usually reboot is only solution but I’ve found ending the windows shell experience process can work. That process auto restarts.

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For personal use CCleaner is safer than the other cleaners out there. In my opinion you shouldn’t need to run this very often. The native tools in windows (disk cleanup, defrag) should do the job. It can come in handy on a machine that has been neglected from maintenance or a machine with sub-par specs. The registry cleaner side of these programs is the big problem. It doesn’t really clear out that much space unless you have lots and lots of programs that you have uninstalled from your machine. Then you may see a difference in performance.

However I have ran across an issue before on a domain joined machine where it did more harm than good with default settings; It cleared out some registry keys that really screwed up the workstation. I ended up running a clean install on that machine.

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@rc primak I don’t have a problem with the CCleaner or any other third-party tool. Only that I prefer to use native tools built in Windows where possible as this is the only supported method for configuring Windows. Unless the tool is somehow “Certified for Windows “, you are on your own with Microsoft and supported only by a limited number of users of a particular tool. I agree that CCleaner has a large following and I used it in the past too. For me it generated mixed results when using it to clean the registry of leftovers from uninstalling older applications, in the sense that sometimes it cleans too much, even if I authorised it to do so based on the tool’s recommendations.

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This was exactly my point about CCleaner. And Allan provided a good example supporting the fact that any registry cleaner can do considerable damage if not used by someone with enough knowledge at the time of using it.

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We have a patch just released which may fix the issue. I don’t know exactly when it is offered, as it seems to be offered selectively and not to all Windows 10 installations.

https://support.microsoft.com/kb/3152599
Preinstalled system applications and Start menu may not work when you upgrade to Windows 10 Version 1511

This seems to be a re-released patch, not sure if the revisions were only internal to Microsoft or made public previously.

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Edit: Just noticed that this is the same patch which was released only for Insiders last week, by mistake or not, now re-released and mainstream. See this https://www.askwoody.com/2016/new-mystery-patch-kb-3152599-for-win10-showing-on-windows-update-servers/

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Just to clarify on Reply 6, I ran CCleaner after all other options failed to solve the problem, and after several reboots to see if things got better after sfc and dism. When I ran CCleaner as a last resort, it complained about the busted links and icons and deleted them, solving the problem. The files named involved the tiles I deleted, and possibly moved around to try to avoid excessive scrolling of the tile area.

Replies 3 and 7 are correct: the search icon (presumably including Cortana, which I don’t use) was also disabled. However, file explorer (menu item off the right click of the mouse) worked, so if you know the Windows directory structure you can still run things.

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DD, did this happen after a recent tile adjustment, or after a recent update?

Does a normal user of Win 10 need to learn about Power Shell? It almost sounds dangerous for someone with little computer knowledge. However, I can’t afford a tech every time Windows screws up my computer due to lack of quality control and respect of customers.

What is Classic Shell? Is this what the setup for Win 7 was called? If you download it will a cumulative update create havoc to it, or your computer as a result of having it?

I don’t like the tiles at all. When I see them I think they were created by a child or teen with a severe case of ADHD–they are all over the place, a waste of space (visual) and in my opinion, illogical. I also don’t want to mess up my computer by downloading the Classic Shell if might create a new problem.

Would it be prudent to download CCleaner? Is CCleaner easy to use for a novice?

I too messed with my tiles when I first got the Windows 10 computer, after being forced into it when my Win 7 fan broke. I hid some junk games and store stuff, rearranging them and adding things I use. Then I turned off automatic setting for store app updates per a suggestion here. As as aside, often should you turn automatic store app updates on to let them update?

Using Windows, or Barriers, as I’ve called it since last summer with my struggles to keep Win 7 and then forced move to Win 10, is an incredible waste of time and energy that really needs to be focused elsewhere, but one has to protect themselves so this tool called a computer must function. . .

I thank all you knowledgeable people for freely helping us and openly exchanging what you have learned/are learning. MS really owes you, and many of us for the time and money invested . . . .

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Classic Shell is a very solid, reliable Start menu replacement. http://www.infoworld.com/article/2972763/microsoft-windows/windows-10-start-menus-start10-vs-classic-shell.html

CCleaner is debatable. You’ll find people here who love it, especially on older systems. I seem to rebuild all of my old systems so often I’ve never had any use for it.

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I don’t know if PowerShell is normally required for end-users, I would rather say that it should not be required. Microsoft decided few years ago to implement less GUI tools and provide the missing functionality in PowerShell which is in fact a different type of command line with much enhanced functionality when compared to the old one which has been available since DOS time.
The only issue is that sometimes there is no other way, unless someone provides a wrapper running the PowerShell commands behind a nice and fancy GUI. This is exactly what CCleaner does for the user in relation to the functionality discussed.
For the other issues, Woody provided the answer already.

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This is strange. Yesterday (5/11/16) my start button was working just fine. Today it is not working, and the action center is not working either. To get them back I had a restore point set for yesterday at about 4:30pm and I ran system restore back to that time, and everything is back to normal….For now. Will see if the problem returns tomorrow.

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I’d be curious to see if the new patch KB 3152599 is on your system. See http://www.infoworld.com/article/3069938/microsoft-windows/windows-10-patches-kb-3147062-kb-3152599-show-simpler-is-better.html

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I checked. KB 3152599 is not on my system. I have not allowed the latest cumulative update to grace my win 10 pro. system yet either.

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Thank you for your replies.

I think I will choose to pass on the PowerShell. In fact I did not understand what you wrote after DOS time, ch100.

The Classic Shell article is helpful Woody, and I will seriously think about it. I just don’t want to create problems for myself by messing up, or doing something I am incapable of undoing.

I guess I need to read more about CCleaner, but DD definitely found it useful! I will be sure to not do anything advanced.

Although probably an advanced action, I understand you can delete restore points with CCleaner. If that is the case I might find it useful. My Win 10 Home doesn’t create restore points when updates are downloaded, and it has selectively removed some. As a result, I am making them myself, and may end up with too many. I keep records of what I do–habits from work–and the ones I created before and after downloading Noel C’s tool are gone. (Yes, I have plenty of room set aside for restore points) I have started to do screen shots to prove it.

Thanks for the help!

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I’ve been having the start button/universal apps issues as described above in (7)by StephenCWL. The problem will occur about once a day and a reboot will solve the problem until the next occurrence.

Today I tried the powershell solution described in (4) by ch100. I had the command ready for cut and paste from a word document(notepad being a unv. app, is not an option). I got to powershell via the Task Manager (right click on the start menu still works). Once the Task manager was open, I clicked File and then “Run new task”. Typed “powershell”, checked marked “run with administrator privleges”, and then cut and paste the command provided by ch100.

It worked!

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K says: In fact I did not understand what you wrote after DOS time, ch100.

K, I was trying to say that in some cases, someone on the Internet writes and publishes software more user friendly than PowerShell, while using the same PowerShell behind the scenes. In such a situation, the end user will use an easy to configure GUI instead of the cryptic PowerShell commands.

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I think you received an update of which you are not aware via Windows Store which broke your system.
You are likely better off by keeping the system up to date as Microsoft intended to keep all communication with Microsoft servers in sync in terms of expected versions.

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Thanks!

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Ch100–so you are saying in many cases, when a windows 10 problem arises, a program or solution can be found/downloaded on the internet and it may be used by the regular users, right? That can be useful for problems that don’t prevent Win 10 from working in some specific area.

For this post though the powershell was being used to fix this start button problem. No one mentions any third party program, but now I see what you are saying. I don’t understand your solution in #4 above or exactly what Steve did below, so it is pretty obvious I should just leave things well enough alone and hope I don’t get the problem.

Thank you for your time

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Well here it is the next day, and my start button and action center are still working, and the only thing I did was restore to the previous day to fix the issue. I have group policy configured to disable auto updates. I did that back in early March to se if it would stop the updates till they had a chance to cook a little more, then when I go to Settings> Update and Security> Check for updates it will install all the updates that are offered. Right now it still says that my machine is up to date as of 5/08/16. Woody, should I go ahead and let it get it’s update fix or shoul I still hold off till later?

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