[SOLVED] Task Bar taking a while to load & Network issues - Windows 10 21 H1

[Abookiii]

Hi there!

I have had some issues with my PC when updating to the new version of Windows 10 (21H1).

My computer on start-up takes ages to load the task bar. It appears at the bottom of the screen fine but when you try to use it or hover over it all I am met with is the blue loading circle.

I can still access file explorer via folders I have on my desktop and can read & write to my hard drives all fine. It just takes 5-10mins for my actual task bar to become operational. Once it does finally load it is fine. This is also happening on a fresh installation of windows that I put on the computer via bootable USB.

In regard to network issues, my computer is doing strange things whereby it is connected to the internet but it thinks that it isn't for example. Discord will open fine and I am able to use that as normal but things such as Steam friends & info page, Ubisoft game launcher and Rockstar games launcher seem to think the computer is not connected to the internet. (Steam store opens fine and loads correctly but on the friends section to see who is online it just says disconnected and to please retry my connection.)

Some web pages also say that the security certificate is invalid or connection is not safe. I then refresh the pages and they will load fine but after refreshing again the same issue will persist. Also when trying to check for a windows update, My pc cannot connect to the windows update service.

Also when trying to install AMD's GPU driver software I keep getting a message that my PC cannot connect to their server when trying to install the software.

I can play games fine which I tested with Valorant. But for some reason its as if my PC is connected to the internet but not connected. (Both the game and launcher client work fine as it opened and installed updates as normal but it did take a lot longer than usual for the update to actually begin to download.)

Things I've tried:
Re-installing Windows
Tried uninstalling & reinstalling my game launchers.
Tried resetting my network adapters via control panel.
Checked its not something on my ISP's end. (My ISP is Sky Fibre Broadband, UK based)
Checked my home internet configuration and set up for any underlying issues.
Checked to see if windows defender or my anti-virus software (Malwarebytes) was stopping anything.
Checked my firewall settings. (I didn't know what I was actually looking for when I checked this.)
Checked to see if there are any updates in windows but my PC cannot connect to windows update service.
Checked my patch cable incase it was broken.
Did a ping test in CMD to see if there were any missing packets.

None of these in the list above helped the situation.
My task bar and internet connection were fine before this update and now after it they're all garbled!

Anyone able to advise?
System:
CPU: Ryzen 7 1800x
GPU: AMD RX 480 8GB Nitro + OC Edition
RAM: 16GB Corsair DDR4 3000Mhz
PSU : Thermaltake 550w Bronze Rated
MOBO: Gigabyte Gaming AX370M Gaming 3
1 M.2 SSD (running windows) , 1 SSD & 2 HDD's
(Windows version: Windows 10 - 21h1)

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hi there!

I have had some issues with my PC when updating to the new version of Windows 10 (21H1).

My computer on start-up takes ages to load the task bar. It appears at the bottom of the screen fine but when you try to use it or hover over it all I am met with is the blue loading circle.

I can still access file explorer via folders I have on my desktop and can read & write to my hard drives all fine. It just takes 5-10mins for my actual task bar to become operational. Once it does finally load it is fine. This is also happening on a fresh installation of windows that I put on the computer via bootable USB.

In regard to network issues, my computer is doing strange things whereby it is connected to the internet but it thinks that it isn't for example. Discord will open fine and I am able to use that as normal but things such as Steam friends & info page, Ubisoft game launcher and Rockstar games launcher seem to think the computer is not connected to the internet. (Steam store opens fine and loads correctly but on the friends section to see who is online it just says disconnected and to please retry my connection.)

Some web pages also say that the security certificate is invalid or connection is not safe. I then refresh the pages and they will load fine but after refreshing again the same issue will persist. Also when trying to check for a windows update, My pc cannot connect to the windows update service.

Also when trying to install AMD's GPU driver software I keep getting a message that my PC cannot connect to their server when trying to install the software.

I can play games fine which I tested with Valorant. But for some reason its as if my PC is connected to the internet but not connected. (Both the game and launcher client work fine as it opened and installed updates as normal but it did take a lot longer than usual for the update to actually begin to download.)

Things I've tried:
Re-installing Windows
Tried uninstalling & reinstalling my game launchers.
Tried resetting my network adapters via control panel.
Checked its not something on my ISP's end. (My ISP is Sky Fibre Broadband, UK based)
Checked my home internet configuration and set up for any underlying issues.
Checked to see if windows defender or my anti-virus software (Malwarebytes) was stopping anything.
Checked my firewall settings. (I didn't know what I was actually looking for when I checked this.)
Checked to see if there are any updates in windows but my PC cannot connect to windows update service.
Checked my patch cable incase it was broken.
Did a ping test in CMD to see if there were any missing packets.

None of these in the list above helped the situation.
My task bar and internet connection were fine before this update and now after it they're all garbled!

Anyone able to advise?

Hey there,

Your post is very detailed and comprehensive, however, you will need to list your PC specs, including CPU/GPU/Ram/Mobo/PSU/Case.

 

[Abookiii]

Hey there,

Your post is very detailed and comprehensive, however, you will need to list your PC specs, including CPU/GPU/Ram/Mobo/PSU/Case.

Hello there!

Thank you for responding!

I have added my system details onto the original post as well as below:
System:
CPU: Ryzen 7 1800x
GPU: AMD RX 480 8GB Nitro + OC Edition
RAM: 16GB Corsair DDR4 3000Mhz
PSU : Thermaltake 550w Bronze Rated
MOBO: Gigabyte Gaming AX370M Gaming 3
1 M.2 SSD (running windows) , 1 SSD & 2 HDD's
(Windows version: Windows 10 - 21h1)

I hope this helps you to help me haha!

 

[Abookiii]

Hi Guys,

I've managed to solve this issue. This was due to the windows bootable USB that I used. It was initially an SD card plugged into a USB adapter and when it was copying the files over to my computer it didn't copy the files correctly and some were corrupted.

I had tried this on 4 different SD cards with the same result.

This only occurred when using the Windows media creation tool to make the SD card into a bootable USB.

To fix this I had to download an ISO file and then wipe the SD card and directly extract the ISO to the SD card which worked!

RESOLUTION:
Do not use an SD card to make a bootable USB with windows media creation tool. Instead download an ISO and extract it to the SD card so you don't get any corrupted data when installing windows from it.

 

[gamerk316]

That's odd to say the least. I almost think that's worthy of reporting directly to Microsoft; while unconventional what you were doing should still work.

 

[Abookiii]

That's odd to say the least. I almost think that's worthy of reporting directly to Microsoft; while unconventional what you were doing should still work.

Hi there!

How would I go about letting Microsoft know about this? Is there a place that I can report this kind of issue to them at all?

Sorry if this seems like a very mundane question lol.