[SOLVED] Windows start menu and search bar not working

Mr.snobdam

Commendable
Feb 9, 2020
87
1
1,535
I've had this really small problem for a while now where if i pressed the windows key or start menu it would say critical error your start menu isnt working or something like that. At first i tried to fix it but not really anything was working so i just decided to ignore it because i could just wipe the error message off my screen and right click the start menu icon and it would do the same thing but now i cant even right click the start menu icon anymore and i cant search in the search bar so i basically cant do much. also, i tried some fixes on the internet but couldnt do most of them cause i didnt have my start menu but when i had to do something with a fix using file explorer i noticed that i couldnt type in the search bar in the bottom right aswell. i also cant do some off the stuff with right clicking the task bar like taskbar settings and the search bar seems a little greyed out but i cant tell for sure. the things that do work are task manager and windows+R does anyone have any solutions??
PS: im not really good at tech stuff so please dont use tech language that i might not understand.
 
Solution
Hard drive - turn PC off, unplug it and then remove the power cable from the hdd and leave it in case. then once win 10 is installed on ssd, you can turn PC off again, unplug it and then attach power cable back to the hdd inside case. You will need to take ownership of all the folders on hdd but WIn 10 will offer to do that when you open a folder the first time.

Clean install doesn't need windows, its run off a USB - On another PC, download the Windows 10 media creation tool and use it to make a win 10 installer on USB - you boot off this. It doesn't need windows to be on the PC at all. This is how you install it on new drives.

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
Hit ctrl alt del
select task manager
open the file menu, click on Run new task
type Powershell but before hitting enter tick Create this task with administrative privileges
press enter

in powershell try this
type SFC /scannow and press enter

once its completed, copy/paste this command into same window:

Repair-WindowsImage -Online -RestoreHealth
and press enter


SFC fixes system files, second command cleans image files, re run SFC if it failed to fix all files the first time, and restart PC

it may not help, often I find sfc/dism don't help with start menu but its worth a try
 

Mr.snobdam

Commendable
Feb 9, 2020
87
1
1,535
Hit ctrl alt del
select task manager
open the file menu, click on Run new task
type Powershell but before hitting enter tick Create this task with administrative privileges
press enter

in powershell try this
type SFC /scannow and press enter

once its completed, copy/paste this command into same window:

Repair-WindowsImage -Online -RestoreHealth
and press enter


SFC fixes system files, second command cleans image files, re run SFC if it failed to fix all files the first time, and restart PC

it may not help, often I find sfc/dism don't help with start menu but its worth a try
It didnt work sadly
 

Mr.snobdam

Commendable
Feb 9, 2020
87
1
1,535
Hit ctrl alt del
select task manager
open the file menu, click on Run new task
type Powershell but before hitting enter tick Create this task with administrative privileges
press enter

in powershell try this
type SFC /scannow and press enter

once its completed, copy/paste this command into same window:

Repair-WindowsImage -Online -RestoreHealth
and press enter


SFC fixes system files, second command cleans image files, re run SFC if it failed to fix all files the first time, and restart PC

it may not help, often I find sfc/dism don't help with start menu but its worth a try
Is there any way that i could search up apps and programs without the search bar? just as an temporary solution
 

Mr.snobdam

Commendable
Feb 9, 2020
87
1
1,535
I've had this really small problem for a while now where if i pressed the windows key or start menu it would say critical error your start menu isnt working or something like that. At first i tried to fix it but not really anything was working so i just decided to ignore it because i could just wipe the error message off my screen and right click the start menu icon and it would do the same thing but now i cant even right click the start menu icon anymore and i cant search in the search bar so i basically cant do much. also, i tried some fixes on the internet but couldnt do most of them cause i didnt have my start menu but when i had to do something with a fix using file explorer i noticed that i couldnt type in the search bar in the bottom right aswell. i also cant do some off the stuff with right clicking the task bar like taskbar settings and the search bar seems a little greyed out but i cant tell for sure. the things that do work are task manager and windows+R does anyone have any solutions??
PS: im not really good at tech stuff so please dont use tech language that i might not understand.
Quick note: When i try to start up Office a bar pops up with: as title explorer.exe and the text is class not registered. this is not really a problem for me since i can acces office in a different way but it might be helpfull for a solution.
 

Mr.snobdam

Commendable
Feb 9, 2020
87
1
1,535
wow, Microsoft's answer to the last error is clean install win 10. I remember when win 10 came out, their auto answer to everything was clean install. Sometimes it was the right answer.

another answer is stop the explorer service and restart it - https://appuals.com/fix-explorer-exe-error-class-not-registered/

clean install might just fix it all.
is a clean install resetting your entire pc??????? i really dont want to do that
 

Mr.snobdam

Commendable
Feb 9, 2020
87
1
1,535
wow, Microsoft's answer to the last error is clean install win 10. I remember when win 10 came out, their auto answer to everything was clean install. Sometimes it was the right answer.

another answer is stop the explorer service and restart it - https://appuals.com/fix-explorer-exe-error-class-not-registered/

clean install might just fix it all.
also the first solution that comes up on the link you sent is to restart internet explorer but when i look in task manager it doesnt even show up could this be causing something??
 
Aug 12, 2020
82
10
45
You can try its "Search troubleshooter" which is inside Windows:
Go to Settings>Update & Security >Troubleshoot . Run it and do let me know.
I0g9CmF.png
 
Dec 10, 2020
1
1
10
Gosh, I had the same problem after a recent Windows 10 update. The only solution was to reinstall the system. Since then, I got a Windows update blocker 'cause the system crashes after each update.
 

Mr.snobdam

Commendable
Feb 9, 2020
87
1
1,535

Mr.snobdam

Commendable
Feb 9, 2020
87
1
1,535

Mr.snobdam

Commendable
Feb 9, 2020
87
1
1,535
A clean install removes everything off the hdd C is on, so make sure to back up anything you want to keep before you do it. If you have 2 hdd it helps to copy anything off C you want to keep onto other driver.

You said you didn't want to do that so i was trying to find alternatives.

follow this guide: https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq/how-to-do-a-clean-installation-of-windows-10.3170366/
I have an ssd where my system is on and an hdd but everything that i cant just download again is on my hdd so i should be good
 
Dec 10, 2020
8
0
10
OK so as someone who had this problem frequently before I can tell you an easy temporary fix would be to open task manager CTRL + SHIFT + ESCAPE then look for the Windows Explorer Task inside of processes and right click on that and click Restart your taskbar and start button should disappear for a quick second and reappear working just fine.
 

Mr.snobdam

Commendable
Feb 9, 2020
87
1
1,535
OK so as someone who had this problem frequently before I can tell you an easy temporary fix would be to open task manager CTRL + SHIFT + ESCAPE then look for the Windows Explorer Task inside of processes and right click on that and click Restart your taskbar and start button should disappear for a quick second and reappear working just fine.
problem here is that the whole task doesnt show up