Windows start buttons (sometimes) doesn't respond.

[kiddingguy]

I already mentioned it in this article...

My Windows start button is sometimes acting strange and doesn't respond. Sometimes.

The rest of the taskbar and pinned apps are launching with one-click.

 

I thought it had something to do with the latest preview CU, but after uninstalling this one... it keeps happening.

 

One thing on my configuration that has changed, is that I have a new Asus ROG Chakram mouse. Can this has something to do with it?

[George P Global Moderator]

I doubt it's the mouse, it could be something else.  I've had the start menu act like that, everything else on the task bar works but clicking on the start menu does nothing.   It hasn't happened often enough to where I think about it though, maybe 3 times so far this year?   It's a weird explorer bug, or something related to the shell.  All I do is open up task manager, restart Windows Explorer.   Then it starts working perfectly again.

[kiddingguy]

On 03/12/2020 at 19:42, George P said:

I doubt it's the mouse, it could be something else.  I've had the start menu act like that, everything else on the task bar works but clicking on the start menu does nothing.   It hasn't happened often enough to where I think about it though, maybe 3 times so far this year?   It's a weird explorer bug, or something related to the shell.  All I do is open up task manager, restart Windows Explorer.   Then it starts working perfectly again.

It's not the mouse... it keeps happening. Sometimes directly after a startup in the morning, or after idle time.

Restarting Windows Explorer does solve the trick, though not every program is 'loaded in' in the taskbar.

 

All Windows 10 (20H2) updates are installed, all drivers are up to date.

 

What can I do? Is there a way to fix this issue? Might it be driver/peripheral related? And how do I tackle it and search for this?

Or is the best and only way to overcome this by a complete "refresh"/reset/re-install of Windows 10?

 

EDIT:

Might a Repair Upgrade do the trick? In this way I can keep all my files and settings and hopefully the installation will "fix/overwrite" the Windows Explorer file/service

[Brandon H Supervisor]

it's been an issue since Windows 10 first came out; the start button is hooked differently than Windows 7 and previous and something in the process freezes up from time to time. It's super annoying.

[Good Bot, Bad Bot]

Do you have a SDD or HDD? I sometimes see this at work but it seems to just be on PCs that still have a HDD.

[MS Bob 11]

If you find no fix and don't want to Reset/Reinstall, try Open Shell's Start.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

1 minute ago, MS Bob 10 said:

If you find no fix and don't want to Reset/Reinstall, try Open Shell's Start.

yeah a start button replacement app is always an option if the issue pops up frequently; don't even need to use it to replace the whole menu if you don't want.

[cork1958]

I had this same issue pop up right after this months updates. Only happened 1 time on a couple computers though. FWIW, one computer has a HDD and other is a SSD.

[kiddingguy]

I have a SSD.

Is this 'repair' option via the Windows MCT a possible solution to this issue?

[+Warwagon MVC]

I would look in the event viewer and see if there is an explorer.exe error after attempting to click the start button.

 

One thing you could try is to download shell view https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html . And without restarting the explorer shell when it fails to open, turn off 3rd party shell extensions one by one and see if your start menu comes back to life, just a thought.