Just had my first Windows 10 problem since installing. Last night, before shutting down, my start menu button stopped – I used the trusted old method of Ctrl-Alt-Del to shut down. This morning I was greeted with a Critical Error.
The message reads: “Start menu and Cortana aren’t working. We’ll try to fix it the next time you sign in.”
Naturally I clicked “Sign out now” and allowed Windows to reboot. But, the problem is still there. Windows tried to fix it, but failed.
I will now have to Google the problem and see if it is common, and if there is a solution. It is a bit of a concern that Windows was unable to fix it…..
Update 1.
Avast! AV is mentioned here so I am uninstalling that. Had to open the command prompt and type “Control Panel” as I could not find a link to it from the desktop. Will reboot now and see what happens …. although, at the moment the uninstallation as stopped …. on Uninstalling kernal driver: aswNdisFit ……
Update 2.
Uninstalling was weird. Had to kill tasks in Task Manager before it would uninstall. Then restarted PC, which took ages. Took ages to shut down, ages to start up, and then after signing in, a fair while to load up. Usually it takes about 10 seconds. But, the start menu is back, so Avast! may well have been the culprit … unless this was an elaborate scam to get me to uninstall it so a virus could fire up …..
Does Avast! have anything on this?
Yes, they do. Here. Issue known since August 2015. But, people are not saying it is an Avast! issues …. although uninstalling does seem to resolve the issue, but maybe only temporarily?
Will attempt to install the latest version of Avast! and see what happens next….
Have just installed Avast! Free Antivirus 2016, and it is still only 2015.
Fingers crossed.
Update 3.
Currently, Windows 10 is working properly once again.
Update 4.
Start menu / bar stopped working again. Problem not yet resolved.
Update 5.
I ran Spybot and it picked up a couple of issues (first time in a while). I then ran Malwarebytes and that picked up 11 issues. All deleted / quarantined. Have run Avast quick scan, no issues, now running a full scan. Maybe the problem was related to a virus after all? Currently, the Windows start menu and start bar are working.