Windows 10 - Start Menu and Cortana not working? Fix Here! Hopefully

[tekhead1219]

Worked great. Thanks for the post.

 

[SiouxsieQ]

After trying a ton of "fixes" I read somewhere that it was a problem with the actual user.

Since you can't open start, just right click the start icon and choose Control Panel. Choose User Accounts until you get to the Make changes to your user account screen. Choose Manage another account Add a new user account in PC settings (an admin, of course). Do a reboot, and the problem is totally gone!

Please keep in mind that you will lose your info if you delete the user without backing up first. Just navigate to the old user account and backup any needed files. You could also wait for MS to fix this issue and reactivate the old user then.

I hope this helps someone!

 

[wynnuman]

Thank you so much. Uninstalling Avast as you instructed fixed the problem for me.

 

[jdsmort]

Nice to find this fix.. have had many niggles with W10 but this was by far the most annoying, and this fix worked perfectly.
Pity about Avast.. I prefer this to any other security software.

 

[Tallowood]

Excellent solution thanks Foxbatt !! . It worked for me :excited: No need to uninstall my Avast installation. I hope it lasts long enough for Avast to bring out a patch.

no need to uninstall anything, i also run Avast and all i did was do this..

crt alt del to bring up task manager
click file
run new task
enter msconfig w/admin privileges
go to boot section, click on safeboot and network
ok to restart
after restart just repeat the process but unclick the safe boot square in msconfig
restart again..
you should be good.

 

[Black-Stars]

I think I may have found the problem... Do those dealing with this problem have avast antivirus installed? If so, I believe that is what is causing the 'critical error'. I uninstalled the software and upon reboot my start button and cortana were working perfectly again. Now I'm sure you all know how to uninstall software on your PCs but it may not work in normal mode with the critical error as it didn't with me. Therefore I uninstalled in safe mode. Incase you arent familiar with how to access safe mode on windows 10, heres how: You press ctrl+alt+delete, and in the bottom right hand corner you click the power button. Before you click 'restart', hold down the shift key until the next screen is displayed (blue). Then click troubleshoot, advanced options, start-up settings, restart. Once it restarts, press the F4 key, and when it restarts you will be in safe mode. Now just do the normal thing to uninstall avast and then reboot following the installation and it should be fixed!

I also posted this response on the Microsoft forum: 'Windows 10 Critical error fix, Start menu and cortana not working" bug when logging in with MSA?'

Hope this can help some people! it was hella frustrating trying to fix this!
-LiamHughess

Thanks a bunch for this, I couldn't get my laptop to start without getting the 'cortana..' error for two days!! It did bug me once or twice before but would fix itself afterI signed out and in again...but not this time.
I uninstalled Avast and no error since, however my PC seems to be in trouble now, the mouse (arrow) icon has a constant flickering loading circle around it.....it won't go away, also my chrome title bar is flickering and I can't even perform a single function by left-clicking anywhere and choosing an option, opening my history for example!! :unhappy:
After I uninstalled Avast, I got an error which went away too fast but eneded with 00000000....please can anyone help?
Windows 10 has ****ed up my laptop! :unhappysweat:

 

[anon(9614198)]

don't know why so many people waste time and/or money on anti virus programs. YOU DON'T NEED THEM in Windows 10 (or 8 / 8.1). Windows Defender, combined with other built-in protections, protect your PC very well.

 

[anon(5383410)]

don't know why so many people waste time and/or money on anti virus programs. YOU DON'T NEED THEM in Windows 10 (or 8 / 8.1). Windows Defender, combined with other built-in protections, protect your PC very well.

Couldn't agree more. There was a time when antivirus software was useful but now the only time I ever find myself reading about it is when its causing an issue because it won't play nice with something else. All it does is eat up resources and occasionally cause compatibility issues with some other component.

Windows defender + a bit of common sense and an occasional CCleaner scan are enough.

 

[pompier83]

Thanks now got a working computer again.Why don't Microsoft sort this problem out,really glad we have Apple computers as well.
Thanks again.

 

[RainKap]

Great - it worked, thanks; resolved a panic on my wife's PC (I use a decent OS on my desktop PC & laptop: Linux Mint :wink: ).

Well done for the research and clear, detailed instructions.

RainKap

 

[Matt32uk]

I had this happen on my laptop but it seemed to fix itself after two or three reboots

 

[JAMES BOYD4]

No, I am using McAfee. Asking me to log out then log back in again asking for a password that thank goodness I remembered. Still don't know how to fix this issue in WIN 10.

 

[hovesteve]

I have had very similar issues. Upgraded to W10 last week. Worked great for 24 hours, Cortana, Edge, Hello the works. 1 day later, it all went down hill. Logged on, no start menu, no live tiles, no cortana, most task bar icons missing!

Spent a frustrating afternoon with MS 'tinkering' with my PC. She said in the end she thought my account was corrupted! So we made a new account. So now I have no Cortana, very limited Live Tiles. Can't open the Calendar, Email, Store apps. Lots of functionality not working. No access to any other drives. Cheesed off to say the least! All I can really do is use Edge.
All I'm hoping for is that as so many people are having this issue, or ones very similar is that the guys back in Redmond are working on a fix.

 

[Sandra Byrne]

I think I may have found the problem... Do those dealing with this problem have avast antivirus installed? If so, I believe that is what is causing the 'critical error'. I uninstalled the software and upon reboot my start button and cortana were working perfectly again. Now I'm sure you all know how to uninstall software on your PCs but it may not work in normal mode with the critical error as it didn't with me. Therefore I uninstalled in safe mode. Incase you arent familiar with how to access safe mode on windows 10, heres how: You press ctrl+alt+delete, and in the bottom right hand corner you click the power button. Before you click 'restart', hold down the shift key until the next screen is displayed (blue). Then click troubleshoot, advanced options, start-up settings, restart. Once it restarts, press the F4 key, and when it restarts you will be in safe mode. Now just do the normal thing to uninstall avast and then reboot following the installation and it should be fixed!

I also posted this response on the Microsoft forum: 'Windows 10 Critical error fix, Start menu and cortana not working" bug when logging in with MSA?'

Hope this can help some people! it was hella frustrating trying to fix this!
-LiamHughess

 

[Sandra Byrne]

Thank you. This has fixed it! Am anxious that my Avast Internet Security has been uninstalled though. Are you sure Windows Defender on W10 is enough security? Running a scan now. Thanks again. Sandra

 

[Sandra Byrne]

I know people are saying on here that you don't need an anti-virus programme with Windows 10, but I have paid for Avast Internet Security. Can I re-install it do you think?

 

[Sandra Byrne]

I have free Malwarebytes Anti-malware as well, so I am assuming there will be a plethora of people saying YOU DON'T NEED AN ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAMME AS WELL! Sorry if I have annoyed some computer buffs. I am not one and need some reassurance please. Thanks.

16/9/15. See message below. Woohoo! Maybe I am a computer buff after all! Not!

 

[Sandra Byrne]

I re-installed Avast Internet Security yesterday and guess what? Up came the same Critical Error message this morning when I booted up - 'Start Menu and Cortana aren't working. We'll try to fix it the next time you login. Logout now' So I logged out and, without having Liam Hughes' excellent solution steps in front of me, I guessed at what I had to do, thinking I will uninstall AIS again. Sigh! So this is what I did:

I logged out and logged back in. I clicked on the power button and up came the menu asking me to restart or... and then, instead of holding down the shift key, I CLICKED ON RESTART AND HELD DOWN THE F4 KEY as it restarted. This did not take me into safe mode as I expected but brought up the normal opening page WITH NO CRITICAL ERROR MESSAGE! Start menu was there and I have been operating fine on my laptop all morning.

So what happened? Did 'they', whoever they are, fix it? Or is this another solution to KEEP AVAST INSTALLED and get rid of the critical error message? Whatever, it worked and maybe it will help somebody eles in the same position as me.

 

[Luiz Nunes Junior]

You are the Best!!!! This tip worked pretty fine for me. Thanks a million, you save my life and my virtual farm.

 

[Markman73]

I switched from Avast to AVG. That seemed to do the trick. Thanks!