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

[wo10]

I have avast and have had this problem. I ran the pre boot scan and it seemed to fix it temporarily. When the next updates came so did the error. I may try your fix.

 

[AmirHayat012]

You must try reboot with safe mode. There is no need to uninstall your antivirus. I had the problem and I just turned safe mode on and it vanished. By the way I am looking for the proper cause of this error.

 

[FFIreland]

Thank you Foxbatt. I followed your instructions and didnt have to remove anything and I have avast. Worked perfectly! Thanks. :excited:

 

[Bob Evans]

It hasn't worked for me. Any other ideas?

 

[JELCOMPT]

Not quite a fix within Windows 10 but I lost a lot of time over this issue on my work computer. I downloaded "Classic Shell" which is compatible with Windows 10 but gives look and feel of Windows 7/8 for certain features (not full replication of Windows 7/8). Important thing is that this was a workaround and now gives me easy access to all my apps. You may wish to try this.

 

[Rawdon]

Liam
You are a godsend to me. I struggled with the critical error cortana and startup.
Yes I was running Avast. Followed you instructions and guess what I am fully up and running.
Just reinstalling Avast.
Thanks

 

[Confused_W10]

Stuffed if I know what is happening, I got the critical error again tonight and just ignored it, then an hour later the start menu worked again, I hope it still works after restart

 

[mts1711]

I g

 

[mts1711]

Windows hello

I got my Surface pro 4. There is no windows hello in my signing in settings. Anyone knows why? Is that a regional option?

 

[PatMcCluskey]

Thanks, the Cntrl Alt Del >Task manager etc solution worked for me

 

[pepp1273]

don't find the boot sec and to unclick the safe boot square in msconfig
when going to msconfig during second step

 

[Rahul Shinde1]

you acknowledged well, I have Avast AV and then this problem occurred.

 

[charstar007]

It hasn't worked for me. Any other ideas?

I have tried the safe mode several times and it still has the same error every time I restart in normal mode. ANY suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Maratt]

ctrl + alt + del = task manager
In task manager, file - > new task
type - > "control panel"

 

[Thu_anVuVan]

It works beautifully !
Thanks very much !
That is wonderful experience !

 

[Leah S]

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.

Thank you! So helpful. Worked for me and i run avast as well didnt have to uninstall anything. You are a genius!

 

[tondoo5]

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It worked perfectly...
Many Many thanks

 

[Rageysdad]

Wife just had this happen (14/12/2015) on her Laptop and..... IT WORKS!!! :amaze::amaze: Thank you for making my life easy by getting my wife, off my back.:grin::grin:

 

[jamesdentok]

Uninstalling avast free version fixed it for me

 

[Dave SFGuy]

The "refresh your pc" worked for me:

Refresh your PC

As a last resort, you can ?refresh? your Windows 10 installation, which is much the same as reinstalling the operating system. Your documents won?t be affected, but you?ll need to reinstall any applications that aren?t part of Windows.

1. Restart Windows in Troubleshooting mode

Close any open applications and press the [Windows] + [L] keys to log out of your Windows account ? or just restart Windows. On the login screen, click the Power icon at the bottom right, hold down the [Shift] key and select the Restart option.

2. Reset your PC

When the blue Choose an option screen appears, click Troubleshoot, followed by Reset this PC. finally, click the Keep my files option and follow the on-screen instructions.