The fact that the familiar “Start” button and the corresponding menu again appeared painfully in the new Windows OS of the tenth version was received by users with great enthusiasm. However, the joy turned out to be somewhat premature, because sometimes it happens that the Start menu does not open in Windows 10. Now we will consider how to fix this situation with the simplest methods.
Windows 10 does not open Start: possible causes of crashes
To begin with, the “ten” itself in the form of the initial version of the Technical Preview was quite crude. In addition, it was installed as an update to an existing system.
From here, we can immediately conclude why the Windows 10 Start menu does not open. Many experts call the mistakes of the past OSes that the “ten” inherited as the main reason. And this is primarily due to the system registry or local group policies, the parameters of which simply duplicate the registry keys. We will come back to this a bit later.
After updating Windows 10, Start does not open: what should I do?
For now, let's look at a slightly different situation. Although initially it was argued that for the “dozens” updates will not be released, they come out with enviable constancy. Here a situation may occur that is characteristic of almost all systems.
This may be an incorrect update installation or the “clumsy" update itself. What should I do if the update does not open the Windows 10 Start? First, pay attention to whether the button (and the menu, respectively) worked before the update was installed. If so, you can try to just start system recovery in the standard way with the choice of a checkpoint prior to installing the update.
Again, Windows 10 does not open "Start"? You can remove the update package manually. Only in this case, when viewing packages, you need to sort by installation date, and then delete them one at a time, followed by rebooting the system to determine which update caused the failure.
After that, you can block the found package (disable its installation) and re-search and install new packages. Only the search for critical updates necessary, as a rule, for updating the security system, needs to be done in manual mode, and it is advisable to do this immediately after blocking the combat pack or packages.
Mandatory system check
So, all the same, the "Start" of Windows 10 does not open. In this case, it is strongly recommended to check the system. You just need to do this not using the standard utility to scan the system disk or partition, but using a special command.
This refers to sfc / scannow, which is written on the command line (invoking cmd from the Run menu). You can also use the Win + R keys to enter the menu . If, however, after a full scan, the Start menu in Windows 10 does not open, proceed to the next step.
Fix registry entries
Now we have to make some changes to the registry, but you have to be extremely careful with this.
First, you enter the registry itself (regedit command), after which you should go down the HKCU branch and go to the CurrentVersion section, where to select the Explorer line. On the right side in the advanced settings, the DWORD parameter is created (32 bits), which must be called EnableXAMLStartMenu, and then set it to "0". If such a parameter has already been assigned, it must be changed to the same value (zero). It is not clear why, but the system sometimes does not perceive the default configuration.
With all this, if you do not want to manually register all the parameters in the registry (or not possible), you can sometimes use a special script in the form of an automatic command entered in the "Run" menu, but it only duplicates the prescribed values and parameters.
Using PowerShell
Now we look at the button and menu. Windows 10 doesn’t open Start even after that? We pass to cardinal actions. Here you will need to use special PowerShell algorithms.
We call the "Task Manager" either with the three-finger combination Ctrl + Alt + Del, or with the taskmgr command. In the window that appears, we are interested in the file menu where you want to create a new task and enter PowerShell in the field and start it with administrator rights.
Now the most important thing: we enter the executable code in the form of a special line and wait for the completion of the process. Errors can be ignored. After that, the button and menu will certainly start working.
Instead of a conclusion
As you can see, if "Start" does not open in Windows 10, there is nothing particularly terrible about this. Methods for correcting such a situation are quite simple and are possible for any user. Another thing is issues related to the so-called clean installation, for example, Windows 10 Pro, Home or Enterprise. Most likely, if the "Start" does not work, this was due only to the fact that the installation of the new system was carried out without formatting the hard drive. And the errors of the previous version, too, could have persisted. In any case, you will have to look for the root cause, but it is very likely that these versions have their own updates installed, it is possible that the distribution kit or disk image was downloaded from an unofficial source, but you never know what could be.
If none of the above methods helps even after a clean installation, the installation will have to be done anew, and at least at least part of the system disk or partition should be involved. If you need to save some information at the same time, you will need to first copy it to another section or, say, to removable media in the form of a regular USB flash drive.