My start button doesn't work... but only sometimes?!

[Daniel Fernandes]

A few minutes ago, I wanted to launch a program from the start menu, but after I clicked it, the start menu didn't show up. I can notice the Windows logo darkening a little when I click it with my mouse, so I know it's detecting my clicks. I restarted my PC and then the start menu started working fine again. A few seconds later though, it stopped working again! I tried restarting Windows Explorer, and the start menu was back to life, but only for a few seconds again. I later noticed that even the action center doesn't show up (the thing on the right that shows notifications).

 

The rest of my computer seems to be fine. Task Manager works, Windows Defender quick scan says there are no threats. Running a threat scan on Malwarebytes now, but I don't expect any malware. I think this has something to so with Windows Explorer, because I got the start menu to work if I restarted it. I just have no clue how to trace down the exact cause or at least how to get it to work again. My problem is also a bit weird, Google (actually, DuckDuckGo) mostly gives results to posts by people who's start menu wasn't work at all. 

 

If you have any idea about what might be happening, or have encountered this before and know how to fix it, let me know. Any kind of help is appreciated. Feel free to ask for more information if I left anything unclear or so. Thank you!

[Sakkura]

There have been some Windows 10 updates causing this issue lately, might be worth checking if that's the cause.

[homeap5]

I agree about updates. Try to update system, wait for it and then everything should work.

[Daniel Fernandes]

I'm actually using version 1607 (yeah I haven't updated my system for more than a year). So it's probably not the update that's causing it. This version has served me well so far, so I never bothered updating it (I messed around with the system to make it think that it is up to date, so Windows Update doesn't even bother me with any annoying notifications BTW). 

 

It's very difficult for me to download updates because they take a lot of time and my internet connection isn't stable, so they mostly fail when I try to update my system. Does Microsoft offer something like offline updates that I can download with a download manager and install manually? 

[homeap5]

All cumulative updates you can download from website, it's just not as easy as using Windows update.

 

Also - downloading upgrade is easy too.

 

But first fix problem with your unstable connection (what that even means?).

[GoodBytes]

Update your graphics card drivers.

If you have an Intel GPU inside, Intel just released an update to their drivers which fixes the issue. Nvidia and AMD where both at fault as well. Just make sure Windows and drivers are fully up to date.

[Daniel Fernandes]

Ummm so yesterday that start button started working 100% of the time again. The funny part is that it fixed itself without me doing anything. Upon a closer look it seemed like the problem was actually that the start button got super slow, if I clicked it a few times and waited for a minute or two, it would show up. Not sure what caused that to happen though.

 

But I'm glad it's working now!