"Critical Error - Start menu not working. Why is this happening.

[Russ64]

To say I'm disappointed with Windows 10 is an understatement. Issues started in October 2015 when downloading it.
Worked fine and loved it for about 1 month then "Critical Error - start menu is not working" (well fix it when you next sign in). That did not work at all. The kind, patient and knowledgeable davidhk129 helped me with several logical solutions but we still could not fix the problem.
I am one of 2 users on our computer (a 3rd administrator account is not used). My account was the only one with this issue, the other 2 accounts are fine.
I created another account for me and deleted the affected account, lost allot of my stuff but that's OK as long as it was fixed - the issue returned approx 1 month later. So, we reset the computer and wiped everything and started again. All wonderful for about 1 month, then my account got the message again "Critical Error - Start menu not working". Several system restores solve the issue but I know it will happen again. It appears this "Critical Error - Start menu not working" coincides after a Microsoft update (cant pinpoint which update) or Windows 10 does not like older programs. I wish to know why this happens at all and what Microsoft is doing about it.

 

[Trouble]

My account was the only one with this issue, the other 2 accounts are fine.

Correct... it seems to impact the account that is active / logged on when the offending update is applied.

I created another account for me and deleted the affected account, lost allot of my stuff but that's OK as long as it was fixed

You should have been able to copy the items from your old profile folder into your new profile folder and not lost much, if anything.

It appears this "Critical Error - Start menu not working" coincides after a Microsoft update

Yes that would seem to be an accurate assumption.

Windows 10 does not like older programs

Or even some newer programs. Some people have linked DropBox as well as some third party security suites as being involved or at least part of the problem.

I wish to know why this happens at all and what Microsoft is doing about it.

I'm not sure, that they are doing anything about it, because......
I don't think anybody knows definitively why it is happening.

 

[Saltgrass]

My question would be can you identify any software/app/utility like CCleaner or anything different on your account from the others?

Are you all signed in with a Microsoft account?

It may be an update and if I had to guess, my best bet would be a video driver.....

 

[Trouble]

A driver update could be a problem, no doubt, but.....
A driver update would have more of a global impact, effecting all users of the computer and not generally isolated to one user account unless there would be some user specific settings that would be unique to a particular user with respect to his or her display settings.

 

[Saltgrass]

A good test might be to let another user install the updates and see if it follows that user.

 

[ROBTEMPLIN]

To say I'm disappointed with Windows 10 is an understatement. Issues started in October 2015 when downloading it.
Worked fine and loved it for about 1 month then "Critical Error - start menu is not working" (well fix it when you next sign in). That did not work at all. The kind, patient and knowledgeable davidhk129 helped me with several logical solutions but we still could not fix the problem.
I am one of 2 users on our computer (a 3rd administrator account is not used). My account was the only one with this issue, the other 2 accounts are fine.
I created another account for me and deleted the affected account, lost allot of my stuff but that's OK as long as it was fixed - the issue returned approx 1 month later. So, we reset the computer and wiped everything and started again. All wonderful for about 1 month, then my account got the message again "Critical Error - Start menu not working". Several system restores solve the issue but I know it will happen again. It appears this "Critical Error - Start menu not working" coincides after a Microsoft update (cant pinpoint which update) or Windows 10 does not like older programs. I wish to know why this happens at all and what Microsoft is doing about it.

After going through all the 'fixes' other users had tried (none worked), I deleted my Dropbox as a last resort, and now there isn't an issue. Even after re-installing Dropbox, everything is ok - but don't know for how long. It appears that there are several 'add-ons' like this that can cause issues ... can take hours to figure out! MS is aware of the problem; and claims to be "working on it".

 

[ROBTEMPLIN]

To say I'm disappointed with Windows 10 is an understatement. Issues started in October 2015 when downloading it.
Worked fine and loved it for about 1 month then "Critical Error - start menu is not working" (well fix it when you next sign in). That did not work at all. The kind, patient and knowledgeable davidhk129 helped me with several logical solutions but we still could not fix the problem.
I am one of 2 users on our computer (a 3rd administrator account is not used). My account was the only one with this issue, the other 2 accounts are fine.
I created another account for me and deleted the affected account, lost allot of my stuff but that's OK as long as it was fixed - the issue returned approx 1 month later. So, we reset the computer and wiped everything and started again. All wonderful for about 1 month, then my account got the message again "Critical Error - Start menu not working". Several system restores solve the issue but I know it will happen again. It appears this "Critical Error - Start menu not working" coincides after a Microsoft update (cant pinpoint which update) or Windows 10 does not like older programs. I wish to know why this happens at all and what Microsoft is doing about it.

After going through all the 'fixes' other users had tried (none worked), I deleted my Dropbox as a last resort, and now there isn't an issue. Even after re-installing Dropbox, everything is ok - but don't know for how long. It appears that there are several 'add-ons' like this that can cause issues ... can take hours to figure out! MS is aware of the problem; and claims to be "working on it".