Problem with Windows + x ( or right-clicking Windows menu )

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In Windows 10 on my laptop pressing the Windows key + x, or right clicking the Windows menu icon, does nothing. No menu appears as it normally it does on Windows 10. If I start Windows 10 in safe mode the functionality works as expected, and the appropriate menu appears, so something which normally starts up in Windows 10, but does not run in safe mode, is blocking this functionality. I try a clean boot, as specified by https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows, where I disable all non-Microsoft services and all startup programs, in order to try to determine what is blocking this functionality. But once I reboot into Windows 10 in the clean boot environment the functionality again does not work, so once again it appears that some Microsoft service, which is disabled in safe mode, is causing this functonality not to work on my laptop. Does anybody know how I can determine what startup functionality is blocking the Windows right-click menu ?
 

Trouble

Noob Whisperer
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IF functionality is as expected in Safe Mode where only basic generic drivers are employed, but....
Does not in a Normal Boot even after performing a clean boot, then....
I would suspect your input devices (keyboard and mouse) are employing some third party drivers that may need to be updated or removed.

Can you tell us....
Does the right click function of the mouse work OK in other circumstances? Does it produce a proper context menu when right clicking a file, or folder, an empty area of the desktop, or blank section of the Taskbar??
 
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IF functionality is as expected in Safe Mode where only basic generic drivers are employed, but....
Does not in a Normal Boot even after performing a clean boot, then....
I would suspect your input devices (keyboard and mouse) are employing some third party drivers that may need to be updated or removed.

Can you tell us....
Does the right click function of the mouse work OK in other circumstances? Does it produce a proper context menu when right clicking a file, or folder, an empty area of the desktop, or blank section of the Taskbar??

The right click function of the mouse works OK in all other circumstances. How can I find any 3rd party drivers for the laptop keyboard or the external mouse I use in order to disable them in order to test out if this is the problem ?
 

Trouble

Noob Whisperer
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Have you tried.....
Removing the external mouse from the equation?
IF it is wireless, remove the USB dongle from the laptop as well.
Reboot the machine normally and check the keyboard and touchpad functions
 
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I created another local admin account, besides my own, and logged into that account. After logging in, the functionality described in this post worked without any problem for the new admin account. Yet when I log back in to my normal account, it does not work as described here.
 

Trouble

Noob Whisperer
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We've seen that, almost from the beginning of Windows 10, where a local user profile becomes corrupt and manifests various problems and a new user account and associated new profile does not.
AND
Because it is associated with a local profile, other things that you might attempt as a fix / repair will not likely address that issue.
I was going to suggest that you either upgrade to the latest version and build of Windows 10 or perform an in-place repair / upgrade but....
While both of those have enormous restorative qualities that will address issues with the Operating System, as you've already just showed, the issue is not with the OS but rather with your local user profile.
 

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