Netbook W10 Start button not working

bazz2004

Posts: 1,938   +311
I saw early on that some users couldn’t get the Start button to work. After installing updates to Windows 10 I was horrified to find all sorts of issues. The netbook had been performing really well for months and then after the updates all changed. Start up was really slow, there were no icons on the desktop and the Start menu didn’t appear. I could right click on the Start button and work from the options but everything was very odd. Firefox opened but kept minimising to the Taskbar. Shutdown just wasn’t happening because it was so slow.



I managed to leave the netbook running sfc/ scannow overnight but it didn’t put things right. Eventually, I clicked on the New notifications icon in the Taskbar and spotted Tablet mode. After pursuing that and getting into Settings I found that this was causing all the problems. It was set to return to Tablet mode each time Windows 10 started up. I rather think that this was in some way connected to the Windows 10 updates because I don’t think I made the changes. Touch wood, everything seems to be running well now but I was beginning to think that the computer was a lost cause and that either a reinstall of the OS was needed or worse that my Samsung evo SSD had corrupted.
 
This is a “heads up” to say that if there is a non-functioning Start button the problem may be a simple setting error. The threads I found relating to this were for pre-launch versions of W10 and solutions involved registry changes or command line prompts.

Maybe W10 can confuse a small screen netbook with a touch device which it most certainly isn’t. Hopefully I have solved the issue. I doubt if there are many netbooks running Windows 10 but this could occur with a laptop or desktop computer.
 
Yes, it has. after an update in December, I have no start menu. all the apps are gone, I cannot open any programs. and anything they told me to try in -run- is non existent. There is no settings icon, I cannot get into Local Group policy editor. how would I change the settings in my desktop? please. I do remember that there was an option for tablet mode, but dont know how to get there now.
 
Try search from taskbar. You can still search for any application.

Until you find a fix you can download Classic Shell and use it mean time. I actually prefer Classic Shell over Windows Metro menu.
 
I'm afraid I've forgotten how I did it but yes navigation was a problem. It was like when I first had Windows 8.0 and was unable to work out where Control Panel was. If you still have the Task Bar and the Notifications icon is showing open it and you will see the Tablet Mode option. You'll get there eventually. Try to avoid a power button shut down. It took a very long time to shut down and restart in Tablet Mode and I started to get impatient thinking at that point that the OS was badly damaged.
 
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