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I had a Windows Update 2 days ago. After that, I noticed my Start Menu failed to open. In addition, the right click menu on any icons on the Taskbar, as well as the Calendar when left clicking on the clock, fail to open as well.
I am open to trying pretty much any solution short of reinstalling Windows entirely.

Using the Windows Start Menu Diagnostics Tool suggested that my "Shell Experience Host" and "Cortana" are not properly installed, and that my Tile database is corrupt, yet it failed to fix those issues.
Troubleshooting

Among other things I have tried are:

  • Restarting my computer (no change)
  • sfc /scannow and dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth (The former found some problems, but seemingly nothing related to my problem. Failed to fix the problem. Of note is that of the 5 or so times I have had this problem in the past, SFC has found way more issues, and has managed to clear this problem.)
  • Reinstalling (reregistering?) Windows Apps from Powershell (the following, as well as some variations on it: Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}) (fails for all apps, no change in my problem)

If I can help you help me by providing some logs, Event Viewer information, or whatever else, please.

Torn
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    You're running SFC and DISM in the wrong order; please run the following in the order listed, while connected to the internet: Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup → Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth → Reboot → Sfc /ScanNow → Reboot. Have you tried ending the process of explorer.exe and Desktop Windows Manager in Task Manager? Does the issue occur in Safe Mode? (If not, that may point to a third party program - do you have any third-party antivirus/anti-malware installed?) – JW0914 Nov 15 '20 at 14:00
  • I ran them in both orders, neither seemed to have any effect. I have yet to run the Component Cleanup, which I will follow up with the other two in the suggested order, and will report if it works. Restarting Explorer (explorer.exe) and Desktop Windows Manager (dwm.exe) have had no effect. I have yet to try safe mode, but I will try and report if it works. I do not have any third part antivirus installed. – Torn Nov 15 '20 at 14:08
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    If the running of the commands in the correct order does not work, it's likely going to be more efficient to just do a repair install, as it's often quicker to do so over complex troubleshooting: run the Windows installer's setup.exe while booted to Windows, choosing to keep all files and settings – JW0914 Nov 15 '20 at 14:21
  • The commands did not work, and neither did Safe Mode. – Torn Nov 15 '20 at 14:56

1 Answers1

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Questions before you start: What sort of update was it? Was it the upgrade to Windows version 2004? Did you do the update manually, or did Windows do it automatically?

My take on the problem: Something went wrong during the update, and it's not sure that it can be analyzed successfully or at all fixed.

What I suggest is to work around the problem:

  1. If System Restore is enables, rollback to before the update happened. (For the upgrade to Windows version 2004 you may do so in Settings.)

  2. Download the latest Windows ISO and repeat the update. The process is described in the article How to Do a Repair Install of Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade.

  3. If the problem arrives again, repeat the above, but do the Repair Install while booting in Safe mode.

  4. If the problem arrives again, then you may have to block this Windows update.

harrymc
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  • Update history says the last update was a "Feature update to Windows 10, version 1909". I did not prompt to download nor to apply the upgrade manually, other than the somewhat mandatory "Update and Shut Down" option I was presented with as I wanted to turn off my computer. I agree that it is probable something went wrong during the update. – Torn Nov 15 '20 at 15:09
  • How come you were only updated now to version 1909? – harrymc Nov 15 '20 at 15:28
  • That is a good question I wish I knew the answer for. – Torn Nov 15 '20 at 15:47
  • My above answer is still valid for an older version. – harrymc Nov 15 '20 at 15:51
  • Quote:“How come you were only updated now to version 1909?“ PCs with Windows 1903 are now updated to 1909 via Windows Update, but not necessarily to 2004 or 20h2. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-information/windows-message-center#1517 – Tekkie_Boy Nov 16 '20 at 13:45