# WinX dead, also right click START button dead



## pbug56 (Sep 20, 2008)

Nothing happens if I hit WinX, and if I right click START cursor moves up and right a bit but nothing happens. Right click an icon, very poor response, yet shellexview shows nothing odd. Had separate issue - couldn't log into to other IDs, fixed that by copying clean DEFAULT from other Win 10 PC. I've done everything I can find, the DISM stuff, the reinstallation of 'window' apps. This appears to be a common problem. It used to work fine some weeks ago, don't know exactly when this started.

System is a laptop with 16gb ram, I7, HP with hybrid graphics, build 10586 / 1511 up to date HOME.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

> Right click an icon, very poor response


Kindly explain what you mean by poor response. Does it mean context menus take long to appear, but eventually appear after a single click, or does it take several clicks before it responds to the mouse? Does this only affect icons or is it the same with switching windows by clicking their title bars? What about cursor placement in a document, is it instant or also slow/non-responding?



> Had separate issue - couldn't log into to other IDs, fixed that by copying clean DEFAULT from other Win 10 PC


You mean you couldn't log into other user accounts? I'm not sure copying Config\DEFAULT from another system was a good idea.



> I've done everything I can find, the DISM stuff, the reinstallation of 'window' apps.


What DISM stuff? What was the outcome? Did it complete successfully or did it report an error? I don't know what "window" apps mean.

Please give detailed explanations of what you've already tried, otherwise we may not understand what has already been done or whether it was done correctly. Does re-installation of "window" apps mean you refreshed Windows, reset/re-installed Windows 10 or reinstalled built-in/system Windows apps like Store?


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## pbug56 (Sep 20, 2008)

There is a DISM command string; completed normally. SFC/scannow, completed normally. The powershell windows app reinstall completed normally. All these come directly from Microsoft tech support and many other locations.

1. Reinstall Windows apps

Launch the Task manager and open a new PowerShell window with administrative privileges, as explained above.

When the Windows PowerShell window opens copy the line below and paste it into the PowerShell window by simply right-clicking at the blinking PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> prompt, or by pressing [Ctrl] + [V] on the keyboard:

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}


Repair Windows Image. Open an elevated CMD copy-paste the following and hit Enter

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Etc.

I will take another look at context menu issues, though.


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## pbug56 (Sep 20, 2008)

Oh, and you can wait a minute or longer for an icon right click context menu to open.


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## OldGrayGary (Jun 29, 2006)

Hi all

Just dropping by ... 

Run a couple of diagnostics, to rule out hardware issues. Test the memory and hard drive. Can't hurt.

Seems like you might want to run a few malware scans, to rule that out. Use at least one bootable "Rescue CD" to scan with (there are several free versions out there - AVG, Avira, Avast...). Since the computer is booted from a read-only CD, you are guaranteed a better chance at an uncompromised scan.

If the system scans clean - you mention that things were running OK a few weeks ago. Why not try a System Restore, using a restore point from prior to your current issues?
1) Right-click the Windows 10 Start Menu icon
2) Select System
3) Select System Protection
4) Select System Restore ... and choose a restore point from before things went berzerk.

[and, if System Restore doesn't work, or isn't available ...]
I'm rather assuming that you looked in Task Manager during such times that your computer was pausing extensively? If not, you'd simply look for which processes are using more than their fair share of resources. 

And - did you look in your Event Viewer logs for errors that coincide with the slowdowns? If not - check 'em out:
1) Right-click the Windows 10 Start Menu icon
2) Select Event Viewer
I recommend making sure that "Event Viewer (Local)" is selected in the top of the tree-view on the left-hand pane. Then select the up arrows in the "Recently Viewed Nodes" and "Log Summary" title bars to close those (to give you more room to view the errors). Then you can click the plus sign (+) before "Critical" and "Errors" to view errors in the window of "Summary of Adminstrative Events"...

I really wouldn't advise copying Default profiles from another computer. Windows has enough permissions issues as it is.

If all the above doesn't help, an in-place reinstall works for some folks ... 
Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 Forums

Let us know if you have questions.


[P.S. ... one more thing. I know it may sound silly: but you'd be surprised to see how much trouble a malfunctioning mouse can cause. Never hurts to test things with a different mouse.]


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## jenae (Jun 17, 2008)

Hi, I wonder who advised you to copy the default settings from another computer, ( and how you did this) they are not the default user profile they are in fact the profile for the local system account, the user profile is a hidden file and is located in Ten :-

%SystemDrive%\Users\Default\NTUSER.DAT

Normally when we repair a profile we copy data from the old account over we do not copy the ntuser.dat file as this is the corrupted file, it is not loaded by default as a hive and must be loaded by using the load hive feature of regedit... this is for expert use only and I suspect your system is a complete mess the last option from OldGrayGary's post is perhaps your best option OR you may need to do a fresh install


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## pbug56 (Sep 20, 2008)

To Oldgreygary;

All scans are normal. No infection. And I don't know when the problem started so I've no idea how far back to go for a System Restore, which the farther you go - if you can, the worse of a mess you make. I couldn't find anything in Event Viewer. I'd prefer not to do a system reinstall for numerous reasons. The mouse works perfectly in every other way, including right clicks in apps. 

To Jenae;

I'm referring to the users\default and its subdirectories. I'd found that when I tried to use new user id's, login failed. Copying default from a clean system instantly cured that. It had no effect on my user directory, of course. And all of the other users still have the same exact problem.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

pbug56 said:


> I'd prefer not to do a system reinstall for numerous reasons. The mouse works perfectly in every other way, including right clicks in apps.


It doesn't seem like you have much of a choice. Your system is in a mess, and if an in-place upgrade doesn't repair it, you're gonna have to reinstall Windows.


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## pbug56 (Sep 20, 2008)

I hear you. But do you have any idea of what the actual cause of the problem is?


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## OldGrayGary (Jun 29, 2006)

Hi again


My guess for the problem accounts/Start Menu issues/lag times ... could be a mix of corrupted profiles, and possibly either a hardware issue or a driver issue causing the laggy performance. 

Why not run memory & hard drive diagnostics, just to make sure you aren't trying software cures for hardware problems? It gives a clearer picture of things.

If the hardware tests Ok - I realize that the repair install sounds drastic, but it actually does keep your files & programs in place. Just create a Windows 10 DVD with the Media Creation Tool, so that things will be so up-to-date you won't have to spend hours getting & installing the latest Windows Updates.

You've already successfully done the DISM refresh, and the reinstalled your Windows 10 apps using the PowerShell method... Since they didn't help, it seems like it's reinstall time.

But it's your computer - you get to choose! Let us know if you have more questions.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

pbug56 said:


> I hear you. But do you have any idea of what the actual cause of the problem is?


It's hard to tell because you're having multiple problems, which may or may not be related and may be the only ones known for now, and for which there are no logs or error messages to lead us. Who knows what else is broken, especially after you copied the system account's profile from some other computer, or the extent of corruption that affects login of other accounts. We do not know the history of these problems; what you've been doing or not doing that may have contributed to them. If a repair or fresh installation is suggested, it's implied that there are too many possible causes and remedies or lack thereof, so the easier and not necessarily desirable option is given.


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## pbug56 (Sep 20, 2008)

My right click context menu problem was caused by Seagate Replica software. Disabling the context menu item for this (in shellexview) causes no harm and then that problem goes away. Of course, that still leaves me the Win-X menu and right click START menu (to get to Win X menu) problems.


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## OldGrayGary (Jun 29, 2006)

Hi again


I looked around a bit, and I can't find any mention of Windows 10 support for the Replica software. The last Windows version officially supported by Seagate looks to have been Windows 7. 

I think you'd be better off using a different backup software. Decent options for both local and online backups are built into Windows 10, and there are reasonable, free, alternatives.

Depending on what you are seeing in your Error logs, you might be able to get things fixed up nicely by: 
1) Uninstalling Replica, and any other programs that look to be incompatible, or simply redundant.
2) Run some diagnostics, to make sure hardware problems won't complicate things.
3) Try one of the in-place Windows 10 reinstall methods ...
Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 Forums

Since Windows 10 is still largely working at present, the in-place reinstall has a good chance of clearing up any clutter from the coming and going of software and files. The Apps and menus have a better chance of working like they should. 

Your choice, of course. Let us know if you have any questions. 

If you notice any new problems, you could post some info as they pop up: system specs, error messages, event logs - that kind of thing ... improves our chances of giving the right diagnosis.

_______________
P.S. ... found a list of some of the Seagate software that is, or at some point will be, compatible with Windows 10
Will my Seagate drive work with Windows 10?


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## pbug56 (Sep 20, 2008)

Replica is working fine with the context menu items disabled. In fact, it works better under 10 then it ever did under 7, to my surprise, far more reliable. As to repair installs, I've done them and the results are so unpredictable that I hesitate to do them, especially when I still have no clue as to what is going on. I wish I understood what is supposed to happen when you press Win X - here nothing happens, and what can interfere with it. I did try to go through error logs and found absolutely nothing - and why would I find anything? Windows doesn't log commands, and this is a command that just doesn't execute.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

I believe third-party shell extensions are the cause of both right-click menu woes and win+x "Power User Menu" problems too. Boot into safe mode and see if the win+x menu works. If it does, it means third-party software is the culprit. If it still doesn't work in safe mode, reboot normally and disable ALL non-Microsoft shell extensions and reboot. If it works, re-enable extensions one at a time until you find the one that's causing the problem. This is going to be a lot of work if you have a lot of third-party software installed.


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