Clicking Start Button Opens Windows Start Menu

Pressing Windows key on keyboard opens Start11 menu

from Stardock Forums

From previous thread:

Quoting Supremacy2k,

I just tried a clean boot again, everything disabled.
When starting the start11 service after logon, it works. 
But when i reboot it's back to not working.

From pelaird:

That's great! Unfortunately, now the hard part begins. We now know that it is not the OS because everything works as expected after a clean boot. What needs to happen now is that you will have to perform the Clean Boot several more times disabling one item at a time until you find the culprit. Try to figure out the most likely candidates and try disabling them first.

start menu products
38,505 views 25 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

You misunderstand.

A clean boot changes nothing.

It seems to me that start11 starts too early.

As stated, i tried setting the start11 service to delayed start, but that wouldn't work.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Supremacy2k, reply 1

You misunderstand.

A clean boot changes nothing.

It seems to me that start11 starts too early.

As stated, i tried setting the start11 service to delayed start, but that wouldn't work.

Is the service actually running after you login or are you having to start it?

If you restart the service which you say makes it work, and then sign out and in again is it still working?

Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

Once ive done a clean boot the start11 service is stopped.

Once i start it, it works.

Once rebooted, with everything stopped except start11 service, its not working.

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Supremacy2k, reply 3

Once ive done a clean boot the start11 service is stopped.

Once i start it, it works.

Once rebooted, with everything stopped except start11 service, its not working.

If the service is not running on a reboot then thats the issue.

Is it set to automatic on a restart?

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Check in Windows Tools>Services

Reply #9 from Stardock Forums Top

Yup.

I'm fairly well-versed in windows.
And i have no clue what to try next.

This is the reason why i upgraded to Start11 v2, as i figured windows changed so much, it was time for a "new" version of Start11.
As i have mentioned earlier, it seems like Start11 starts too early.

Before Windows 11 pro 23H2, Start11 1.x was working perfectly.

Honestly, i have been considering a fresh install of windows.
But it seems a bit drastic, just to get 1 piece of software to work.

Reply #11 from Stardock Forums Top

Right now i have a dog to walk.
Once i get back, i will test it in Windows 11 pro sandbox.



If it works there, I'll look into the purge/re-install and see if it helps.

Reply #12 from Stardock Forums Top

I just tested in windows sandbox.
I found out, that the sandbox is a one time deal, meaning there is no way of rebooting it, to see if start11 works after a reboot.
And since it works, right after it's installed, without rebooting, testing it in sandbox mode was useless in my instance.

On to purge/re-install.

Edit: After a purge/re-installation, it's the same deal.
It works once installed without rebooting.
After a reboot, it doesn't work.

Only option left i can see, is a complete reinstall of windows.
Which seems drastic to me.

Another option is to run a script on login that restarts explorer.exe, but again.. seems drastic.

Edit 3: Running a script on startup to restart explorer.exe didn't fix the issue.
Once i reboot and on desktop, i can see explorer.exe being restarted, windows 11 menu is still shown when clicking the start button.
Manually restarting explorer.exe using the same code as in the startup script, works.

No idea why.

Edit 4: I tested the sandbox again.
The default windows 11 start menu can actually restart the VM, and keep the files in that session.
On rebooting the VM, start11 still works as intended.

Which tell me, something is wrong with my system.
Question is what.

My theory is that something messed up during the windows upgrade process somehow.
Next step might be a full reinstall of windows. :(

Reply #13 from Stardock Forums Top

I also have a ryzen 7 5800 cpu with windows 11 23h2 so that can be ruled out for the issue

My only other guess would be maybe start 11 v2 doesn't like a certain customization you have or a certain pin you have to the start menu or taskbar.

You could try playing around a bit on this. For example if you have a custom start button maybe start 11 just isn't liking it.

23h2's biggest changes that may affect start 11v2 seem to be the taskbar. I have noticed myself that start 11v2's taskbar works better if the Windows 11 task bar is set to have "never combined" buttons set to "off" for what it is worth.

If that isn't the fix, and after you played around with that I really can't think of anything other then a clean install of Windows 11.

Reply #14 from Stardock Forums Top

Before you go that far, try running DISM:

Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM):
 
Open an Administrator Command Prompt any try the following prompts in order one at a time.
 
⦁ The CheckHealth option in DISM lets you quickly determine if there are any corruptions inside the local image, but the option won't perform any repairs.
 
C:\WINDOWS\system32>DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
 
⦁ The ScanHealth option performs a more advanced scan to determine if the image has any problems.
 
C:\WINDOWS\system32>DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
 
⦁ If there are issues with the system image of Windows 11, use DISM with the
RestoreHealth option to run an advanced scan and repair problems automatically.
 
C:\WINDOWS\system32>DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

 

Here is an article on Windows Central which will explain this process in detail:

https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/windows-11/how-to-use-dism-to-repair-local-image-on-windows-11

 

Reply #16 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting pelaird, reply 14

Before you go that far, try running DISM:

Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM):
Open an Administrator Command Prompt any try the following prompts in order one at a time.

⦁ The CheckHealth option in DISM lets you quickly determine if there are any corruptions inside the local image, but the option won't perform any repairs.
C:\WINDOWS\system32>DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

⦁ The ScanHealth option performs a more advanced scan to determine if the image has any problems.
C:\WINDOWS\system32>DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
⦁ If there are issues with the system image of Windows 11, use DISM with the

RestoreHealth option to run an advanced scan and repair problems automatically.
C:\WINDOWS\system32>DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth 

Here is an article on Windows Central which will explain this process in detail:

https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/windows-11/how-to-use-dism-to-repair-local-image-on-windows-11

 
 


Quoting pelaird, reply 15

This person had the same issue as you and solved it!

Check out his post at https://forums.stardock.com/524079/solving-issues-with-start11-menu-not-showing-up

pelaird



1. Tested, and repaired. No change.

2. Tested. No change. (Honestly, i would have been a bit pissed, if running the installer as admin fixed the issue)

3. I even checked what services was running, which ones was disabled etc. No change. :(

Edit 1: I got it to work. The error was on my part.
Reply #17 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Supremacy2k, reply 16


Edit 1: I got it to work. The error was on my part.
 
So, does clicking on the Start button now open the Start11 menu?
Reply #19 from Stardock Forums Top

The end of a long journey. Sweet success!

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Reply #20 from Stardock Forums Top

I'm having the same problem. Installed the latest Win11 security update, Start11 went away and could not configure itself to run despite purge, upgrade, etc. I uninstalled the Win update and Start11 returned.

So, did the uninstall/admin reinstall work? Not to complain, but a forum is only useful if the steps undertaken to solve a problem are clearly enumerated. "Got it to work" is not helpful and a PM does not do the common user any good.

Thanks.

Reply #21 from Stardock Forums Top

Please explain your issue a little better. Also, please include your Windows version (winver.exe) and Start11 version. Supremacy2k’s Start11 worked, it was just that clicking the start button opened the Windows start menu. He had a conflict with another app. 

Reply #22 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting longbush, reply 20

I'm having the same problem. Installed the latest Win11 security update, Start11 went away and could not configure itself to run despite purge, upgrade, etc. I uninstalled the Win update and Start11 returned.

So, did the uninstall/admin reinstall work? Not to complain, but a forum is only useful if the steps undertaken to solve a problem are clearly enumerated. "Got it to work" is not helpful and a PM does not do the common user any good.

Thanks.


Deep within my installed programs i found ExplorerPatcher.
I have no memory of installing it, witch was why i said earlier, that i had no such software installed.
Once ExplorerPatcher was uninstalled, Start11 worked as intended.

Reply #23 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Supremacy2k, reply 22

Deep within my installed programs i found ExplorerPatcher.
I have no memory of installing it, witch was why i said earlier, that i had no such software installed.
Once ExplorerPatcher was uninstalled, Start11 worked as intended

That makes sense. Explorerpatcher breaks pretty often once Windows 11 updates, if you don't also update explorerpatcher with their fixes then it leaves programs such as start 11 inoperable

Reply #24 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting PhoenixRising1, reply 23


Quoting Supremacy2k,
reply 22

Deep within my installed programs i found ExplorerPatcher.
I have no memory of installing it, witch was why i said earlier, that i had no such software installed.
Once ExplorerPatcher was uninstalled, Start11 worked as intended



That makes sense. Explorerpatcher breaks pretty often once Windows 11 updates, if you don't also update explorerpatcher with their fixes then it leaves programs such as start 11 inoperable


That much i figured.
But i was so sure i had no such program installed, as i couldn't figure out why i would have it installed.

So was cleaning out my unused programs, when i came across it.
The annoying part is, that it was asked about pretty early in the 2.0 feedback thread.

But the important part is, i got it fixed. Delayed, but fixed none the less. :)

Reply #25 from Stardock Forums Top

I am glad you got it working.

It sure has been a long ride getting windows 11 just right. At least it has been for me. In the early days I experimented with so many different programs trying to get things like the explorer start menu and taskbar to have the right feel. I know I used explorerpatcher quite a bit early on, but there are so many other programs I wanted to try out as well just to see if I could get the OS looking and functioning well. I dont think I remember all of them. So I did end up doing a clean install just to wash out all my experimenting.

I am very thankful that start 11 has come along otherwise it would still be a rough ride maneuvering Windows 11.