The Start Menu is an important feature in Windows Vista and indeed all Windows Operating Systems. The feature supports searches, program launches, and system configuration. There are several problems involving the Start Menu, but if you are a novice, you can get in touch with a remote pc repair company or remote pc support professional such as fixit99.com to resolve them. You have to be the system’s administrator to perform these repairs. You will need to modify your computer’s registry to take care of most Start Menu problems. However, note that if you damage the registry, your system might be rendered unbootable. For this reason, you must take a backup of your registry before any modification.
Empty ‘All Programs’ menu
One Start Menu problem is an empty ‘All Programs’ menu. To fix this problem, simply run the computer’s regsvr32 /i shell32.dll command. After this, restart the computer for the changes to take effect. If the links to your programs are still not visible after a restart, check the Shell Folder data in the computer’s registry. To access the Registry Editor, run the regedit.exe command. Check the entries under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ExplorerUserShellFolders and make sure you find %USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs value data under the value name Programs and %USERPROFILE%\Start Menu under Start Menu. If an expandable string is missing, simply add it and restart the computer.
Another common Start Menu problem is a missing Start Menu option. If the Properties dialog box does not have the Taskbar Start Menu option, you will be forced to use Classic Start Menu. To solve this problem, access the Registry Editor. Under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer, set to zero the value of NoSimpleStartMenu. After this, restart the computer for the changes to take effect.
If the ‘Turn Off Computer’ icon is missing from the Start Menu, run the Registry Editor and then set to zero the value of NoClose. The locations for this are HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. After doing this, restart the computer for the changes to take effect.
If you accidentally push the F11 Key and you are surfing the internet, the Internet Windows will take over the whole screen and you will not have access to the browser menus, the Start Menu button, and the Taskbar. To repair this, simply hit the F11 button again.
The Start Menu button can disappear if the Explore Crushes. Windows Explorer can crush due to system instability due to such thing as overloading and it can also be caused by a Virus attack. To solve this problem, open the Windows Task Manager by pressing Ctl+Alt+Delete, open the menu, open ‘New Task’ and choose ‘Run’, and then type in Explorer.exe.
Before taking the actions detailed above, you should do computer troubleshooting, particularly if you do not know the reason for the damage to the Start Menu. One way to troubleshoot is to run a virus scan. Install an updated Antivirus software program and run a complete system scan. Another effective troubleshooting tool is using freeware designed to restore Taskbar and Start Menu. There are many of these on the internet. If you still cannot take care of the problem, seek computer tech support before re-installing the OS. There are many remote pc repair companies such as fixit99.com that can help you fix this issue or any other problem that you are facing.
"Copyright 2010 Fixit99.com, Mike Scherenberg. For more information or to view this original article, please visit http://www.fixit99.com
