HP laptop Start menu and Cortana aren t working

By bringing back the traditional Start Menu for the Windows 10 operating system, Microsoft made many of its users happy. The tiled approach of Windows 8 left many frustrated and to-date is considered a failed experiment by most.

The feature is somewhat iconic having been a central part of the system since Windows 95. It's the easiest way to locate tools, files, applications, and all manner of functions on a Windows-based device, and so is by far the most frequently used feature of the Windows 10 operating system. Unfortunately, that also means it's something of a nightmare when it becomes slow, or worse, unresponsive.

Without a fix, your Windows 10 device can become near unusable. You'll have a stressful time trying to access programmes and files - potentially more stressful than using the Windows 8 Start Screen. But fear not, solving a frozen Windows 10 Start Menu is easier than you would expect.

There are a variety of ways to fix it and we have pulled together the best ones for you to get your Windows 10 Start Menu moving again.

Warning: Please take the time to back up your files before you attempt any of the following fixes.

Fix a frozen Windows 10 Start Menu by killing Explorer

The first method we suggest also happens to be the simplest way to unfreeze the Start menu. It just needs the user to stop a Windows process in the systems Task Manager. It isn't a surefire fix as it might work every time, but it is definitely worth starting here just in case it does solve the issue.

1. First of all, open Task Manager by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC at the same time. If the User Account Control prompt appears, just click Yes.
2. Next, you want to click More details on the bottom right of the window, which should open a bunch of tabs across the top.
3. From the Processes tab, scroll down until you find the Windows Explorer process right click this and select Restart from the menu.

Restarting Explorer usually fixes most Start Menu and Taskbar issues. Unfortunately, if it doesn't work, you're going to need to delve far deeper into Windows' tools.

Fix a frozen Windows 10 Start menu using PowerShell

First introduced in 2006, PowerShell is the current version of Windows command line interface, and is the tool well need to try out the next fix.

1. To begin, well need to open the Task Manager window again, which can be done using CTRL+SHIFT+ESC keys simultaneously.
2. Once open, click File, then Run New Task (this can be achieved by pressing ALT, then up and down on the arrow keys).
3. Next, click the Create this task with Administrator Privileges option, then type powershell and press ENTER. This should bring up the PowerShell window.
4. Here things get fiddly. You need to type the following exactly as it appears:

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

1. You may get a read notice in the box this can be safely ignored. Once the process is complete, simply restart the machine to see if the fix worked.

If this doesnt work, dont despair as there are a few more fixes you can try.

Fix a frozen Windows 10 Start Menu by looking for corrupt files

For this method were once again going to use PowerShell, but its a bit less involved than the method above. Its also worth trying this method first before any other if the first PowerShell fix didnt work.

This one involves hunting down any files that may be corrupt, potentially interfering with the Start Menu.

1. First of all, make sure you backup your system before going any further. Youll also need to make sure your system is connected to the internet.
2. Next, open up the Task Manager again (CTRL+SHIFT+ESC), click File, Run New Task, Create this task with Administrator Privileges, type powershell, and hit ENTER.
3. In PowerShell, type "sfc /scannow" and let it run. Here were telling the machine to scan for any corrupt files and flag them to us.

What were hoping to see here is a message saying Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some (or all) of them, which indicates it found errors during the scan.

If this appears, type the following command into the same PowerShell window:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

This will prompt the machine to search online for a clean version of any corrupted file and replace them.

Fix a frozen Windows 10 Start Menu by rebuilding the index

The final fix on our list requires far less user input compared to the PowerShell fixes, but, as the pop up is about to warn, this one requires quite a bit of time to complete.

1. Hold down the WINDOWS+R keys at the same time (the WINDOWS key is the one with the Microsoft Windows logo). This will open the Run window.
2. Next, type in the following command, which will bring up the Indexing Options window:control /name Microsoft.IndexingOptions
3. Click on Modify in the bottom left of the Indexing Options window, then click the Show all locations button. Untick all of the currently ticked boxes and click OK.
4. Next, click on Advanced, go to the Troubleshooting section and click Rebuild. At this point, you will get a warning pop-up saying this could take a long time. Click OK.
5. Go and make yourself a cup of tea, read the paper, or whatever else you might fancy doing to pass the time until the index rebuilding process has finished.
6. Once finished, hold down the WINDOWS+R keys again to bring up the Run window. Type the following command to reboot your machine:Shutdown -r

Once your machine has rebooted, your frozen Start Menu problem should hopefully be fixed. If its not, however, you most likely need toreinstall Windows 10 completely. Dont forget to back up your files and make a note of your product key first, though.