Start Menu doesn't show after upgrade to 7068

[jjmourajr]

Untill now Windows 7 has been my system of choice, but since i've upgraded from 7057 to 7068 (i've always made upgrades and always went superb) my start menu doesn't show up, the shortcuts are all intact in All users and current user ( "%programdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu" and "%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu").

1- I have already taken ownership of all shortcuts in those folders (my account is an administrator account) and set full permissions.
2- I have made a new user account to check if using this account it solved the problem.
3- Changed location of start menu in registry. HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

No success.

The search start menu function is working (i.e. it manages to find the hidden shortcuts in those folders)

Basically the system is working very well (+/- 1 week uptime), only this "small" problem... Any ideas?

 

[Brink]

Hello JJmourajr, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Usually a clean install is recommended instead since Windows 7 is still in the testing phases to avoid potential issues with remnants from the previous OS installation. However, you might see if doing a repair install may be able to fix this for you.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[jjmourajr]

Thank you for the advice, my computer takes ages to upgrade , and i am recovering from a bilateral hernia surgery... will try to relax, because the problem is not that bad. Maybe someone will find a fix (registry or else) in the meantime to another 7 64-bit build.

 

[Brink]

After doing some more thinking on this, you might see if this may be the issue below with All Programs set as disabled.

Start Menu All Programs List - Enable or Disable - Vista Forums

I hope your recovery goes by quickly and pain free.

 

[jjmourajr]

I tried the policy setting and restarted. And i found another policy setting: Remove common program groups from Start Menu.
But still no luck...

 

[Brink]

Other than the repair install. You might see if creating a new administrator account and see if the Start menu works properly in it. If it does, then you can just copy the contents of the old user account's C:\Users\(user name) folders into the corresponding new account's folders to keep your user settings. If all goes ok, then you can delete the old user account from within the new one.

 

[Anthony]

Have you recently installed cyberlinks powerdvd ??

 

[jjmourajr]

It was already installed before the upgrade...

 

[Anthony]

Do you have the start menu items located here: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs (You might have to turn on 'show hidden files and folders')

 

[jjmourajr]

yes...

 

[jjmourajr]

And aswering brink: i've created a new administrator account, but when i log in windows logs me in a temporary account. Hmmm, maybe i f*d up all permissions , because i meddled with the default user account start menu in C:\Users\Default\...

And other one: the event logger is full with: Session "Circular Kernel Context Logger" failed to start with the following error: 0xC0000035

 

[jjmourajr]

A further look in event viewer and yes:

Source: User Service Profile
Windows cannot copy file C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Opera\Opera to location C:\Users\TEMP.CEREBRUM.000\AppData\Local\Opera\Opera. This error may be caused by network problems or insufficient security rights.

DETAIL - Access is denied.

Among others...

 

[Anthony]

Hi jjmourajr, PowerDvD was known for removing the start menu items after installation!

However, yours seem to be intact, so am out of ideas, sorry!

A clean install is always recommended when testing a new O/S for this reason.

Sorry again, maybe a clean install might take the pain away from your OP

Hope you recover soon!!

 

[jjmourajr]

I think i am already psychologically preparing myself for a clean install... Thank you Anthony...

 

[Brink]

You might try the repair install first to see if it can fix it without losing anything before doing a clean install though.

 

[jjmourajr]

Yes, i'll try it first; i wouldn't like to reinstall all programs i use (it's a pain in the a*); if that doesn't help i'll do a clean install, thank you very much Brink. I'll keep you informed... thanks again...

 

[jjmourajr]

Well, no success, the setup wasn't able to put right permissions (?) and start menu programs still is empty, and worse still it has managed to worsen even more permissions, i.e. gadgets didn't run at first, some folders in my profile weren't accessible because of permissions too...

I managed to fix that, and now it is working like before.

Now that there is a new build around, will wait for the 64-bit release, and make a clean install.

Thank you very much friends, and will continue to participate in the forums...

 

[Brink]

See you in the next Windows 7 version.

 

[lakero]

Same issues, Fixed!

Hey I just had the same issue and fixed it. Just go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs folder and move all of these items out of that folder into a temporary folder on your desktop and your start menu will populate with the default entries. Then move them back and your good to go! Hope this helps someone else!

 

[Decca]

Hey I just had the same issue and fixed it. Just go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs folder and move all of these items out of that folder into a temporary folder on your desktop and your start menu will populate with the default entries. Then move them back and your good to go! Hope this helps someone else!

Haha....thanks.
Very good tip!

I had 7077 do this to me yesterday.
Been looking for an answer today and I can confirm this works for me.
After I moved the start menu items to a temp folder it automatically populated the start menu with the correct progams upon clicking the menu.

Good to go and thanks for the great tip.
You have Rep inbound...
Decca