HELP! Solution to Start Menu not opening

Hello,

I have been having this problem off and on now for the past few weeks. I have Vista Professional 32bit and once and awhile when I go to click the Start Menu (button with the windows logo for those who think I might be dumb), it will not open and instead dings. I have tried everything I know to get it to work and to no avail. I know under XP you would restart and shut down from the Task Manager, but I do not seem to have the option under Vista. Is there:
1. A solution to my problem

2. A shortcut I am unaware of (I tried CTRL+ESC but it did not work).

HELP!

Hi dbsport,

Welcome to Vista Forums.

Does restarting the computer clear the problem? (CTRL+ALT+DELETE, then either logoff or click the red box arrow to select Restart)


Shawn

Hi Shawn,

First, thank you for the greetings!

To answer your question:

1. If I log off, not always, but when I restart, usually
2. I feel REALLY dumb, as I never noticed the red box until you mentioned it. I'm still relatively new to Vista and still learning all its quirks

The problem seems to arise when I have exited a program (not one particular one) or the internet. I am stumped....it's as if the computer has locked me out of the Start Menu. There has to be some code or program that is triggering the glitch.....

dbsport,

If it continues off and on all the time, see if running a sfc /scannow command to see if it can find a bad system file and fix it.

System Files - SFC Command


I notice that you say you have Vista Professional. Could you mean that you had XP Pro? Vista does not have a Pro version. You can right click on Computer in the Start menu and click Properties to see what version you have of Vista. I mention this, because I noticed that sometimes when people upgrade to Vista from within XP instead of doing a clean install, they get weird quirks like this. If this is the case, this will show you how to do a clean install with a Upgrade version of Vista for the next time you want to reinstall.

Clean Install From Upgrade Vista

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Sorry...I have Vista Business

dbsport,

No problem. Is the Start Menu working ok?

Well, yes and no. It was acting up again yesterday. I talked with our tech guy and he thinks that Vista may not be completely shutting programs down. He suggested that when it occurs, to look in Task Manager to see if the program is still listed and if so, end task. I have updated all of my drivers (I upgraded from XP) and removed unruly programs. I definitely need more memory, which I will add, but I think it's a Vista tick. I am running an HP Special Edition Pavilion dv1000 that's a little over 2 years old. I'll just keep an eye on things and wait for the patch and hope that solves things. Thank you for your help.

Your welcome dbsport. I would keep an eye on Task Manager to see if something keeps popping up when this happens. The only other thing I know that may fix it is a reinstall. Luckily, the SP1 is due out in mid-March.

Sorry,
Shawn

You may want to check Event Manager as well to see if there are any errors showing up for both system and applications. That may give you more information as to what is happening.

Cindy