Vista - start menu

i have windows vista, and when i try and open the start menu, nothing happens
when i click on the icon

Hi Zach,

How about when you use the Windows Key or Ctrl+Escape on the keyboard? If
they don't work either, then I'd speculate that something is tying up the
system. Try hitting ctrl+shift+escape to open task manager and ending
unnecessary background processes (and I'd start with your AV application).

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"Zach" <Zach@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2C1515C1-B7B5-418C-B0DB-C3FABA9858CE@microsoft.com...
>i have windows vista, and when i try and open the start menu, nothing
>happens
> when i click on the icon

how do i know what is unnecessary? i just don't want to do anything harmful
to my computer.

"Rick Rogers" wrote:

> Hi Zach,
>
> How about when you use the Windows Key or Ctrl+Escape on the keyboard? If
> they don't work either, then I'd speculate that something is tying up the
> system. Try hitting ctrl+shift+escape to open task manager and ending
> unnecessary background processes (and I'd start with your AV application).
>
> --
> Best of Luck,
>
> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
> My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
>
> "Zach" <Zach@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:2C1515C1-B7B5-418C-B0DB-C3FABA9858CE@microsoft.com...
> >i have windows vista, and when i try and open the start menu, nothing
> >happens
> > when i click on the icon
>
>

Hi,

If it's necessary, you will get a popup message telling you this is a
critical system process that cannot be terminated. Worst comes to worst, and
you are able to kill something necessary and the system crashes, you just
reboot the system to restart it.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"Zach" <Zach@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:89710149-BB0E-42DD-A0F1-44FAC233431B@microsoft.com...
> how do i know what is unnecessary? i just don't want to do anything
> harmful
> to my computer.
>
> "Rick Rogers" wrote:
>
>> Hi Zach,
>>
>> How about when you use the Windows Key or Ctrl+Escape on the keyboard? If
>> they don't work either, then I'd speculate that something is tying up the
>> system. Try hitting ctrl+shift+escape to open task manager and ending
>> unnecessary background processes (and I'd start with your AV
>> application).
>>
>> --
>> Best of Luck,
>>
>> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
>> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
>> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
>> My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
>>
>> "Zach" <Zach@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:2C1515C1-B7B5-418C-B0DB-C3FABA9858CE@microsoft.com...
>> >i have windows vista, and when i try and open the start menu, nothing
>> >happens
>> > when i click on the icon
>>
>>

Too, you could try this.

Press Ctrl+Alt+Del on your keyboard, and open Task Manager. On the
Processes tab of Task Manager, if
explorer.exe is running, right-click on it and Choose End Process. If it
doesn't restart automatically, switch to the Applications tab, and from the
File menu, choose New Task. Type explorer.exe in the Run box, and press
Enter on your keyboard.

If explorer.exe is not running on the Processes tab, switch to the
Applications tab, and from the File menu, choose New Task. Type
explorer.exe in the Run box, and press Enter on your keyboard.

"Zach" <Zach@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2C1515C1-B7B5-418C-B0DB-C3FABA9858CE@microsoft.com...
>i have windows vista, and when i try and open the start menu, nothing
>happens
> when i click on the icon

the start menu still wont come up, i can see my desktop and my icons as well
as the toolbar

"dean-dean" wrote:

> Too, you could try this.
>
> Press Ctrl+Alt+Del on your keyboard, and open Task Manager. On the
> Processes tab of Task Manager, if
> explorer.exe is running, right-click on it and Choose End Process. If it
> doesn't restart automatically, switch to the Applications tab, and from the
> File menu, choose New Task. Type explorer.exe in the Run box, and press
> Enter on your keyboard.
>
> If explorer.exe is not running on the Processes tab, switch to the
> Applications tab, and from the File menu, choose New Task. Type
> explorer.exe in the Run box, and press Enter on your keyboard.
>
> "Zach" <Zach@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:2C1515C1-B7B5-418C-B0DB-C3FABA9858CE@microsoft.com...
> >i have windows vista, and when i try and open the start menu, nothing
> >happens
> > when i click on the icon
>
>

When you open Task Manager, is dwm.exe (Desktop Window Manager) running on
the Processes tab? If not, try running that in the Run box.

Too, you could try running System Configuration (in Start
Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools) in "Diagnostic startup" mode, versus
Normal startup, found on the General tab of that utility.

"Zach" <Zach@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8805B125-02B2-4ACB-ABF7-08F7C78C9219@microsoft.com...
> the start menu still wont come up, i can see my desktop and my icons as
> well
> as the toolbar
>
> "dean-dean" wrote:
>
>> Too, you could try this.
>>
>> Press Ctrl+Alt+Del on your keyboard, and open Task Manager. On the
>> Processes tab of Task Manager, if
>> explorer.exe is running, right-click on it and Choose End Process. If it
>> doesn't restart automatically, switch to the Applications tab, and from
>> the
>> File menu, choose New Task. Type explorer.exe in the Run box, and press
>> Enter on your keyboard.
>>
>> If explorer.exe is not running on the Processes tab, switch to the
>> Applications tab, and from the File menu, choose New Task. Type
>> explorer.exe in the Run box, and press Enter on your keyboard.
>>
>> "Zach" <Zach@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:2C1515C1-B7B5-418C-B0DB-C3FABA9858CE@microsoft.com...
>> >i have windows vista, and when i try and open the start menu, nothing
>> >happens
>> > when i click on the icon
>>
>>