Pete_C

RIP, so sad to hear this. Another of the old guard has passed. Not many left.

Looks good, had a bit of a problem with signing in. The change made it so my browser did not identify the site and I had to go into my password vault to remember my password.

winver reports me as Windows 10 Version 1511 build 10586.17 Did a windows update a few hours ago and did not freeze up my start menu; so hopefully they fixed that. Not sure what it updated though; went to shutdown and it had updates to install.

No, what they took down was the redistributable download. The release through windows update works. You just can't download it for a clean install.

I agree, the problem looks like it is caused by a bad plugin crashing firefox and taking everything with it. Source of the bad plugin appears to be malware.

What sort of errors? Are they all the same or similar (IE a service failed to start or stopped unexpectedly? Which service) You might want to run the suggested malware scans and post them for chuck to review. In event viewer you can highlight the content of the error and then hit ctrl+c to copy it (if right click copy does not work) and past here like For example I got this notice (information) Windows Update started downloading an update. Then I got this error User Logoff Notification for Customer Experience Improvement Program

Chuck, the problem I have is that windows update disables a bunch of things. Taskbar being one of them. Once the update completes, they return. I suspect it is more common than a lot of people realize; but most get the updates at a time that they are not active (leave the computer on all the time) barcuss in event viewer, look for anything that says error. You can actually click the events one at a time and it will describe them.

Had my taskbar die (it disappeared, no sign of what windows are open) and start menu lock up etc again last night. Restart looked like windows update was doing something. Checked event viewer and sure enough windows update had installed an update to "MSN Sports" (something I do not use and did not know was installed). Again I wish they would let you know when they are doing this.... Log files look like it may have been trying to log off and restart? Several services (BITS, Browser, User Data Access, User Data Storage, Contact Data, Sync Host all showed crash and unexpected error after runtime

I am going to hazard that your problem may be similar to mine and could possibly be related to start menu and task bar issues caused by windows update. Check your event viewer / system logs to see if an update was installed / installing just before the crash.

When you built it did you put fiber washers both above and below the motherboard at each of the mounting screws? What you describe sounds like a motherboard that is not properly insulated. Over time the screws may have loosened or bit into the board; the board is shorting through the screws. Disassemble and put it together properly. Could be heat , even though you blew out the dust. Use a monitor program to check the board and processor temps. Check your event log files to see if windows noted a cause.

With me it came as a windows update; no warning that it would take so long to reboot / install. Would have been nice for them to put up an alert in the "New Notifications" area "New Build Released and will be installed via windows Update. Do not be alarmed when your start menu ceases to work. Do not be alarmed when it takes two hours to update windows. It is installing a complete rebuild of the OS" What good is that annoying notification area if they don't notify you of important stuff like this.

Latest thing that disables start menu appears to be when windows 10 is downloading , preparing, or installing updates. Suddenly your start menu (and edge browser) no longer respond to left mouse click. No access to programs that are not on desktop... No shut down options. Wish they would give you an alert that they are downloading / installing updates and that is why things are disabled so you can just go away and come back later. It installed some updates and is downloading the Upgrade to Windows 10 Home, version 1511, 10586.now. Hopefully it fixes something worth fixing. 13% downloaded

Third time (that I remember) that start menu did not work and when I went to shut down you could not do it from start menu. The only thing that I had done was update skype; so I uninstalled it and did a shutdown and restart using task manager. On shutdown it did show that updates were being installed, and on restart did not get the evil "cortana and your start menu failed to start" error. Thinking back , I may have updated skype before at least one of the previous instances. Since I don't use skype, no big loss, I will leave it uninstalled and hope for the best. ON restart it did notify

Yeah, I am still a command prompt kind of guy.

I like the reader mode in Edge; it motivated me to install the reader mode extension in Google Chrome; I may see if it installs in firefox and opera.... Just found one for Firefox and it works great. Way to go , reader mode is nice for old eyes Bigger text and no ads.

Installed an app from microsoft store. It changed my login from local machine to Microsoft login using windows live. No problem when it rebooted; but this morning when I booted up it booted to a notice of "Cortana and your start menu and taskbar failed to load, try logging off and logging back on." Tried this several times, tried restarting, no luck same error. Finally did a ctrl + alt + del to load task manager and new task to run msconfig (admin) and choose safe boot. On reboot it worked. Determined that it was the antivirus having an issue with the windows live login. Uninstalled the ap

First time I did the upgrade it froze at third reboot with page fault in non paged area and rolled back to win 7. Did my research an determined that disabling antivirus was not sufficient. I uninstalled all protection and tried again. It took about an hour and a half for the upgrade to complete this time and no issue. I downloaded and installed the antivirus no problem. I tried to do the same with HitmanPro Alert with cryptoguard ( watches browsers for alternate data streams or other surveillance, and protects hard drive from being locked or encrypted by ransomware) and immediately got the p

It will be out sometime in July. I ran the "upgrade advisor" and found a few programs I use need updating, one needs a new purchased version.... You can upgrade for free for one year after they release it, so I say wait a bit (just like with service packs) until the problems surface and are either fixed or well enough known that you can tell if they pose a risk to you.

Thankfully you have a year to consider it. I will wait for a while to make sure the bugs of upgrading are worked out. Already know some of my software will have to be replaced (again) since it is "incompatible" Other will just need updating.. At least it extends the life of the machine, and it solves microsofts need to keep providing updates for older OS versions.

Been a long time. So many have passed. Make the most of the time you have, never know when it will end.

73 days is more than enough to qualify for rehab therapy under medicare.. After the forum took a turn away from tech knowledge and exchange and plunged into political and religious extremism I made my goodbyes and only stop by when I am really bored. Small forums like this have really seen a downturn. Even Mikes causehead is a dead zone these days. Most folks prefer to use social meda (Facebook) which they can access from smartphones. Computers are becoming more and more stable, less problems and they tend to be new (not just a variation on things we have repeatedly fixed). Fewer people

Hope the surgery goes well.

Have you tried just connecting them to the same network (router) making sure the workgroup name is the same and enabling file sharing and just copy and paste your data?

Just remember that like with any OS change, there are likely to be additional costs involving replacing other hardware that is not compatible with the new OS. Sometimes there are work arounds, but often the most cost effective solution will be to bite the bullet and buy new .

Good to see you chief. I don't stop in that often these days either. Hate this cold weather.....