Windows 8.1 Update 1 Start and Charms not working.

Hi Kilibit,

This is a known issue. Some of the users have already reported this issue after installing the Windows 8.1 KB2919355 Update. I would like to know these information regarding this issue.

1) What is the make and model of your computer and the graphics card device on the computer?

2) Does this issue occurs on all the user accounts on the computer?

3) Did you install all the pending updates for Windows 8.1 after installing the KB2919355 Update?

If not, I would suggest you to check for the pending updates including the optional and driver updates for Windows 8.1 via Windows Update and install all the updates, if available. Please follow these methods:

Method 1: Install all the Pending Updates for Windows 8.1 via Windows Updates

a) Press “Windows Logo” + “C” keys on the keyboard, click on “Settings” from the Charms bar and then click on “Change PC Settings”.

b) Under “PC Settings”, click on “Update and recovery”

c) Click on “Check Now” and then wait while Windows looks for the latest updates for your PC.

d) If updates are found, click on “Install updates”. Please make sure that you install both the recommended and optional (drivers) updates on the computer.

e) Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation of the updates.

If the issue still persists, then try the next method to install the latest graphics card drivers on the computer from the computer or graphics card manufacturer’s website.

Method 2: Update the Graphics Card Drivers from the Computer or Graphics Card Manufacturer’s Website.

Please visit the Computer Manufacturer’s website and search for the latest drivers available for the graphics card on the computer. If you are unable to find it, then you may also check for it from the Graphics Card Manufacturer’s website and install them, if available.

If the issue still persists, then check if this is caused by any corrupted or missing system files on the computer.

Method 3: Run an SFC Scan

The “sfc /scannow” command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.

a) Press “Windows Logo” + “X” keys on the keyboard and select “Command Prompt (Admin)” from that menu.

b) On the command prompt window, type the following command, and then press “Enter”

sfc /scannow

c) Follow the on-screen instructions and complete the scan.

For more information, you may refer to the article given below:

Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files

Custom built system

There is only one user account on the system and it is intermittent problem.

Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8600GTS

Installing the latest graphics driver causes a black screen (both current certified and beta drivers).  I had to do a system restore to revert back to older drivers.

All updates are current

SFC Scan resulted in no issues.

I will check to see if the problem still occurs after the system restore.

Hi Kilibit,

I understand that you have tried updating the graphics card drivers from the NVIDIA website and it resulted in a black screen. Thus, you had to perform a System Restore to get back the old drivers and the issue does not seem to persist after that.

You may please continue working on the computer and check if this issue occurs again and let us know the details. Please get back to us with all the relevant information.        

I'm sorry to revive an old thread, but this problem was never resolved and it is forcing me to revert to Windows 7 until a fix is released.

Suddenly, randomly and without any kind of notice the Start button and Charms stop working totally until I reboot or restart explorer.exe. Start button becomes unclickable and the charms menu do not show up at all. However, both still work if summoned with the keyboard shortcut (Win key and Win + C)

This happens on my desktop, laptop, Surface RT and every PC i've ever formatted for friends and family. I always use the official Windows 8.1+Update 1 ISO. I guess it is triggered by some usage pattern unknown to me. I only know that it happens to me more often than other people, I guess because I'm quite a "fast" or "nervous" user, I move around pretty quickly. Still, every WIndows 8.1 Update 1 user I know has at some point experienced this problem. On my girlfriend's laptop, for example, it happened last week for the first time since April.

There's nothing else I can say to help you fix this issue, as it happens on multiple, very different PCs (even the Surface RT) that share basically nothing. I urge you to investigate this issue, I like Windows 8.1 very much, but since I use the PC for work this particular bug becomes terribly annoying.

Hi,

Thank you for posting your query on this forum. I’ll try my best to assist you with this issue.

I would like to know: Did you try all the troubleshooting methods that I have already given in my first post on this thread? If not, please try that and let us know the results.

If the issue persists even after trying all the above troubleshooting steps, then let us check if this is caused by any software conflicts on the computer. Try performing a Clean Boot and check if that helps.

Perform a Clean Boot and find out which application/service is causing this issue.

A clean boot helps to eliminate software conflicts and to determine what is causing the problem. To perform a clean boot, please refer to the section “How to perform a clean boot” and follow the instructions for “Windows 8.1 and Windows 8” from this link:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

You may please note that performing a clean boot does not fix the actual issue. It just helps us in identifying the root cause of the issue.

If the issue does not occur in clean boot, then you may determine which application/service on the computer is causing this issue. This can be done by following the instructions for “Windows 8.1 and Windows 8” given in the section “How to determine what is causing the problem by performing a clean boot” from the same given link.

Important: After you have finished troubleshooting, refer to the section “How to reset the computer to start as usual after clean boot troubleshooting” for “Windows 8 and Windows 8.1”, to reset the computer to start as usual from the above link.

Hope this is helpful. Please get back to us with the result.

Hi Tele59,

Thank you so much for posting your query on this forum. You have reached the right place and I will try my best to assist you with this issue.

It would be great if you can share the results of all the above troubleshooting methods that I had given in the previous post.

1) Did you install the latest Windows 8.1 compatible graphics card drivers on the computer from the computer manufacturer’s website?

2) Did the SFC Scan find any corrupted system files on the computer?

This is a bug in Win 8.1 which I can replicate at will.

To force the bug to appear:

1. Grab a desktop Icon (recycle bin, any shortcut) and move this up to the top left hand corner without letting go of the mouse button. Drop shortcut anywhere on desktop. Without an Icon the mouse pointer would initiate the recent apps.

2. To check that the first step has worked, try and invoke charms by moving mouse to top right hand corner.  If Charms do not appear then the bug has been triggered.

3. Now move mouse over start button (no click), move away then back again. Now the start button is locked.  If you unlock the taskbar you can move it to any other position (top, left or right) and the start button works.  Move taskbar back to the bottom and the start button still does not work.  Only way to get it working again is to restart window explorer in task manager.

To avoid this happening all you need to do is disable recent apps corner.

1. Right click desktop.

2. Click Taskbar and Navigation

3. Click Navigation tab in the properties window

4. Uncheck "When I click the upper-left corner, switch between my recent tabs."

Now the bug cannot be triggered as above to make the start button stop working. You have to remove the feature which is pretty hopeless on a desktop anyway.  Its better than restarting Window explorer every time.

I can replicate this on any desktop PC or laptop. Not sure about any touch screen machines. I also can trigger this in VMPlayer and the Modern IE images that MS provide.

Now the MS engineers can replicate this on their machines, and maybe if we are lucky they will FIX it!!!!

Come on MS sort it out, at least acknowledge that this is a bug.

Thanks