SOLVED Windows 10 taskbar right-click does not work, search in taskbar does not open

[BillG]

A few days ago, after an automatic Windows 10 update on my desktop computer, I found that:
right clicking icons on the taskbar does nothing - none of the options appear;
the start button on the left of the taskbar only works by right-clicking and accessing the old Windows 8 style options;
the search icon on the taskbar does nothing;
the Windows 10 calculator has disappeared - when I press the calculator key on my keyboard a message appears saying "You'll need a new app to open this calculator". It seems to have been deleted from the computer.

Any suggestions about what to do would be appreciated - Until these things happened Windows 10 was working well.

 

[davidhk129]

Until these things happened Windows 10 was working well.

What do you mean " until these things happened.... "?

Does that mean there was a time when there was no problem in Windows 10, that everything worked ?
If so, do a system restore. Pick a date when Win 10 had no issues as your restore point.

 

[BillG]

What do you mean " until these things happened.... "?

Does that mean there was a time when there was no problem in Windows 10, that everything worked ?
If so, do a system restore. Pick a date when Win 10 had no issues as your restore point.

Tried that but it made no difference!! Actually, I also removed Acronis 2016 as it seemed to be contributing problems of its own - I was getting 'out of memory' messages from Windows which stopped once Acronis was removed. System Restore attempted to reactivate Acronis but did nothing for the other problems.

 

[davidhk129]

I assume that left click at Start button does not work. Right ?
Then right click and go to Control Panel > User Accounts.
Create another account exactly the same privileges as the one you have problems with > logon to the new account > see if this one works ok.
If the new account is working properly, use it for now and make sure Windows updates are up-to-date.
If after a few days, there is no issue in the new account, then go to the old account, backup whatever you want to keep and then delete that old account. It is corrupted.

 

[BillG]

I assume that left click at Start button does not work. Right ?
Then right click and go to Control Panel > User Accounts.
Create another account exactly the same privileges as the one you have problems with > logon to the new account > see if this one works ok.
If the new account is working properly, use it for now and make sure Windows updates are up-to-date.
If after a few days, there is no issue in the new account, then go to the old account, backup whatever you want to keep and then delete that old account. It is corrupted.

Thanks, that is obviously the problem. However, it seems that the cure is worse than the disease - I seem to lose access to all my settings in the old user account, including such things as my keyboard and mouse.

Is there any way one can restore the current user account without losing its settings or, alternatively, transfer all those settings to the new user account?

 

[BillG]

A few days ago, after an automatic Windows 10 update on my desktop computer, I found that:
right clicking icons on the taskbar does nothing - none of the options appear;
the start button on the left of the taskbar only works by right-clicking and accessing the old Windows 8 style options;
the search icon on the taskbar does nothing;
the Windows 10 calculator has disappeared - when I press the calculator key on my keyboard a message appears saying "You'll need a new app to open this calculator". It seems to have been deleted from the computer.

Any suggestions about what to do would be appreciated - Until these things happened Windows 10 was working well.

Well, having decided not to change my User Account in order to access various Windows 10 features that had disappeared, now, 4 weeks later, they are all accessible.

I guess, though MS was not prepared to say so, the problem was not the User Account but the Windows Updates and now, without alerting anyone, MS has fixed the problem!!!

I'm not sure whether to thank them or mutter imprecations!

 

[davidhk129]

Weird, but thanks for posting the follow up.

 

[BillG]

Weird, but thanks for posting the follow up.

Yes I agree - weird! Haven't given it much thought but I have VS and other developer programs being updated along with Office 2016 and wonder whether those updates, being tuned for Windows 10, inadvertently stepped on some Windows features and have since been readjusted to restore them. Whatever it was, it was the kind of thing that makes people wonder about the reliability of the operating system - not good PR!