Microsoft acknowledges Windows 10 Start Menu issue on Answers forum

Martin Brinkmann
Oct 12, 2019
Updated • Oct 12, 2019
Windows, Windows 10
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18

Some Windows 10 users reported issues with the Windows 10 Start Menu after installing the KB4517389  on computer systems running the operating system. Microsoft released the cumulative update for Windows 10 version 1903 and Windows Server 1903 on October 8, 2019 as part of the company's monthly Patch Tuesday.

The update fixed several security issues in Windows 10 version 1903 and was the only supported consumer version of Windows 10 without any listed known issues.

While Microsoft listed no known issues, reports on third-party sites suggested that issues were experienced on some devices after installing the most recent update. Woody Leonhard listed several reported issues including search issues, Edge and Outlook startup issues, VMWare issues, and a Start Menu issue. The Start Menu throws a critical error when it is used on affected machines.

Microsoft has not acknowledged these issues on the update's support page or the Known Issues and notifications page on the company's Docs website.

It may come as a surprise to Windows administrators and users -- or not -- that Microsoft did acknowledge the Start Menu issue recently. The company has not done so in official places that most administrators and users frequent, on the other hand.

The confirmation has been published on Microsoft's Answers forum as a reply to a user who reported the Start Menu issue on October 8, 2019.

microsoft fix start menu

Microsoft employee PaulSey acknowledged the Start Menu issue on October 12, 2019. He stated that Microsoft was working on a fix and that users could expect the fix to be released later this month.

We are aware of this issue and estimate a resolution to be released in late October.

Late October could indicate that Microsoft hopes to have a patch ready when it releases the second batch of patches for supported versions of Windows 10 in October.

Closing Words

Acknowledgement of issues is welcome as it provides administrators and users with status information about these issues. In this case, Microsoft reveals that it is aware of the issue and that it plans to release a patch this month.

The problem with the acknowledgement is that Microsoft revealed it in the Answers forum only so that most administrators and users are not aware of the official acknowledgment of the issue. The company knows about the issue but does not list it as a known issue on the update's support page or the general known issues page, and that is a problem.

It is certainly possible that Microsoft will update the support page to list the issue on that page but the timing would still be off as most customers would probably expect that the known issues on the official support page get updated before any other confirmation of issues.

Now you: what is your take on this?

Summary
Microsoft acknowledges Windows 10 Start Menu issue on Answers forum
Article Name
Microsoft acknowledges Windows 10 Start Menu issue on Answers forum
Description
Microsoft acknowledged a Start Menu issue in the latest update for Windows 10 version 1903 on the Answers forum only.
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Ghacks Technology News
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Comments

  1. ThePunisher said on October 16, 2019 at 4:11 pm
    Reply

    And people ask me why I’m still using 7

  2. pHROZEN gHOST said on October 13, 2019 at 6:05 pm
    Reply

    Ah, but notepad just keeps getting better.

  3. Alex said on October 13, 2019 at 11:44 am
    Reply

    But there are other issues that don’t really get mentioned except some deep-down-in-threads on Reddit that happen as well:

    1. The start button doesn’t error. It just does nothing at all.
    2. Same with the search button: triggers nothing at all.
    3. The notifications/action center button does nothing at all.

    1903 … 295 reversion got things working. But means that zero updates since for all of September-to-date.

    This is really bad. Hopefully Martin can dig more on the other issues less noted/mentioned.

  4. Deep State Update said on October 13, 2019 at 4:29 am
    Reply

    There is a continuing pattern of Microsoft denying serious problems reported by users until Microsoft is forced to acknowledge them once the tech press exposes them publicly. Microsoft has repeatedly avoided fixing widespread serious bugs in Windows 10 and tried to silence users who reported them. This isn’t the behavior of a business that people should trust their lives and data with.

    1. lurks about said on October 13, 2019 at 7:02 pm
      Reply

      As far MS is concerned, I have had serious issues with their money grubbing ways from a long time ago. But to add monthly misadventures with Windows updates makes me very nervous about what is going to happen in the future.

      All businesses that are successful rely on long term, repeat customers and I refuse to do business with a company as inept as MS currently is.

  5. Anonymous said on October 13, 2019 at 2:01 am
    Reply

    I installed this update KB4517389 with no problems. Everything works. I want to know why some PC’s the updates doesn’t work. What causes this. Is it configurations?

    1. VioletMoon said on October 13, 2019 at 8:08 pm
      Reply

      I suspect, and have long suspected, that updates only mess up computers that are already messed up by someone not quite understanding that all of those “tweaks” he/she applies will have unforeseen consequences for OS stability and reliable operation. MS developers expect a Windows 10 1903 install {or whatever version} to have certain files and settings configured.

      When “malcontents” want to build a better experience, files and settings are changed that developers don’t foresee; thus, the install of new features or upgrades don’t work correctly.

      Blame the developer? One can try, but it’s 99% user generated.

      1. John Fenderson said on October 15, 2019 at 11:09 pm
        Reply

        @VioletMoon: “MS developers expect a Windows 10 1903 install {or whatever version} to have certain files and settings configured.”

        If MS devs are assuming that certain settings haven’t been changed, then the fault for that is 100% on the developers, not the users.

      2. owl said on October 15, 2019 at 4:16 am
        Reply

        @VioletMoon said on October 13, 2019 at 8:08 pm

        I didn’t like the “Start Menu” after Modern UI (Win 8), so I was switching to the open source project’s“Classic Shell”.
        From July last year, I changed it to “Open Shell”.
        Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu: Reborn of Classic Shell. | GitHub
        https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu

        Fortunately, this “problem with the Windows 10 start menu” was irrelevant.
        Windows 10 Home (x64) Version 1903 (build 18362.418)

        I don’t think that third-party programs are causing the “issue”.
        The “Windows” operating system is a complex component and will be cause unexpected problems.
        No longer, it is fate (It is difficult to predict, and even pre-tests are difficult to find, so it needs to be corrected with coping therapy).
        There end user’s own skills (knowledge and experience) need to be improved.

        For me, The information of “Ghacks” is important, and “AskWoody” and “Belarc Advisor” are important means (judgment materials).
        AskWoody | News, tips, advice, support for Windows, Office, PCs & more. Tech help. No bull.
        https://www.askwoody.com/
        Products: Belarc Advisor | The Belarc Advisor builds a detailed profile of your installed software and hardware, network inventory, any missing Microsoft hotfixes, anti-virus status, security benchmarks, and displays the results in your Web browser.
        https://www.belarc.com/products_belarc_advisor

      3. DaveyK said on October 14, 2019 at 9:48 am
        Reply

        If Windows 10 wasn’t such a mess, people wouldn’t feel the need to mess around with it so much in the first place.

        I can use Windows 7 pretty much in its out-the-box configuration, but Windows 10 requires so much work to wrestle some control over updates, reign in all the spyware (sorry, telemetry), fix all the borked parts of the UI, etc. that it’s quite silly really.

        Hence, I do blame the developer. You can’t release something that is a gigantic mess then act surprised when people use 3rd party utilities to try and bludgeon it into a usable shape…

      4. owl said on October 15, 2019 at 2:44 am
        Reply

        DaveyK said on October 14, 2019 at 9:48 am
        👍

  6. Yuliya said on October 12, 2019 at 10:51 pm
    Reply

    LTSC1809 has no problems whatsoever. It’s like they actually care about this OS :)

    1. ilev said on October 13, 2019 at 7:25 am
      Reply

      Windows 10 1803, 1809 has no problems. It’s like they actually care about these OSs :)

      1. The Unknown said on October 15, 2019 at 5:20 pm
        Reply

        I’m running 1809 Pro. I had the Start button won’t work problem, the Outlook won’t start problem, the Search won’t work problem AND all the icons on my task bar disappeared. All these issues at the same time.

        I ended up uninstalling KB4512578 to fix my machine. I ran the Microsoft utility to hide this update until further notice. It’s been three days and so far so good.

  7. finoderi said on October 12, 2019 at 10:23 pm
    Reply

    “after installing the KB4517389 on computer systems running the operating system”
    Seriously?

  8. An Honest Person said on October 12, 2019 at 7:52 pm
    Reply

    They should’ve written the start menu in Rust, this would’ve never happened. Firing all the testers might have been a bad idea, too, admittedly

  9. chesscanoe said on October 12, 2019 at 7:12 pm
    Reply

    Microsoft needs an internal checklist to insure the appropriate web pages are updated when a problem is recognised. Not to do so confuses the public and internal help desk people alike, and causes countless people hours wasted in trying to locally resolve or circumvent the problem. The problem of poor or no documentation of a software problem plagues many software efforts in many companies. Good documentation should not be an afterthought.

  10. VioletMoon said on October 12, 2019 at 6:25 pm
    Reply

    Well, does your menu fixer work for this new problem?

    https://www.ghacks.net/2016/06/21/fix-windows-10-start-menu-problems/

    Why did anyone even apply the update? History repeats itself {sneeze}.

    In most Ghacks articles about alternative menus for Windows 10, the overwhelming response from users is that they don’t even use the native Start Menu. There must be at least four good replacements. I like Stardock, but it costs a few dollars. I think “Open Shell” was the “go to” alternative menu or “Start is Back++.”

    Rather than wait for MS to fix whatever is happening, does it sound logical, plausible, and relevant to download an alternative menu, run the installer, and, with hope, have a new, fully functional Start Menu?

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