Windows startup menu not working

[riles2015]

I’m stuck in the windows startup menu and my key strokes will not register. Should I restart using the power button or what should i do

[TEJ1602]

@riles2015, Welcome to HP Support Community!

Follow the steps below to isolate and resolve the issue-

Check for corrupt files

Many problems with Windows come down to corrupt files, and Start menu issues are no exception. To fix this, launch the Task Manager either by right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting Task Manager, or hitting Ctrl+Alt+Delete.

Select “Run new task” and run PowerShell by typing “PowerShell”. Make sure you check the option to run this task with administrator privileges.

Once PowerShell has opened, type “sfc /scannow” and hit Return. Let it run, and if you see the message “Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some (or all) of them”, it has found some errors.

To fix them, type “DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth” – you’ll need to be online, as Windows will download “clean” versions of the corrupted files and replace them. 

Kill Explorer

This is a quick-and-dirty fix that may come in handy through a variety of situations, such as when you have non-responsive windows or spurious issues on the Windows desktop – it’s not guaranteed to work, but it’s saved us a bunch of times over the decades we’ve been tinkering with Windows PCs.

1. Open Task Manager by either right-clicking on the taskbar, and selecting Task Manager from the menu, or holding down Ctrl+Shift+Escape.
2. If a UAC prompt appears, click yes and then click “More Details” on the bottom right of the task manager screen.
3. Head to the “Processes” tab and scroll down until you see “Windows Explorer”.
4. Right-click on the process, and select “Restart” from the menu.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

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