Start menu icons are blank and got weird names

Question

Hi guys,

Not sure what happened but one user now have some start menu icons in Windows Server 2019 look like on the screenshot.

Could you please advise what is this and how to revert it back to normal.

Answer 1

Hello @Lt. Columbo

It seems some strange scenario. First of all, I would recommend you to run a Defender Scan with updated virus signatures. Some viruses will alter filenames as part of encryption.

Once you are sure it is safe to work with this computer, I would recommend to run a repair following: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/repair-a-windows-image?view=windows-11

If the issue persist, these files may be strings of files that were temporary or deleted. Since that part of Start Menu is for recent apps or files, it looks like the user last visits were to Event Viewer, and it is possible that both the W~ names as well the ones that look like a GUID are temporary files from Even Viewer data. Run a Disk Cleanup just in case to remove temporary and cached files.

Hope this helps with your query,

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Answer 2

Hi @Limitless Technology

It happened to a user who works on a terminal server Windows Server 2019 with user profiles stored as User Profile Disks.
I tend to re-create that user's profile as seems have no choice.