Desktop and taskbar being randomly unresponsive on windows 11 startup after updates

Question

Windows 11 seems to be randomly unresponsive after I log in, after performing monthly updates. I did a clean install like 3 times now. Whenever I get to the point to isntall certain updates, I get this unresponsive issue after restarting as requested. At previous points this was always the case and I had to use system restore to get rid of the update, which fixed my issue. Then I jsut had to make sure I never installed the updates. The update in question is the monthly 'cumulative' update. I always blocked those and had no issues. The rest seemed to cause no issues.

But I can only prevent these for so long, and not updating my windows is not a solution. What's odd is that at previous points this happened all the time after an update, but now it happens randomly, after I decided to try some things out and fix it. Something else I noticed now is that the bios loading (just before the login screen is shown) is a bit longer, like 4 times what it used to be. So basically when I get to the login screen it's a dice roll whether the pc will be responsive or not.

When I say unresponsive, I mean that the login is done fine and the desktop is shown fine. After that, anything I do other than triggering the start menu or some submenus here and there, wont work. For example, I can right click the task bar and choose the task manager option, but it wont work. Or I can use the power button in start menu, but the options in it like restart won't work. When I keep trying things around, and spam clicking various icons, it eventually becomes unresponsive and I have to use the tower's power button. No programs or apps will work, BUT oddly enough, my browser of choice, which is mozilla firefox will work fine and i can use it fine for a bit.

My way to know if my pc will be fine when i turn it on is to quickly check if the task manager will work so i know to force shut it down and retry. As I said, the 'cumulative' monthly update is what I suspect the most, but I'm not sure if it's that one indeed.

Things I have tried:

• Clean install
• Reinstall the current windows version after an update (the repair version)
• Drivers updating (all of them were always up to date)

Please help me as I have spent so much money on this pc (it's new) and turning it on has been like a phobia lately.

Answer 1

Hi chris,

Thanks for your post. I totally understand that your frustration on dealing with this issue.

Please check and follow the steps below:

1. Restart explorer.exe On Windows 11: Please right click on start menu and choose Task Manager Kindly click Details Tab and end the task of explorer.exe Then click Run New Task and type explorer.exe and hit enter Please restart your device and check if the issue still persists.
2. Update or Reinstall the Display driver: Please press the Windows key + X Then click Device manager Kindly expand the Display Adapters Right click and choose "Update Driver automatically" If the issue persists Choose "Browse my computer for driver" and click the old version of driver If it will still the same, please uninstall it and restart your device.
3. Tips to improve PC performance in Windows

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/tips-to-improve-pc-performance-in-windows-b3b3ef5b-5953-fb6a-2528-4bbed82fba96

Best Regards,

Ian Xue

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If the Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.

Answer 2

If there is an issue with the Windows Disk Image, you may encounter problems during Windows startup. Fortunately, you can use the Deployment Imaging Service and Management Tool (DISM) to fix these issues through the Command Prompt. Follow these steps to resolve problems with your Windows Disk Image:

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator
2. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter:

      DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
   

3. The DISM tool will begin running and attempt to diagnose any issues with the Windows Image.
4. If problems are found, DISM will automatically try to replace any corrupt disk image files with fresh, working copies from the Windows Update servers.
5. After the DISM process completes, restart your computer.
6. Check if the issues with Windows startup have been resolved.

Notes:-

Considerations Before Reinstalling Windows 11

If you are planning to reinstall Windows 11, follow these important steps to ensure a smooth installation process and to troubleshoot potential issues effectively:

1. Obtain a fresh Windows 11 ISO file from the official Microsoft website to ensure you have the latest version.
2. If your hard drive has more than one partition, make sure to back up all your data to an external drive or cloud storage.
3. Before deploying the new operating system, completely format the disk. This helps eliminate any lingering issues from the previous installation.
4. During the installation process, create a single partition to simplify the setup and avoid potential complications.
5. After the OS deployment, avoid installing or upgrading multiple patches or KB (Knowledge Base) updates in bulk.
6. Instead, install updates one by one with some interval between them. This approach allows you to identify which specific update may be causing the system to become unresponsive.

By following these steps, you can ensure a clean installation of Windows 11 and effectively manage updates to maintain system stability.

Answer 3

Thank you very much for your prompt response.

I have tried the DISM solution, and while the operation is supposed to have been completed successfully, I still got the issue on my 3rd attempt to turn the pc on. So the randomness is still there.

I will probably attempt another clean install at some point using a single partition and the latest iso file, when I have the time.

If the issue persists, I will consider moving back to windows 10.

Thank you again.