Start menu and search stopped working on RDP server (new users)

Question

Hi,

For some reason 2 weeks ago my Windows Server 2022 Standard that I use for RDP connection started having an issue with new RDP users.

The desktop loads just fine but the Start menu doesn't work (you can hover over it and the color changes) and nothing opens up when you press the mouse.

Also the Windows Search next to it is blocked, you can't type anything.

Other icons like Edge, etc next to it you can click on it but if you right click you don't see any options to do anything to the icon as it worked with other users.

Old users don't have this problem, only new users I create in the domain and give them access have this issue. Very annoying and I don't even know where to start looking for a fix.

Session seems to work but Start menu and Search menu are not working at all.

How can I make sure it works for all profiles on that server as it used to? Any Windows update since April that you know about caused this? The server is up to date and no changes were made. It just stopped working for any new domain users created.

My setup is Windows Server 2022 Standard on a 10core, 128GB RAM setup.

Please help as Microsoft never says anything if there is a bug inside an update nor which update causes the issue.

Thanks,
Teo

Answer 1

Hello,

If you are using UPD(user profile disk), you can try modifying the registry to solve this issue as suggested in Start button and Search functionality stopped working in RDS server - Microsoft Q&A and Windows 2019 RDS Servers Start Menu Stopped Working - Microsoft Q&A

Run below commands:

reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\FirewallPolicy\FirewallRules /va /f
reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\FirewallPolicy\RestrictedServices\Configurable\System /va /f
reg delete HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\FirewallPolicy\RestrictedServices\AppIso\FirewallRules /va /f

Please note, for added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.

Regards,

Karlie

Answer 2

Hi Karlie,

Good evening thanks so much for replying.

The issue is that I am using profile folders under the C:\Users folders so no profile disks.

Any procedure for it?

Thanks so much,

Teo

Answer 3

This erases all firewall rules and doesn't solve the issue. I did it and still the start menu and search are blocked.
The problem is new users created that have access on this server.

Old users work fine, new users are the ones that are having issues with the Start and search menus that don't open.

Teo

Answer 4

Just to add to this thread, this is something with an update from Microsoft since February, Microsoft still doesn't have a fix for it:

How can I report this to Microsoft and solve this once and for all? For a Windows 10 PC its easy and reinstall not for a server.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/startmenuexperiencehostexe-fails-app-error/86452772-eeb8-4406-8349-2990ed7be497?page=1

Answer 5

"How can I report this to Microsoft?" You can use the Feedback Hub app to send feedback to Microsoft. Send feedback to Microsoft with the Feedback Hub app - Microsoft Support I apologize for not having a more direct way to send this feedback.

I understand that this sudden issue is quite annoying, and waiting for updates can be frustrating. In the meantime, we can try some basic troubleshooting steps, such as checking the event logs. Or we can use Process Monitor or performace monitor to find more detailed information about running processes and can help identify what might be causing an issue.