StartMenuExperienceHost crashes

Question

Microsoft Windows 10 Pro for Workstations
10.0.19045.4529 (22H2)

I rarely use the start menu. Whenever I do, it crashes exactly 10 minutes later. Here's the output of a script which uses SendInput() to activate the start menu. and ReadDirectoryChangesW() to catch the creation of a crash dump file. I have made this test many times always with the same result.

11:34:00.004064 start menu accessed
11:44:00.830379 CREATE StartMenuExperienceHost.exe.9360.dmp

It doesn't matter if the start menu is accessed again during the 10 minutes. And when it crashes, it is restarted immediately. I first noticed this after April's update Tuesday (as did those in another thread I found). I would not have noticed it if I hadn't had local crash dumps enebled. It's in the system event log, too, but I rarely look in there.

The dump identifies exception 0xC0000409 (STATUS_STACK_BUFFER_OVERRUN) with subcode (parameter 0) equal to 7 (FAST_FAIL_FATAL_APP_EXIT).

***moved from Windows / Windows 10 / Performance and system failures***

Answer 1

Hello,

Yes, it's normal condition for StartMenuExperienceHost.exe to start immediately after explorer.exe and continue running throughout your login session. This process is responsible for managing the Start menu in Windows, including its graphical user interface, animations, and other visual elements.

Best regards,

Molly

Answer 2

Yes, I will continue to monitor it.

FYI, now, StartMenuExperienceHost.exe starts immediately after explorer.exe and continues to run throughout the login session.

Answer 3

Hello,

Thanks for your update, you can monitor this for more time and check if everything is fine.

Best regards,

Molly

Answer 4

This behavior has stopped, apparently as of October's update Tuesday.