start button doesn't work and right-click on taskbar doesn't work - Vista

Question

I'm using Dell inspiron 1420 running Vista Home Premium SP1.

I have two probelms:

(1) If I click start button, nothing happens.  Neither CTRL+ESC nor "Windows" key on keyboard doesn't work.

(2) RIght-click on taskbar does not bring pop-up menu.  If I try to run "Taskbar and Start Menu" from Control Panel", a small blank window (it seems to have "OK" and "Cancel" buttons though)  briefly pops up right above start button and disapeear right away.

Please, help.

Answer 1

Hi Bin2003:

It sounds like you have somebody hanging around in the back ground, there is a program running that either wont close or cant close (for whatever reason).

Here is a link to start testing for this problem, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796 it’s called “Clean Boot”. If there is a program booting with the system and it’s a dead program, this might “temporarily” take it out so you can do a “boot”.. When the system reboots, see how well it runs, and go from there.

If this works, you will want to go back in to “MSCONFIG” and look at what was booting to see if you can figure out what program it was. You do not want to just run your computer in “Clean Boot” all the time, you might need againJ

Let’s start there and see how that works, then we will move on.

Thank you for the post, good luck.

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Don

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

Answer 2

I'm having a similar problem.  I have a Dell XPS M1530.  Sporadically, I will attempt to click on something, and the resulting menu (Start Menu, right-click menu) will appear and disappear within seconds.  Dialog boxes (i.e. password dialog boxes, Mozilla "Save All Tabs before Closing" boxes) will do the same.  This will happen even if I am not online, so I'm thinking that it is not someone accessing my computer through a backdoor, as the back door is not always open (have to log in with VPN first in order to go online at work).  This also prevents me from clicking on links and action buttons, menu items, or attempting to reload a web page in a browser.  However, this is not persistent, and oftentimes I can go for an extended period of time without difficulty.  Also, I can sometimes wait and the problem will stop, only to resume after varying periods of time.

Answer 3

I did system restore, but it still doesn't work.

I do not want to reinstalll Vista.

I have a workaround to get shutdown computer via ALT-CTRL-DELETE, so I can live with it, but it bothers me.

Any other idea?

Answer 4

It started to happen a few days ago, but I don't think there is any change.

I checked the history of the installed program and I unstalled everything (mainly atuo-upgrades for acrobat and java), but no help.

I suspect virus or some mal-ware, so I scanned he whole disk, but no help either.

Is the  system restore only choice?

Answer 5

Hello Bin2003,

 Thank you for using Microsoft Windows Vista Forums.

 Have you made any changes to your laptop's operating system prior to this problem?  How long has this problem been occuring?  If this is recent I would recommend a System Restore.  Below I have attached a link with information and directions to perform this.  Please let me know if this has helped out or if you are still having any problems.

System Restore: frequently asked questions:http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/517d3b8e-3379-46c1-b479-05b30d6fb3f01033.mspx#E4F

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James Microsoft Answers Support Engineer Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.