Windows Start menu changed & Dialogs don't refresh properly

Question

Hello

I've just done a clean Windows 11 installation only to find that the Start menu has been changed to have the Settings icon along the bottom, rather than the left hand side, But worse, the popups such as System > Display now look like:

Moving the mouse pointer around momentarily reveals some of the hidden menus:

And apps such as Notepad, no longer have the menus:

Is anyone else seeing the same ?

This was straight after a clean install.

So Ive now got the following:

I've done the usual sfc /scannow , etc... but no improvement - its looking like somethings been released....

How can I undo this ? Baring going back to Windows 10 ?

Answer 1

I had the same issue with the latest build, that's why I reverted to an older ISO, but then had the same issue with that too. The behaviour of the menus in both cases was most unusual making it somewhat more challenging to tweak the configurations, however I've since resolved the issue after finding the vendor Restore disk - which basically loads a predetermined set of drivers in order.... I had simply downloaded the drivers from their website, though I guess I must not have installed in the correct order.

Issue resolved now.

Answer 2

It is strange that installing drivers resolved this for you, unless that package also installed C++ Redistributables and .Net Frameworks that are required on your system, usually the symptoms you described just indicate a corrupt Widows system.

Answer 3

Although it's resolved, the question is why ?

As you can see from the original post, all the drivers seemed properly installed - this was essentially a fresh install, having wiped clean any prior installation. When I used the Vendor (HPE) provided driver cd, it was essentially the same as I had already installed with the exception of a C++ runtime package prerequisite.

I think I haven't encountered this type of scenario before, because I'm simply upgrading, and all prior dependencies had been pre-installed by earlier versions - however for such a dependency to be missing, and to cause the Front end User display to react as it did without logging any errors does not seem to be great. It would be great if such a problem could be recognized, and the user interface made to fallback to a minimal yet useable format allowing the end user to identify and address the issue.

Answer 4

That is great news, I am glad you found a solution, great troubleshooting!

Answer 5

Hi, I am Dave, I will help you with this.

Your screenshots indicate you are on an older version of Windows 11, the best option would be to perform an in-place upgrade to version 23H2 with the Windows 11 ISO, that should stabilise your Windows 11 installation.

Please follow the steps, this is then not like re-installing Windows, it is just like an update and your personal files, settings and installed software will not be affected.

Click this link:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-downlo...

to download the Windows 11 ISO

When the ISO file completes downloading

Disconnect from the Internet

Disconnect all external devices with the exception of a mouse or keyboard.

Temporarily disable any 3rd party Anti-virus you may have installed

Then, in Windows File Explorer, double click the ISO and then run Setup.exe and select the Install option.