Start Menu dispays a black screen

[David]

I have just installed a fresh copy of XP Home (SP2 and all updates) on
a new machine along with a whole bunch of genuine applications that I
have been using on my old machine without a problem for a few years.

The problem is that from time to time the start menu plays up. The
left hand side of the panel with the pinned items and recently used
ones appears black and none of the menus fly out anymore. I have
control panel and administrative tools set as menus as well as the
programs menu which is still visible under the black portion of the
panel but none of them expand. Control Panel and admin tools still
react to a double click, but programs does nothing. The only way I
have found to reset things is a reboot, which is a pain.

Anyone got any ideas what is going on? Is there some other way to
reset things without resorting to a reboot?

TIA,

David

 

[Malke]

I have just installed a fresh copy of XP Home (SP2 and all updates) on
a new machine along with a whole bunch of genuine applications that I
have been using on my old machine without a problem for a few years.

The problem is that from time to time the start menu plays up. The
left hand side of the panel with the pinned items and recently used
ones appears black and none of the menus fly out anymore. I have
control panel and administrative tools set as menus as well as the
programs menu which is still visible under the black portion of the
panel but none of them expand. Control Panel and admin tools still
react to a double click, but programs does nothing. The only way I
have found to reset things is a reboot, which is a pain.

Anyone got any ideas what is going on? Is there some other way to
reset things without resorting to a reboot?

First, let me ask you if after you installed the operating system and
its updates you also installed all the drivers for your hardware. This
means your motherboard, video, audio, etc. If you didn't do this, then
that's your next step. Never get drivers from Windows Update. Get them
from:

1. The device mftr.'s website; OR
2. The motherboard mftr.'s website if hardware is onboard; OR
3. The OEM's website for your specific machine if you have an OEM
computer (HP, Dell, Sony, etc.).

Read the installation instructions on the website where you get the
drivers.

To find out what hardware is in your computer:

1. Read any documentation you got when you bought the computer.
2. If the computer is OEM, go to the OEM's website for your specific
model machine and look at the specs (you'll be there to get the drivers
anyway)
3. Download, install and run a free system inventory program like Belarc
Advisor. The older Aida32 is good for this, too.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html - Belarc Advisor
http://www.aumha.org/free.htm - Aida32 (hosted on Jim Eshelman's site)

If you did install the drivers, did you use the video drivers from the
card mftr.'s website or from an older CD that came with the card?

Malke

 

[David]

First, let me ask you if after you installed the operating system and
its updates you also installed all the drivers for your hardware. This
means your motherboard, video, audio, etc. If you didn't do this, then
that's your next step. Never get drivers from Windows Update. Get them
from:

1. The device mftr.'s website; OR
2. The motherboard mftr.'s website if hardware is onboard; OR
3. The OEM's website for your specific machine if you have an OEM
computer (HP, Dell, Sony, etc.).

Read the installation instructions on the website where you get the
drivers.

To find out what hardware is in your computer:

1. Read any documentation you got when you bought the computer.
2. If the computer is OEM, go to the OEM's website for your specific
model machine and look at the specs (you'll be there to get the drivers
anyway)
3. Download, install and run a free system inventory program like Belarc
Advisor. The older Aida32 is good for this, too.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html - Belarc Advisor
http://www.aumha.org/free.htm - Aida32 (hosted on Jim Eshelman's site)

If you did install the drivers, did you use the video drivers from the
card mftr.'s website or from an older CD that came with the card?

I definitely installed all the m/b based hardware and the video
drivers BEFORE updating XP. The machine is a home build so there is no
OEM to refer to. Admittedly I did use the supplied CDs for both these
sets of drivers but I have since checked and these all seem to be the
most recent anyway.

Any more thoughts?

 

[Malke]

I definitely installed all the m/b based hardware and the video
drivers BEFORE updating XP. The machine is a home build so there is no
OEM to refer to. Admittedly I did use the supplied CDs for both these
sets of drivers but I have since checked and these all seem to be the
most recent anyway.

If you have the very latest video drivers - downloaded from the video
card mftr.'s site (unlikely to be the ones on the CD included with the
card which are usually older) - and the problem still occurs, you have
to address the seemingly random nature of the problem.

To troubleshoot if it is a software issue and after you've determined it
isn't a driver issue, you'll need to observe what else is running when
the problem happens. Make notes and observe at least three instances to
see if you can narrow it down to another program or process that is
running in the background.

Using Task Manager, Process Explorer from Sysinternals, and doing
clean-boot troubleshooting will help with that.

Clean boot in Windows XP - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353
Clean-boot advanced troubleshooting in Windows XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316434
How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560

If you can't track it down to software and the problem occurs truly
randomly, look to the video card hardware. Most random problems are
caused by failing hardware. It doesn't matter if the hardware is new;
in fact if hardware is going to fail it will usually do so pretty
quickly or go forever. With a video card, the way to troubleshoot is to
uninstall it and swap it out with a known-working one. If the problem
disappears, replace the original card.

Malke

 

[David]

If you have the very latest video drivers - downloaded from the video
card mftr.'s site (unlikely to be the ones on the CD included with the
card which are usually older) - and the problem still occurs, you have
to address the seemingly random nature of the problem.

To troubleshoot if it is a software issue and after you've determined it
isn't a driver issue, you'll need to observe what else is running when
the problem happens. Make notes and observe at least three instances to
see if you can narrow it down to another program or process that is
running in the background.

Using Task Manager, Process Explorer from Sysinternals, and doing
clean-boot troubleshooting will help with that.

Clean boot in Windows XP - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353
Clean-boot advanced troubleshooting in Windows XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316434
How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560

If you can't track it down to software and the problem occurs truly
randomly, look to the video card hardware. Most random problems are
caused by failing hardware. It doesn't matter if the hardware is new;
in fact if hardware is going to fail it will usually do so pretty
quickly or go forever. With a video card, the way to troubleshoot is to
uninstall it and swap it out with a known-working one. If the problem
disappears, replace the original card.

Malke,

Once again thanks for your time on this. I was hoping to have
discovered a pattern by now which is why I haven't responded earlier.

It has only happened once since starting this thread and that
occurred just after reinstalling the video drivers. I used the latest
from the manufacturer's website, but they turned out to be the same
version as those already installed.

What happened was that the pinned shortcut for windows explorer began
playing up. When clicked it I got a dialog saying something to the
effect that the shortcut could not be created here and did I want to
create one on the desktop instead. Having selected no, I then
deselected IE from 'show on start menu' in start button properties.
Then reselected it and when I pressed apply I got the black screen
phenomenon. After reboot the start menu was restored with a now
functioning IE shortcut.

Not a very helpful occurrence I would suggest?

As to replacing the graphics card with a known functioning one -
unfortunately I do not have such things lying around, so that will not
be an option, but I see where you are coming from. My first step will
be to try and isolate when it occurs as you suggest, but that may take
a while since it doesn't seem to be occurring too often. Of course on
the one hand that is a good thing, but it is very frustrating when it
does occur.

I will let you know if there are any developments.

David

 

[benjamin.eason]

I'm having the same problem on a Dell Latitude D610. After using this
laptop for about six months, it suddenly started the buggy Start Menu
behavior last week. The first time it happened, the left side was
black, but nothing else (Program Files, Run, Control Panel, etc.)
functioned normally on mouse over or click. Some did nothing, others
prompted windows to ask if I wanted to create a shortcut to the item on
my desktop. A reboot made the problem go away.

The issue is halfway back right now. I don't have the black box yet and
some items work, but others don't. For reference, I've set # of
recently used programs to show to 0. But I have about ten applications
pinned to the start menu.

Of the 10 pinned items on the left side (from the top):
1. The pinned shortcut to my Downloads folder -- works when clicked.
2. Internet link (builtin but pointed to Firefox) -- when clicked,
Windows asks if I want to create a shortcut on desktop.
3. E-mail link (builtin and pointed to Outlook) -- when clicked, same
as Internet link
4. Link to dsa.msc (AD Users and Computers) -- works when clicked
5. Link to IE -- works when clicked
6. Word -- works when clicked
7. Excel -- works when clicked
8. Wireshark -- works when clicked
9. Media Player Classic -- works when clicked
10. Program Files menu -- does nothing when clicked, does nothing on
mouse over, does nothing when right arrow key is pressed to expand

Of the items on the right side (from the top):
1. My Documents link -- works when clicked
2. My Computer link -- works when clicked
3. Control Panel menu -- Opens Control Panel in a window when clicked,
however mouse over doesn't expand the menu, and right arrow key on
keyboard switches focus to left side (Internet link) instead of
expanding Control Panel menu
4. Network Connections link -- works when clicked
5. Help & Support Link -- asks to create shortcut on desktop when
clicked
6. Run link -- asks to create shortcut on desktop when clicked

Unlike you, I have tons of programs installed. One of the newer ones,
is SmartClose. I suspect it may be the culprit. Do you have it
installed? After typing all of this I decided to uninstall it. After
doing so, the pinned items list went black. I'm going to reboot now and
hope that fixes it.

 

[deRhodes]

My menu off the Start Button went black after installing the latest
Microsoft patches via Windows Update. I haven't installed any other
new software for a very long time...and then suddenly this. Has anyone
else noticed the same problem after installing Microsoft patches?

 

[Rock]

My menu off the Start Button went black after installing the latest
Microsoft patches via Windows Update. I haven't installed any other
new software for a very long time...and then suddenly this. Has anyone
else noticed the same problem after installing Microsoft patches?

Go into add/remove programs and remove those updates. After that do a
system restore to a point right before those updates were installed. Does
that fix it? If so then reinstall the updates one at a time to try to
isolate which one caused the problem.

Issues with windows update and updates applied from there are best asked in
the windows update newsgroup.
microsoft.public.windowsupdate