Start Menu Misbehaviour

[Guest]

Occassionally, most of the left side of the Start Menu is black & I can't
open recently opened apps., and some links on the right side (eg. 'Run') do
not work properly. Eg. In such a case, when I click on 'Run', it asks (in a
new dialogue box) to send a shortcut to the desktop. Others don't work at
all, incl. 'All Programs'. In that case, I have to right-click and choose
either Open or Explore to get at the programs listed but not all are listd in
the explorer window.
What could be causing this and how can I fix it?
You may also respond to (e-mail address removed)
Thanx.

 

[Gary]

| Occassionally, most of the left side of the Start Menu is black & I can't
| open recently opened apps., and some links on the right side (eg. 'Run')
do
| not work properly. Eg. In such a case, when I click on 'Run', it asks (in
a
| new dialogue box) to send a shortcut to the desktop. Others don't work at
| all, incl. 'All Programs'. In that case, I have to right-click and choose
| either Open or Explore to get at the programs listed but not all are listd
in
| the explorer window.
| What could be causing this and how can I fix it?
| You may also respond to (e-mail address removed)
| Thanx.

Do you have a Logitech Webcam installed?Apparently,this is caused it & my
brother had the same problem with his.After Googling the "Start menu goes
black",I found this blog:

# re: Windows XP Start Menu Going all Black
Problem with Start Menu going black due to Logitech webcam?

Sort of found a way to fix it. I too had a problem about Start menu going
all black due to Logitech webcam. I wanted to keep the cam, but it was
annoying to see that black menu kept coming back. So... I did an experiment
to trigger the problem. It took several trial test to pin point where
exactly the problem triggered.

For me, I had the Start menu configured so that the control panel is not a
button, instead it is a drop-down list (menu of a control panel). The black
start menu is triggered everytime I mouse over the "Control Panel" to
display a menu and took mouse off of that back and forth. Voila black menu
came back.

My solution was to change the Start Menu to not have control panel as a menu
item.

Solution that worked for me:

-- Right-click on the task bar
-- Clark on Properties
-- At the top, click the tab, "Start Menu"
-- Click the button, "Customize"
-- At the top, click the tab, "Advanced"
-- You will see, "Control Panel"
----- Select the, "Display as a link"
-- Click "OK" and that's it.
Hope that helps. I know this isn't exactly a solution, but more of a
work-around.
~Gary

 

[Guest]

The web cam I have is a Labtec Plus. I don't believe Labtec belongs to
Logitech (or vice versa), although the root of the problem may me
fundamentally the same. I don't remember when the problem began. The Start
Menu misbehaves when it wants to, i.e. I haven't noticed a pattern.
Restarting brings back the Start Menu properly but then (as many have
experienced) the taskbar loses Address bar, Quick Launch bar, etc. and I have
to reintroduce them.

 

[Guest]

I changed the Control Panel display option as you suggested and guess what
happened...? I think this also occcurs when I clear the list of recently
opened programs listed in the Start Menu. To switch to the Classic menu, it
doesn't come up at all.