# Start Menu (not responding)



## cwilmot (Apr 21, 2001)

I have a Dell 1.5 ghz. with 256mb RAM and running Win ME. When I click on Start and go to Explore (single, right click) it locks up. Ctrl-Alt-Del says Start Menu (not responding). Clicking on End Task takes forever to get any response and clicking on Shut Down brings no response. Likewise, when I click on My Computer it brings up a blank screen and locks up. There are only 2 icons in my SysTray when I bootup: Volume and Microsoft Messenger Service.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Does this behavior occur in safe mode?

To test, restart and press and hold the cntrl key until you see a Boot Menu. Choose safe mode from the menu and test to see if the problem exists there. If it does, the issue is with the registry or system files. If not, it is being caused by a conflict with an installed program or maybe a virus.


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## cwilmot (Apr 21, 2001)

Rollin Rog, Thanks for your suggestions re: my problem associated with Start Menu (not responding). Last night I set it to defrag and went to bed. This AM everything seems to be working fine. Could there have been enough corruption on the disk which the defrag process cleaned up to alleviate the problem? Interesting, huh? Chuck


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

Well that's interesting. Defrag will not correct corruption, but it will reorganize files for faster access. Not a problem I would ordinarily think would be caused by a badly fragmented drive, but evidently there must have been something badly askew which the defragmenter fixed. Anyway glad it's resolved


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## cwilmot (Apr 21, 2001)

Rollin' Rog, I spoke too soon. It worked fine for a couple of days and now it has reverted back to that "Start Menu (not reponding)" complaint and, simultaneously, I am iunable to access "My Computer". When I click on the latter icon I just get a blank window and I'm locked up. The possibility of overheating of the chip crossed my mind although I don't really think that's the problem. However, it seems to manifest itself after the computer has been running for a rather long time.


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## Rollin' Rog (Dec 9, 2000)

It could be due to depleted resources. You might want to place a shortcut to the resource meter in your startup folder and keep an eye on it. Typically you should start with at least 85% free system resources and stay above 30% to ensure stability.

If you give us a look at what you have running at startup we might be able to suggest how to trim things down.

You can do this by going to start and running *msinfo32*

Click Software Environment > Startup Programs > Edit > Select all > Edit > Copy

Then paste the copied text in your next reply.


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## cwilmot (Apr 21, 2001)

Rollin' Rog, Here's the info. that you requested:
======================================
*StateMgr	c:\windows\system\restore\statemgr.exe	All Users	HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
EM_EXEC	c:\progra~1\mousew~1\system\em_exec.exe	All Users	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Go!Zilla dial-up fix	"c:\program files\gozilla\go.exe" /fixras	All Users	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HP-AiO	c:\progra~1\hewlet~1\hpoffi~1\register\remind32.exe .DEFAULT	Startup
ICSMGR	icsmgr.exe	All Users	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
LoadPowerProfile	rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,loadcurrentpwrscheme	All Users	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
MSConfigReminder	c:\windows\system\msconfig.exe /reminder	All Users	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
MSMSGS	c:\progra~1\messen~1\msmsgs.exe /background	.DEFAULT	HKU\.DEFAULT\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
NAV DefAlert	c:\progra~1\norton~2\norton~2\defalert.exe	All Users	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Norton Auto-Protect	c:\progra~1\norton~2\norton~2\navapw32.exe /loadquiet	All Users	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Norton eMail Protect	c:\program files\norton systemworks\norton antivirus\poproxy.exe	All Users	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
PCHealth	c:\windows\pchealth\support\pchschd.exe -s	All Users	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
ScanRegistry	c:\windows\scanregw.exe /autorun	All Users	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
SSDPSRV	c:\windows\system\ssdpsrv.exe	All Users	HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
SystemTray	systray.exe	All Users	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
TaskMonitor	c:\windows\taskmon.exe	All Users	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
TCASUTIEXE	tcaudiag -off	All Users	HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
===========================================
I don't know how to clean this up and make it more readable for you. I'm wondering, if I had your e-mail address, if it wouldn't paste into an e-mail memo better?

To provide you with some supplemental information, this is what transpired when I booted up this AM:

Only 2 icons appeared in my SysTray. Ctrl-Alt-Del showed Autodisk (not Responding). I clicked End Task and the other icons came up OK. I then went to My Computer and only a blank window came up and I was locked up. Ctrl-Alt-Del showed, of course, My Computer (not responding). But End Tasking out of here wasn't that easy. In fact, the End Task window locked up and I had no alternative but to turn off the computer and reboot. I then R clicked on Start and L clicked on Explore, which normally gives one the entire tree showing all the drives. But now it brings up only a blank window and locks up. Likewise, trying to End Task out of here was fruitless and I had to turn it off again. That's where I am at the moment. Chuck


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