14 DAY TRIAL // Soon after Microsoft rolled out Windows 10 on July 29, 2015, users started reporting an unusual problem that was affecting the way some features of the operating system worked, including the Start menu and personal assistant Cortana.
In most of the cases, users who tried to launch either of them got a critical error saying that “Your Start menu/Cortana isn’t working. We’ll try to fix it the next time you sign in.”
Obviously, rebooting the computer didn’t make any difference, and some users tried pretty much everything to get this fixed. Microsoft support staff attempted to repair the problem by creating a new user account, transferring all data to the new account, and then removing the old one. So it clearly had something to do with user accounts.
But recently, posts on the Microsoft’s support forums have finally indicated a fully working solution. Believe it or not, but it’s all caused by the Dropbox app, which apparently blocks some user account files, and this is how the creation of a new account and the migration to it actually solved the problem.
Remove the Dropbox app
Microsoft has never offered a fix for this issue, so it’s a little bit surprising that, by simply removing the Dropbox app, users can easily address one of the biggest annoyances of Windows 10.
“I cannot believe that uninstalling Dropbox actually worked! i have never been so aggravated with an inanimate object in my life. windows 10 was working so great and then BAM! no help from Microsoft, tried nearly every work-around suggested on this board - some worked for a day or two - but this one little thing worked. fingers and toes crossed that the fix is for keeps. was seriously thinking of buying a mac since we use them at work, but my husband doesn't do well with change! maybe I’ll stick with a new windows machine after all,” one user explains.
Obviously, an update to the Dropbox app should address all these problems, but until then, make sure you give this workaround a try to see if it solves them for you too.