Windows 11 start menu, search and icons not working AND can't connect to the network either

Dan Nowell 20 Reputation points
2026-01-29T10:15:19.53+00:00

Hi. On Tuesday my PC was fine. But as of yesterday,the machine boots fine but the start button only works if I right click and not all the options work. I can't use the search button and most of the pinned icons give a "class not registered" error. My network won't connect either and it fails to restart network services due to an unexpected error. I can get the Task Manager to load and can run new tasks as an administrator but the ipconfig commands don't run because it says the media is not connected.I've also run dsm and sfc commands and while they appear to have completed, theyve not made any difference. HELP!

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Settings
Answer accepted by question author
DaveM121 937.9K Reputation points Independent Advisor
2026-01-29T10:51:35.61+00:00

Your Windows installation seems to be very corrupt, if you have no network connection on your PC, some of the troubleshooting steps in the Settings app will not be available to you.

Start your PC, just as Windows attempts to load (spinning dots), press and hold Power Button for 5 - 10 seconds to perform a Hard Shut Down

Do this twice

On the third start Windows will boot into the Recovery Environment and from there you can access System Repair, Safe Mode, Command Prompt... etc.

Please try each option one at a time, then see if Windows will boot to a stable system.

1

Uninstall the latest Windows update if that option is available.

2

Go to Troubleshoot - Advanced Option - Startup Repair

See if Windows startup can repair itself

3

Go to Troubleshoot - Advanced Option - System Restore

Check to see if you have a restore point you can go back to

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