W10 and Parallels 10 - Critical Error. Start Menu and Cortana aren't working!

OK, so upgraded laptop to Windows 10 from Windows 7. All possible patches and updates installed. Laptop working fine. No issues. Copied OS to Parallels and although virtual machine boots up, when I log in to VM I get "Critical error - start menu and Cortana aren't working. We'll try to fix it when you restart (or whatever it says)'. So restart - nadda! Nothing. Same issue. Spent ages trying to suss out a fix for issue. Googled it and there seems to be lots of people having problems (put not using Parallel, on their equipment) Tried all suggested fixes. Nothing. Upgraded to Parallel 11. No difference. Just can't clear the Critical Error issue. Planning to downgrade Win10 laptop back to Win7, then create a new VM on Parallels of Win7, and then try to upgrade VM Win7 to Win10, to see if that resolves it. Before I start anybody had any similar issues and if so, fixed it. This has already wasted several hours of my life.

 

Ps - meant to say that can't use VM. Only thing can do is turn it off, try again, or give up!!

 

Hello Graham,

It appears to be pure Windows 10 issue, please refer to official Microsoft forum - many people with native Windows PC's from all around the world have the same problem:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...t/d0a892fa-949a-4771-9f93-55a75a71df87?auth=1

As we see, Microsoft engineer confirmed that this is Windows post-upgrade problem. And the same symptoms described here:
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/7...ortana-and-start-menu-show-critical-error.htm

As there is no fix yet from Microsoft, I can only recommend to create new Windows 10 VM from scratch and use it properly.

Should you need the files from original VM, please use Parallels Mounter: http://kb.parallels.com/en/118738

 

Hi - I accept your point, but Windows 10 is working perfectly fine on my laptop. This critical error does not exist on my laptop. It is only when I tried to set it up as a WM using Parallel 10 that it doesn't work. I have attempted to install Windows 10 twice as a VM using Parallels but it doesn't work. I have the latest version of Parallels 10, and I have even tried it on a trial version of Parallels 11 (which incidentally wasn't offered as an upgrade to Parallels 10 when I installed it, so had to do a brand new install of it). So what is it about Parallels that stops Windows 10 working when its operating as a VM. Would I be better downgrading to Windows 7, making that into a VM on Parallels, and then using upgrading to Windows 10 within Parallels.

 

I've managed to upgrade my Windows 7 VM to Windows 10 with no issues.

I'm having trouble following the difference between your VM vs your laptop, but based off of how the issue in the link above describes, it's fully possible to have 2 systems, and have one, both, or neither exhibit this problem, Parallels or no.

 

Here's a fix: Reboot in "Safe Mode," then log into windows, then restart

How to do this when Start menu and Cortana aren't working:

1. Right-Click on the Widows icon in the lower left of the desktop screen.
2. Hover over Shut down or sign out,
3. Move your mouse to the right and hover over (but do not click) Restart.
4. Press and hold the Shift button on the keyboard,
5. While holding it down, Left-Click on Restart
6. In the screen that eventually appears, choose Troubleshoot.
7. In the next screen that appears, choose Advanced Settings,
8. In the next screen that appears, choose Startup Settings,
9. In the next screen that appears, left-click on Restart.
10. The Startup Settings screen appears.
11. Choose 5) Start in Safe Mode with Networking by pressing 5 or the F5 key.
12. When your computer restarts, enter your password (your PIN will not work here).
13. After a few seconds, a window will briefly flash open and then close.
14. Start menu and Cortana have now been reset.
15. Restart your computer as you normally would.
16. When it restarts, everything should be normal - log in with your password (or PIN if you have one).

If you found this helpful, do something good for someone else. (If you need a suggestion, you could donate time or money to a charitable organization - even one dollar helps.)

 

There are many ways to repair this. Some of them include:-

Restarting your computer
Uninstalling the anti-virus/anti-malware software
Running System File Checker

You can also read this - https://www.auslogics.com/en/articles/fixing-start-menu-and-cortana-not-working-on-windows-10/

 

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