Windows Start button not working, Various system apps not working, Disconnected from Intune.

Question

Windows Start button not working, Various system apps not working, Disconnected from Intune.

Rob Babineau 5

Hello,

I'm currently running Windows 11 and having issues with one particular device that continues to exhibit the same problems even after re-install. Effectively the main problem is that the start button stops working. clicking it does nothing, the start button on the keyboard does nothing. Aside from that, it also disconnects the accounts signed in from intune so teams, outlook and other apps lose connection. Apps like Company Portal stop working, Windows security stops working as well. All of these apps flash for a micro second and then disappear with no error displayed.

I have tried the regular solutions like /sfc scan along with deleting the the shell folder contained in C:\users%userprofile%\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\shell

I have also wiped the drive and re-installed the OS 5 times, each time trying to control which updates get applied to the laptop via intune. Wiping the device does solve the problem temporarily until it receives an update from Microsoft and then bricks the system again.

I was able to resolve the problem one time by going through the boot menu to do a recovery and I was able to uninstall recently installed feature updates which appeared to roll back the system. However, the system administrators weren't keen on this and required the device to be re-imaged and then the problem returned after it received an update.

These updates apply to the system within 24 hours of a re-image and brick the laptop.

Windows + X key does work to bring up a menu that resembles the start menu but the other issues of intune connectivity remain along with the regular start button not working.

I also was able to view recently installed updates via the event viewer function and went through each update and manually uninstalled each one. Unfortunately, many updates refused to uninstall and the ones that did didn't affect the problem at hand. Furthermore, going back through the recovery menu and uninstalling feature updates does not appear to always work I suspect because the laptop hasn't had time yet to set a roll back date point.

It would seem I'm not alone on this problem and it's affected many users based on various threads in this forum and I'm hoping perhaps someone has come across a solution this as they date back to 2024. I've tried various suggestions from those threads but have not found a solution.

I'm currently running Windows 11 Enterprise 24H2

2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Based on my knowledge and on your information, this seems like a serious and persistent case of profile or system corruption triggered by a specific Windows Update or a conflict between that update and Intune/Endpoint Manager policies. So I have some recommend ways to try it out and let me know the result

Test on a Clean Local Profile (Post-Update)

After the issue manifests, create a new local admin account (e.g. .\TestAdmin) via Safe Mode with Command Prompt:

net user TestAdmin P@ssw0rd123 /add
net localgroup administrators TestAdmin /add

Log in and check if:
- Start button works
- Settings and Windows Security work
- AAD sign-in to Teams/Outlook succeeds

=> If this new profile works fine, it confirms a user profile-level corruption caused by update + existing user data.

Block Specific Updates Temporarily

Use Intune or local Group Policy to pause feature updates, especially:

24H2 (Check winver and compare to 22631.xxxxx or 26100.xxxxx)
Windows + R then type gpedit.msc and follow this directory :
- Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update > Windows Update for Business
Then set:
Select the target Feature Update version: 23H2
Defer feature updates: 90–180 days

=> This can help lock your device on a known-good build and prevent forced jumps to 24H2 while MS works out bugs.

Check AppX/AppInstaller corruption

The crashing of built-in apps and security tools may point to a corruption in AppX packages or AppX provisioning.

Run these commands as SYSTEM, or from an elevated PowerShell ( run as Admin ):

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

And then:

Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers Microsoft.Windows.ShellExperienceHost | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

Temporarily Remove Intune Enrollment Post-Setup

If you're able to stage the device:

Set it up without MDM enrollment (local account or Hybrid Azure AD Join)
Manually patch it to the latest stable 23H2, test system stability
Only then, enroll in Intune manually via Company Portal

=> This isolates whether the issue comes from MDM policy or from native Windows behavior.

*But there is also a Known Bug: 24H2 Feature Preview (June/July 2024)

You’re might likely hitting a known issue in 24H2 builds (especially 26100.712 and earlier) that break:

ShellExperienceHost
MDM token renewal
UWP-based security apps

But don't worry cause the fix has reportedly landed in later insider builds and will ship in August 2025 Patch Tuesday.

Rob Babineau 5 Reputation points

2025-08-05T18:05:04.73+00:00

I was on vacation last week and just saw this reply,

I can confirm that the problem is not profile dependent. I should have mentioned this in my initial post but I did try various other profiles including my own network profile that wasn't already on the device and the issue persists in both profiles. The offline administrator one and my own online profile separate from the users profile.

I have also tested this device outside of the intune environment and so far so good. I had the device on and running, fully updated the entire week I was on vacation and came back to a fully functional OS while it took only 1 or 2 days running in intune before it would again revert to the same issues.

I'm getting ready to re-add it into intune now and will proceed with the group policy / feature updates recommendation and keep you posted.

Thank you for your reply.
Rob Babineau 5 Reputation points

2025-08-12T11:53:24.15+00:00

So after testing I'm sorry to report that the problem still persists. I tried using the group policy editor to limit what version of windows patches are being applied as suggested in your post but the issue returned after a few hours of being in intune.

It ran roughly a week outside of intune and a few hours once added to intune the problems returned.

I also tried running the powershell commands, which I actually had done previously before I made this post but it hadn't worked for me then and didn't work for me when I tried again now.

I'm in the process of removing the device from intune again.

Do you know what date these patches are supposed to release?

Answer 2

Supawat Raksacom 0

I have same issue with a lot of Azure AD laptops

additional symptom is explorer.exe error

Image (12)

OMG!, I think it's a plan to force a domain join, because I plan to move from Entra ID to AD.

After the AD join, it can be use normally with new user profile.

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Windows Start button not working, Various system apps not working, Disconnected from Intune.

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