(Vista) Programs don't appear in Start menu when I type

Cianos · 21-12-2008 1:23pm #1

Hey,
When I click the start button and type the letters of a programme, the list is completely empty. So if I want to open Flashget, before I could type "flashg" and hit enter, whereas now I can't. Just wondering if anyone would know how to resolve this?

The start menu does list the programs when I click "All Programs"

Thanks

Thomas_S_Hunterson · 21-12-2008 1:34pm

Did you disable indexing?

Check [Control Panel]->[Indexing Options]

Cianos · 21-12-2008 1:44pm

Sean_K wrote: »

Did you disable indexing?

Check [Control Panel]->[Indexing Options]

Thanks for the reply. Tried that, and turned on the option to index the C drive, but doesn't seem to have made any difference to the start menu.

Thomas_S_Hunterson · 21-12-2008 1:51pm

This is what mine looks like:

You can see there's a specific entry for start menu.

(I'm not sure of this is the problem, I've never seen this issue before so I'm just guessing)

/edit: Also it may take time for it to index the folders.

Cianos · 21-12-2008 1:56pm

Mine looks basically the same...Start menu is listed in the same way. I may just restore my system back to restore point I created a few days ago, but that would mean losing a couple of things. Hopefully someone will chime out a solution :pac:

Thomas_S_Hunterson · 21-12-2008 1:59pm

That's very odd.

Is it an ongoing problem? Has it persisted through restarts?

ttm · 21-12-2008 2:19pm

Dumb question but when you click on the start menu is the search dialog displayed just above the start button you've just clicked. The op dosen't mention that its the search menu dialog box that you are typing in that does the searching. If it is missing its an option you can enable from the start menus properties.

Cianos · 21-12-2008 2:28pm

This is what it looks like...and stays that way.

I have done a restart but no difference unfortunately.

ttm · 21-12-2008 2:41pm

Fair enough but sometimes you have to ask the obvious qestions just in case.

ttm · 21-12-2008 2:42pm

Have you tried to see if its a system wide issue or just a problem with your profile?

Try creating a new profile and see if it has the same issue.

Edit> Also is there any problem with the normal search dialog when searching for files. I guess search programs is just an advanced search that only looks for apps and not files so perhaps the filter it uses is damaged but not sure where the settings are stored.

calex71 · 22-12-2008 12:31am

u using any programs like crap cleaner?

Capt'n Midnight · 22-12-2008 7:23pm

have you tried logging on as a different user ?

deffo check for malware

if .lnk files were associated with the wrong program that might cause it
LOOK at this link - DO NOT DO the stuff there as it could make the problem much worse
http://www.vistax64.com/vista-file-management/57760-lnk-file-association-4.html

best bet is system restore back to when it worked

(Vista) Programs don't appear in Start menu when I type

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