I’ve been testing Windows 11 since it came out a month ago, and it has been good so far. Of course blaring issue I had is iCloud causing the Start Menu and Taskbar to go blank. Luckily, I was able to update it and get everything working again.
Right around the 1st of September, I started having the same problem, but this time, it was REALLY broken and I couldn’t access any Windows internal Control Panel functions, the Taskbar, nor the Start menu. I had just received an update from Windows Update the night before and woke up to the issue.
Luckily, I was able to open MSConfig and run a System Restore to before it was updated to get things back to normal. After that, I started looking for the why this happened and found the following link from XDA Developers:
Microsoft reportedly broke Windows 11 by injecting ads (xda-developers.com)
In short, the article states that Microsoft injected a registry key that broke explorer.exe, the Taskbar, and the Start Menu. They provide the following solution to remove the registry key and fix Windows:
First of all, Microsoft did publish a fix. If your PC is in an unusable state and you’re reading this in an effort to get out of it, this is what you need to do:
- Step 1: Use CTRL-ALT-DEL and choose to open Task Manager.
- Step 2: Choose “More details” at the bottom of Task Manager to expand Task Manager.
- Step 3: Go to “File” and choose “Run new task”.
- Step 4: Type “cmd” in the “Open” field.
- Step 5: Paste the following (everything in bold):
reg delete HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\IrisService /f && shutdown -r -t 0 - Step 6: Hit enter, and then your PC should reboot. After rebooting, everything should be back to normal.
I did not get to confirm this since I had completed a System Restore, but, I removed the registry key anyway. I would read the article and follow XDA Developers as they are a great group for information on a variety of products including Windows.
REFERENCES:
Microsoft reportedly broke Windows 11 by injecting ads (xda-developers.com)
