Start Menu Not Showing?

[SeeJay023]

When i click on 'Start', i get this black screen thing and when i click on 'All Programs' it won't show up. Any help?

[jbennet]

Are you on a corporate domain?
XP pro, Home? what?

[SeeJay023]

I'm running XP. It's been doing this for a while now. When i start the computer, it's fine but then after a while it turns black. I can post a screen so you can have a better idea.

[jbennet]

Yeah a screenshot would be good

[SeeJay023]

This is what i get.

http://i33.tinypic.com/25jczfo.jpg

[hotmatrixx]

I've seen that. It is caused by adding custom themes and junk like windowblinds.

first if you have a skinning program, uninstall it or run a different skin.
second (if that is not the case)

rightclick dektop
properties
themes tab
set the theme to "windows XP"
hit apply.
go to the appearance tab
put windows and buttons as "XP style"
set the other stuff that you want while you are there.
hit apply

you will then need to go to the desktop tab and reselect the picture you want in the background.

hit apply, then OK

let me know how it goes.

[jbennet]

Are you running MCE? or did you put the Royale theme on xp?

[hotmatrixx]

I thought I just gave the solution to that problem?

[SeeJay023]

Sorry i haven't been on recently. I don't have any custom themes installed. So i did all that was said but i actually had the 'energy blue' theme instead of the 'windows XP'. I'm not running MCE or any other theme other than the 'energy blue' theme that came with the OS.

I will post if the problem persists, other than that, thanks for the help!

[SeeJay023]

So i haven't had this problem until today. I get the same black screen thing on the start menu. Any help? Thanks.

[sittas87]

Hi

I'll be honest this is actually the first time that I see something like this.I think the reason is cos Ive never experienced this using custom themes. Im currently using a custom OS and I can tell you the performance of the custom OS is far slower than on the original OS. I am yet to roll back to the Original OS (Or shall I say upgrade)

If you'd asked me Id say this behavior is due to the theme being installed.
Did you have this problem from the the beginning of the theme installation?

[hotmatrixx]

do you get pink, too? Download a trial version of either aston or window blinds by star dock. Install and run it. Does that fix? Tip: find and install a 3rd party un install utility first. Plenty of freeware ones out there

[SeeJay023]

The funny thing is that I'm not running any custom themes. It's actually the theme that WinXP came with. It's called 'Energy Blue'. If you right-click the desktop and go to Properties and then Themes, it should be on there. I'm not sure if this affects it but sometimes my desktop makes this loud noise, like if it were overheating and it happens when I'm running a couple of programs.

[sittas87]

Hi "SJ"

I can tell you this eight er a custom theme that was installed or its another custom made OS. Cos I have a OEM OS disk and honestly I don't get that theme.
As for you're "desktop making noise" That's the first time I heard of that...
If you suspect its a overheating issue then while the sound is making its chaos go to task manager and select the performance tab. Have a look at you're "CPU Usage" fluctuation. If the spike idles at the 80< mark without you having any programs open witch demands some real CPU usage then you're suspicion might count to be right.

PS by what I hear you saying I still believe its a custom OS/ theme thats resulting in this behavior.

Let me know how it goes

[jbennet]

yeah that theme isnt standard unless you are running xp media center

[SeeJay023]

Sorry i didnt mention i have XP Media Center. As for the overheating issue, you mean if it reaches about 80%, right? Once it makes that noise i will check to see the CPU Usage. Do you think that one of the reasons it makes that noise is because the PC has collected dust? I'm actually planning to clean it with those Air Duster cans soon and maybe that will help?

[sittas87]

Hi SJ
yeah I mean 80% or higher. In actual fact a good cpu's temp will have a average 30-45 % in normal work flow. In my opinion 50-55% is still acceptable. Anything higher should become a concern and something to look @.

Cleaning you're pc an air duster is part of maintenance... I'll give you thumbs up for that.

ps I dont think that the noise is due to cpu overheating. But lets confirm that to satisfy you're curiosity. :)

[jbennet]

Wait what?

Temps are in degrees C or F, cpu usage is in %

[SeeJay023]

So after a while, my comp started making that noise and i checked to see the percentage and it was in about 97% average. I was running a program which was converting a movie file while it was making that noise. But i think even with a program running, it shouldn't be making that noise, right?

[sittas87]

My fwend i got stuck in the moment. I want to apologise sincerely. the percentage is in task manager is the usage of you're cpu. It is the degrees that you should be looking at for overheating. You must monitor the pc health status on the first screen @ startup or alternatively in you're BIOS> PC Health/Status.

Thank you for the correction Jbennet. Apologies to you SeeJay

[SeeJay023]

Oh okay. So the cpu usage does not have anything to do with the problem, right? And where do i go to check the pc health status?