StartMenuExperienceHost.exe crashes immediately after trying to open the Start Menu

[tiny plume]

Hi all, a bit stumped here. Yesterday my PC was running fine. Today I logged in and saw that I could not use my Start Menu. I checked Task Manager and saw that StartMenuExperienceHost.exe was launching everytime I clicked the Start button, attaching to the parent Start process, then exiting immediately. I tried launching it manually with "Run new task" and it did the same thing, however it did not attach to the parent Start process and still exited immediately.

When I checked in Event Viewer, I realised that the error log was different depending on if I started it by clicking the Start button or started it manually:

Clicking the Start button:
Faulting application name: StartMenuExperienceHost.exe, version: 10.0.26100.3624, time stamp: 0x35cab347
Faulting module name: Windows.UI.Xaml.dll, version: 10.0.26100.3624, time stamp: 0xf947b0de
Exception code: 0xc000027b
Fault offset: 0x0000000000904353
Faulting process id: 0x4CBC
Faulting application start time: 0x1DBA0291CBE38D8
Faulting application path: C:\WINDOWS\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperienceHost.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\System32\Windows.UI.Xaml.dll
Report Id: 431153a5-10d2-4be2-88d0-73233e7c9ed7
Faulting package full name: Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_10.0.26100.3323_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy

Manual:
Faulting application name: StartMenuExperienceHost.exe, version: 10.0.26100.3624, time stamp: 0x35cab347
Faulting module name: Windows.UI.Xaml.dll, version: 10.0.26100.3624, time stamp: 0xf947b0de
Exception code: 0xc0000409
Fault offset: 0x000000000069036e
Faulting process id: 0x5708
Faulting application start time: 0x1DBA02A8ED47EB1
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\StartMenuExperienceHost.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\System32\Windows.UI.Xaml.dll
Report Id: 048cde07-5ba9-4d43-b25d-893d32688573
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

Note the different Exception codes, 0xc000027b VS 0xc0000409, as well as the last two lines being blank in the manual log.

Notes:

• sfc /scannow (no issues detected)
• DISM (nada)
• Get-AppxPackage -Name Microsoft.Windows.StartMenuExperienceHost | Remove-AppxPackage (would not let me at all, even when running as admin, tells me to use "Turn Windows Features on or off", but there's no way in hell Windows would have the Start Menu toggleable from there)
• Tried another user profile, worked fine (but I do not wanna have to delete or move over my user profile.) The affected user profile was a Microsoft Account with admin privileges, and the working account is a local admin.
• Tried rolling back updates (specifically KB5054979)
• Tried reinstalling current version of Windows in System > Recovery (Failed to install)
• Right clicking and choosing Search works fine
• Third party Start Menus like Start11 works fine (if this persists I may just purchase the full version, not an ad or endorsement in any way of course but it's lowkey goated)

System Information:

• Surface Laptop Studio 2 (i7 13700H, 32GB RAM, 4050, 1TB SSD)
• Windows 11 24H2 26100.3624

This is copied and pasted from my post on r/WindowsHelp, with a few modifications.

[zenith ore]

Hi, I want you to do two things for us:

1. Download and run this tool then take a screenshot of whether it was a pass or not https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/15951/intel-processor-diagnostic-tool.html
2. Do the same with Specify, it will allow you to share information about your OS and hardware with us to aid troubleshooting:
   Spec-ify:
   Download the tool from the following link:
   https://github.com/Spec-ify/specify/releases/download/v1.4.0/Specify.exe
   Run Specify.exe and follow the prompts.
   Once it is done, it will automatically open a link and copy it to your clipboard. Click "Close Program" at the end to exit.
   Paste the url from your browser in the chat.

This report will be deleted automatically after 24 hours & retrieves no personal info.

[smoky sable]

stowed exception and buffer overrun is pretty nasty error code that is hard to pinpoint tbh

bet there's .dmp file in win+r -> type %localappdata%/crashdumps for said .exe?

[tiny plume]

https://spec-ify.com/profile/a1afd3e2
Might be important but I got super loud coil whine when running the Intel test

[tiny plume]

This is the latest one

[smoky sable]

https://www.yourwindowsguide.com/2017/12/how-to-share-event-logs-in-case-of.html#.ZFfoIRFByUk also do this

all I see here are combase and ye as I said stowed exception

[smoky sable]

have you done dism and sfc scans?

[zenith ore]

The C drive is filled to the brim as well

[tiny plume]

Yep, both ran normally

[zenith ore]

that's going to slow your PC a lot

[tiny plume]

yeah it has been like that for the better part of a year. I've procrastinated trying to fix my home server so most of my important files (music mostly) is on my laptop. I haven't felt much slowdown personally, at least nothing intrusive.

[smoky sable]

this is complicated

i also see multiple onecore mentions in your evtx

[tiny plume]

I see a lot of stuff that I just barely understand

[zenith ore]

I wanted to point at the CPU today, guess not :(

[tiny plume]

My rusty crusty CPU lives another day!

[smoky sable]

can you make a new user profile

and see if search works there

[tiny plume]

Yes I already did that and it works

Both search and using another profile

[smoky sable]

oh didn't see that thing

cool so it's something wrong with your user profile then

[tiny plume]

If it ends up that I'm at fault messing with something I shouldn't have, I'll concede and migrate to another profile. But if not and it's something as simple as a buggy windows update (It did update last night), I'd rather hang tight because most of my PC use relies on settings I changed months ago that I would never know how to remake lol

[smoky sable]

guess re-registering start menu doesn't work at all

ye

[tiny plume]

That's Get-AppxPackage right?

[smoky sable]

yes

[tiny plume]

Yeah I was just outright denied

[smoky sable]

can I see the error?

[smoky sable]

cud also do this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAOwN68AInE

[tiny plume]

That was gonna be my second-last resort (before migrating profiles), is this the same as resetting the PC while keeping personal files, where my installed apps would be removed, or would this preserve my installed apps?

Ignore that, video just answered my question haha

[smoky sable]

resetting pc is unreliable, this is more reliable

[tiny plume]

Alright, I'll be back once it's done

Also, once it's done will I have to reinstall my Surface drivers?

[zenith ore]

Nah, an in-place repair does just that; repairs Windows

doesn't tamper with drivers afaik

[tiny plume]

Still waiting, it's stuck on the second getting updates screen lol

It just skips past the "choose what to keep" screen

[tiny plume]

yep, every time it gets stuck on 46% exactly. I'll let it simmer for a bit but it's not going well

[zenith ore]

uhhh, maybe it's no wonder - it requires ~30GB of free space to pull off

[tiny plume]

Forgot about that part lol, I'll see what I can do