Security News > 2021 > September > Microsoft breaks Windows 11 Start Menu, Taskbar with Teams promo

Microsoft accidentally broke the Start menu and taskbar on systems of Windows Insiders after pushing a Teams promo to the desktops of users running Windows 11 preview builds.

While the company didn't explain the reason behind Dev and Beta Channel Insiders experiencing Start menu and taskbar unresponsive and having issues accessing other OS areas, including Settings, developer Daniel Aleksandersen discovered that a buggy promo deployment caused the problem.

"The problem wasn't caused by an update delivered through Windows Update," Aleksandersen explained.

"The promo intended to promote the upcoming operating system's integration with Microsoft Teams Instead, it caused Explorer to stop responding and left users without a working Start menu and taskbar."

Windows Insiders impacted by this issue reported that they couldn't use their computers because Explorer and the Taskbar are gone, and the Windows desktop shell is not accessible even after reinstalling the system.

"Recently, Windows Insiders in both the Dev and Beta Channels began reporting that Start and Taskbar were unresponsive and Settings and other areas of the OS wouldn't load," Microsoft said.

News URL

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-breaks-windows-11-start-menu-taskbar-with-teams-promo/