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Many sysadmins report encountering an odd behavior when using Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) to Windows Server 2012 R2 machines: the Start button becomes completely unresponsive. The button doesn't highlight on hover, and clicking produces no effect. This occurs intermittently across different server environments.

From analyzing multiple cases, we've identified these common characteristics:

• Only affects Windows Server 2012 R2 (not 2008 R2 or 2016+)
• Occurs in approximately 15-20% of RDP sessions
• Not related to specific RDP client versions
• Explorer.exe appears normal in Task Manager

Try these solutions before resorting to server reboots:

# PowerShell command to restart Explorer
Stop-Process -Name explorer -Force
Start-Process explorer.exe

Alternatively, use these keyboard shortcuts:

• ALT+Home (classic Windows Server behavior)
• Windows key + X for admin menu
• CTRL+ESC as Start button alternative

This registry tweak has resolved the issue permanently for many users:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
"EnableUIADesktopToggle"=dword:00000000

The issue appears related to:

• RDP session initialization failures in the UI components
• Conflicts between modern and classic UI elements
• Resource allocation issues during RDP connection

Create a PowerShell monitoring script:

# StartMenuMonitor.ps1
while ($true) {
    $startButton = (Get-Process explorer).MainWindowTitle
    if ($startButton -notlike "*Start*") {
        Write-EventLog -LogName Application -Source "RDP Fixer" -EventID 1001 -Message "Start button failure detected"
        Restart-Explorer
    }
    Start-Sleep -Seconds 30
}

function Restart-Explorer {
    Stop-Process -Name explorer -Force
    Start-Process explorer.exe
}

When troubleshooting, consider these approaches:

1. Use Server Manager's Tools menu
2. Create custom MMC consoles
3. Implement PowerShell Remoting
4. Deploy RSAT tools for local management

During remote desktop sessions to Windows Server 2012 R2 machines, many admins report the Start button becoming completely unresponsive - no hover effects, no click response. Strangely, the keyboard shortcut (Alt+Home) continues to work perfectly. While a server reboot temporarily resolves the issue, it often reappears unpredictably.

The root cause appears to be explorer.exe process corruption during RDP sessions. The shell components responsible for Start menu functionality become detached from the UI thread. Here's how to verify:

# PowerShell check for hung explorer components
Get-Process explorer | Where {$_.Responding -eq $false}

Instead of full reboots, try these targeted solutions:

• Restart just Explorer: taskkill /f /im explorer.exe & start explorer.exe
• Use PowerShell alternatives: Start-Process "control.exe" for Control Panel
• Create custom shortcuts for frequent tasks

Add this registry tweak to prevent future occurrences:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
"FilterAdministratorToken"=dword:00000001

Create a scheduled task to automatically detect and fix the issue:

# Save as StartMenuMonitor.ps1
while ($true) {
    $shell = (New-Object -ComObject "Shell.Application")
    try {
        $null = $shell.NameSpace(0x0)
    } catch {
        Stop-Process -Name explorer -Force
        Start-Process explorer.exe
    }
    Start-Sleep -Seconds 300
}