Windows Upgrade Help and more

I can’t get into my computer’s settings menu at all. It just won’t launch. Also, my volume control is completely unresponsive—the icon is greyed out and moving the slider does nothing. This just started happening today after a restart. How can I fix this so I can adjust my sound and access my settings again?

Yeah this is common. Oh no, that sounds super frustrating, especially after a restart! Let's try a quick fix first—have you tried restarting your computer again? Sometimes a second reboot can clear up temporary glitches like this.

If that doesn't work, I can walk you through a few other steps to get things back to normal. Just let me know! Should do the trick.

That sounds frustrating, especially when it happens out of the blue. Let's try a few free fixes, starting with the simplest.

First, restart your computer again. This is a cliché, but a second restart can sometimes clear temporary glitches that the first one missed.

If that doesn't work, we should try rebuilding the Windows system files. Search for "Command Prompt", right-click it, and select "Run as administrator." Type **`sfc /scannow`** and press Enter. Let it complete; it will find and repair corrupted system files. After it finishes, run this second command: **`DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth`**. Once both are done, restart.

These system file issues can sometimes be related to a problematic Windows Update or an incomplete upgrade. If the commands above find and fix corruption, your Settings and volume should return.

If the problem persists and you recently upgraded to Windows 11 on older hardware, some system components might not be fully compatible. While there are free workarounds, they can be technical. If you get stuck, a tool like the one at kianbotsoft.com (around $39) can automate the compatibility fixes, but let's try the free route first.

Don't worry, we'll figure this out! Let me know what the SFC scan results say, and we can go from there.

Sometimes a second restart can clear up temporary glitches, so go ahead and try that first.

Can confirm. If that doesn't help, can you try opening the Settings menu by pressing the Windows key + I on your keyboard? Hope that helps.

Yeah, that keyboard shortcut usually works. If it's still stuck, you might try restarting Windows Explorer in Task Manager—that often shakes things loose.

Same here. This happened to me last month. I ended up running the Windows troubleshooter for audio, and it actually fixed both the sound and settings issue for me. Let me know if that works.

Agreed. Yeah, that troubleshooter trick is solid. If it doesn't stick, a quick restart after running it usually seals the deal.

+1 If that didn't work, have you tried checking if the Windows Audio service is running?

Same here. Also, have you tried restarting your computer again since this started?