Windows 7 Recently used programs not showing up in Start Menu

[kornwhyser]

I've been having some issues with my start menu lately.

A few days ago, I did a system restore on my computer and everything was fine except for my start menu, all of my recently used programs have disappeared. The ones that I have pinned were still there, but none of the ones that pop up when you open a program x amount of times.

I undid the system restore to see if that fixed the issue, but it didn't, the programs were still missing. So I went on google and started searching and searching, I got a bunch of results that contained people experiencing the same issue as me, but all of the solutions that were given didn't help.

I've tried going into the registry to change the StartMenuInit value from 4 to 3, then restarting, there was no NoRecentDocsMenu item in my registry, I've messed with the Start Menu properties, both "Store and display recently opened programs in the Start Menu" and "Store and display recently opened items in the Start menu and the taskbar" are checked, I've gone into customize and changed the size from 10 to 5 to 15 to 20 and back to 10, nothing works. Recent Items is checked in the customize window.

Another issue I'm having is that the Search function isn't showing all of my files. I search for a program, say VLC Media Player, no results come up. So I go find the player through all of the folders and whatnot, then I search for the program in EXACTLY how it is in the file "vlc.exe" and again, nothing shows up.

Here are some screenshots:

 

[Jimbo22]

Sounds like you have some system files that are missing or corrupted. Try running sfc /scannow in command prompt. Have a look here.

How To Use SFC Scannow to Repair Windows System Files

 

[kornwhyser]

I ran the scan and it came back with no problems

 

[fmagic]

I have found that changing the value from 4 to 3, logging off/on, then changing it back from 3 to 4, and logging off/on again seems to solve the problem for me. I am not sure why it is not sticking and why it is so sensitive. I am currently experiencing this setting working inconsistently with some Citrix servers running Windows Server 2008 R2. It works for some users and doesn't for others, so I'm constantly switching those values to reset its behavior.

I've tried going into the registry to change the StartMenuInit value from 4 to 3, then restarting, there was no NoRecentDocsMenu item in my registry, I've messed with the Start Menu properties, both "Store and display recently opened programs in the Start Menu" and "Store and display recently opened items in the Start menu and the taskbar" are checked, I've gone into customize and changed the size from 10 to 5 to 15 to 20 and back to 10, nothing works. Recent Items is checked in the customize window.