[SOLVED] Personalized Settings (Not Responding)

If you’re greeted with a dark screen with this Personalized Settings (Not Responding) box in the upper left after Windows Update, don’t panic. Many users have reported the same. But luckily they’ve solved this woe with the fixes below. So read on and check them out…

6 Fixes for Personalized Settings (Not Responding) 

The screenshots below are from Windows 10, but the fixes work in Windows 8.1 and 7 as well.

You may not have to try all these fixes; just work your way down the list until the problem is resolved.

1. Restart your computer
2. Switch the network connection
3. Re-launch Windows explorer
4. Run SFC Command
5. Delete a file in regedit
6. Want us to fix the problem for you?

Fix 1: Restart your computer

1. On your keyboard, press Ctrl, Alt and Del keys at the same time.
2. In the bottom right of your screen, click the Power button
    and choose Restart.
3.  Hopefully your desktop comes up normally this time. If not, continue with Fix 2.

Fix 2: Switch the network connection

1. On your keyboard, press Ctrl, Alt and Del keys at the same time.
2. In the bottom right of your screen, click the airplane mode icon
    (or the computer network icon  ). Then click Airplane mode whether it’s On or Off to switch the network connection.
   

   

3. In the middle of your computer screen, click Sign out.
4. Log in your computer and see if you get your desktop back this time. If the  Personalized Settings (Not Responding) still lingers on, you should try Fix 3, below.

Fix 3: Re-launch Windows explorer

1. On your keyboard, press Ctrl, Alt and Del keys at the same time, then click Task Manager.
2. Right-click on Windows Explorer and click End task.
   

   

3. Click File > Run new task.
   

   

4. Type explorer into the box, tick the box before Create this task with administrative privileges and click OK.
   

   

   
   Now you should have your desktop back.
5. Restart your computer and login again to see if this Personalized Settings (Not Responding) issue has been solved.

Fix 4: Run SFC Command

1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and type cmd. Then right click on Command Prompt and click Run as administrator.
   

   

   
   Click Yes when prompted to confirm.
2. In the command prompt window, type sfc /scannow and press Enter.
   

   

   It’ll take some time for the SFC to replace the corrupted system files with new ones if it detects any, so please be patient. 🙂
3. Restart your computer and see if your desktop loads properly. If the Personalized Settings (Not Responding) issue still persists, continue with Fix 5.

Fix 5: Delete a file in regedit

1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and type regedit, then right-click on regedit and click Run as administrator.
   

   

   
   Click Yes when prompted to confirm.
2. Locate and double-click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Active Setup > Installed Components. 
   

   

3. Right-click on the last file and click Export to back up the file. 
   

   

   If this fix doesn’t help with the situation, you might want to import the file to restore the backup. Check out this link for further information.
4. Right-click on the last file and click Delete.
5. Restart your computer and see if your desktop comes back.

Fix 6: Want us to fix the problem for you?

If the fix above didn’t work, and you don’t have the time or confidence to troubleshoot the problem for yourself, get us to fix it for you. All you need to do is buy a 1-year subscription to Driver Easy (just $29.95) and you get free technical support as part of your purchase. This means you can contact our computer technicians directly and explain your problem, and they’ll investigate to see if they can resolve it remotely.

How have the fixes above helped you with your troubleshooting? Do you have any ideas or tips to share with us? Drop a comment below and let us know your thoughts. 

• Windows