CTRL+ALT+DEL doesn't work - clean new installation of W11 Pro doesn't react on this shortcut

Winuser said:

Have you tried uninstalling all keyboard drivers and restarting the computer?

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Another option you can try is a clean boot to see if Ctrl>Alt>Del works. If it does my first guess is a program you installed has disabled the key combo. How to perform a clean boot in Windows - Microsoft Support

Seems it's a not uncommon issue on Windows 11. Most of the fixes on here have been suggested above. Did sfc/scannow not fix anything?

Apparently it can also be caused by a recently failed software update. Are Windows updates all done?

If Ctrl+Alt+Del does not work, this sounds like a malware infection.

Hazel123 said:

Sounds very odd. I don't think it's anything to do with a Microsoft account. Could it be a Lenovo specific shortcut thing?

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Maybe it is. I am not sure. There is Lenovo Vantage and some Lenovo drivers. I did not uninstall it. I tried unistall only Lenovo Smart Meeting, but it cannot be removed that easily, it did returned back in other user account. It was only hidden in that one user account.

But why it have influence in safe mode? Anything from Lenovo should not be started there.

kelper said:

If Ctrl+Alt+Del does not work, this sounds like a malware infection.

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I'm wondering if Gimp or LibreOffice is turning off the key combo.

Oh dear.

#1 - I did not expect it to fail in Safe mode because it had worked in the Bios.
#5 - So Ctrl-Alt-Del works in pre-login Windows but not in normal running.

I'm sorry, I cannot think of any sensible suggestions.


Denis

swec said:

There is Lenovo Vantage and some Lenovo drivers

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I also have them but my Ctrl-Alt-Del works normally.
[I do not have to use the Fn key for Ctrl-Alt-Del and have never seen a Fn key apply to these particular keys.]


Denis

If you've only installed two or three programs and not all your files yet, you could try doing a reset - which would reinstall Windows to factory settings. That's if you've tried pressing the function key with control alt delete.

Edit: Posted at the same time as Try3

kelper said:

If Ctrl+Alt+Del does not work, this sounds like a malware infection.

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I found this answer on some places on internet too. But this computer passed scan by ESET antivirus as clean several times (within 3 days period). I know it is not 100% proof... can be disabled shortcut CTRL+ALT+DEL the only one symptom?

Btw. i installed only
Firefox & Thunderbird (i have installers on my USB Flash - then it was updated from Mozilla)
Gimp (from gimp.org)
Chrome (from google.com)
LibreOffice (from libreoffice.org)
OpenVPN (from openvpn.net)
and Acrobat Reader from my USB Flash (which i checked by antivirus after that and it seems to be clean)

It wasn't used for internet browsing or reading emails yet (except downloading apps, which URLs i wrote directly in address line)

I don't know :) Otherwise i would not asked here :)

I think what Winuser is suggesting is that, rather than malware, it could be a program in the background causing issues. Or possibly an update that didn't complete. I think I'd just do a reset.

Hazel123 said:

Apparently it can also be caused by a recently failed software update. Are Windows updates all done?

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Yes. All updates are installed successfully. I tried search updates and there is nothing new.

swec,

Are you absolutely sure that Ctrl-Alt-Del failed in Safe mode?
If so, it cannot be a program running in the background that is causing the problem because it would not have been running in Safe mode.

You could try the repetitive & tedious Clean boot procedure to identify which Windows component or service is causing the problem.
Clean boot - ElevenForumTutorials


Denis

You're chasing your tail now. I think I'd punt and just reload Win11 Clean...again. Using bypass w/local account only again. However this time right after clean install try the Ctrl-Alt-Del and see if it works after an initial basic install before any updates. Go from there.

swec said:

But this computer passed scan by ESET antivirus as clean several times (within 3 days period).

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Just to double check, you can go to the Eset website and do a online virus scan.

Hazel123 said:

Have you tried pressing function control alt delete?

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Yes - no reaction.

(individually all keys are working - ALT+F4 works, DEL works, CTRL+S works... )

As i wrote before. I even tried TeamViewer QS and send CTRL+ALT+DEL through it. On other PC's it worked, not here with this new one. And of course - USB keyboard or Onscreen keyboard too...

kelper said:

You can fill in system specs for two computers. It's quite rude to refuse when we are trying to help you!

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Ok... this problematic notebook i must give to the user/owner tomorow morning, now is already very late evening. So i don't have time to do almost anything with it. Maybe later i will try solve it again if i will have opportunity. Reinstall is not option for now.

But just for good measure, it is:

Lenovo ThinkBook 14 G6 ABP
AMD Ryzen 5 7530U
16G DDR4
SSD WD 512G
full HD IPS display

And of course, online scan with ESET ended clean too (i chose max. thorough test, to be sure)

I would disable ESET. If that works, uninstall ESET and use the Windows Security (Defender) which is part of Windows and works just as well and is free.

Conclusion:
I did reinstall it. I really don't like this kind of solution. It seems to be unnatural for me. I just cannot get to used to solve problems by reboot and reinstall. But it did help.

I tried reinstall it with preserving applications and data. Installer did not preserved applications, but at least local users stayed local, only administrator was enabled for some reason, so i disabled it again.

Only important setting was pretty easy return back from my backup. So it took me only something between 60 - 90 minutes.

And CTRL+ALT+DEL is working again...

It must had be some setting which remained from original Windows Installer... only bad thing is, we don't know what it was.

Maybe someone else will solve it if this happens again.

Spunk said:

I would disable ESET. If that works, uninstall ESET and use the Windows Security (Defender) which is part of Windows and works just as well and is free.

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I doubt very much it's Eset causing the problem. I'm using Eset on my main desktop and it runs without any problems.