Windows 10: Microsoft Apps suddenly broken

Same problem here. I seem to be missing the WinStore folder/directory completely from C:\Windows\. This is on a couple of weeks old install of Windows 10 v10586. Funny thing is I never did anything to the Web Store, I wouldn't touch it with a stick. I was trying to load the Xbox app to turn off DVR Recoding to fix a Windows 10 Nvidia Shadowplay memory leak and the Xbox App wasn't logging me into it with error 0x409. From then it just spiraled out of control. Tried PowerShell command to re-register all apps and that broke every single app possible coming up with rubish @Microsoft.blabla names and rendering them useless. Used System Restore to bring back my apps. Now all my apps are working apart from the XBox one as before but if I use the PowerShell command they all break as before and I can't download any other apps from the Web Store at all, they just come up as "Working" continuously. Tinkered with services.msc BITS, Windows Update and all that and nothing works.

Ever since I installed W10 I've had nothing but problems. Seems every day I open this PC (medium spec gaming PC with SSD) I spend about half my day fixing issues with it. I don't want to ****ing reinstall my W10 every other day, it's a pain in the ass setting it as I want just once... This is easily the worst Windows I have ever worked with. I've already tried to Reset it once, couldn't get rid of previous installation files after and it corrupted just as fast soon enough so am skeptical of the In-Place Update.

Keep your damn Apps on tablets/phones and keep PCs separate. Microsoft going in the wrong direction completely.

Additional details: DISM + SFC no issues, WSReset.exe works but doesn't solve anything, Troubleshooter shows no issues with Web Store... Ya....Right!

 

Have I misunderstood something? Is it the case that if you re-install with a MCT you can keep your third-party apps but just lose your Store apps? As many of my Store apps are broken anyway I am expecting to have to re-install them at some point, when the bug has been fixed.

Here is another question. Many of my programs, and since the November update some of my Store apps, are now on an integral SD Memory Card, plus a few on a USB Flash Drive. Am I right in thinking these would not be touched by the re-install? If so that would make things easier.

My main reservation is that it way not be so straightforward to re-install because of the limited amount of storage space on my C Drive, 5 GB or less. This is why i paid a techie to do the upgrade, it needed expertise I do not have. The November update was also difficult for the same reason, but I succeeded in the end despite notifications that the storage space was inadequate.

By the way, I have not found appealing for help with the Store and apps bug, on the Microsoft Community forum of much use (so far).

 

Incorrect I would assume. Since W10 is basically reinstalling, it won't know what apps you have and to reinstall them, so I would think they will still physically be on your HDD but won't be linked to the Web Store as if purchased. No idea how you would link them through PowerShell commands or Regedit. My suggestion is to make a physical list of the apps you currently have installed and reinstall them all 1 by 1 after the reformat.

PS: Maybe there's some bundle installer somewhere for your apps like NiNite is for programs?

 

You can "upgrade" Windows 10 to Windows 10 to perform a repair install. I've done it several times with the media created by MCT. I mount the media (USB stick or DVD), navigate to the drive letter, and double-click on SETUP. It replaces the Windows software, but leaves all my third-party applications and their configurations, and all my documents, just like the original upgrade. It takes 1 to 3 hours for me. I've done this to fix glitches in Windows that just seem to appear, and it works. I suppose I could do the same by going to the upgrade site and select "Upgrade my computer", but I've never tried it.

 

Never ever run that powershell command to repair apps. All it does it breaks apps that only a refresh can fix. You have been warned.

 

Yes, I am afraid you are right. It is suspected that there is a bug in the November update for which the PowerShell command to re-register apps is a trigger. I just hope that Microsoft is about to issue a fix.

 

Me too. In the meanwhile why is this thread marked as Solved? It clearly isn't for many of us.

 

Only the person who opened a thread (@zaarin2003 in this case) can close it. Obviously he or she thought it was fixed for them at the time.

Since then there has been a major upgrade to Windows 10 and the powershell to re-install apps now breaks them. Even this forum still has Turorials suggesting you run it (not sure why).

It is just one of those things - time passes, things change.

Best you open another thread (and don't try re-installing apps with powershell without backing up first).

Really though any of this this should always be a test fix. Perhaps it will work, perhaps not. You can't just run any old script you read on the internet and assume it will work.

 

Which powershell command do you mean? I ran a powershell command to fix an apps problem (it didn't work) and fear I've now screwed up W10 even more requiring a repair install!

 

I think he's referring to this Steve C

Windows 10 Store won't open - Windows 10 Forums

 

I had been hoping Microsoft would have issued a fix for the November bug by now, but as January comes towards an end without anything from them it looks unlikely. I am not often prone to criticising them, but this has been a bad business. I fear I am going to have to get my head round a re-install, as some users have recommended. I follow quite a few different forums in which I have not encountered a single example of someone resolving the issue other than by re-installing.

I think it may be worth explaining how I came to be caught by the PowerShell app re-registration trap, as someone who had never used PowerShell before. It was as a result of using the FixWin 10 Tool produced by The Windows Club. One of its features is the procedure to re-register app(s) with a PowerShell command, which I hoped would repair a corrupt Calendar app. The rest as they say is history. My Calendar app is still in need of repair, to which is added the Store, plus a large number of important Microsoft apps which are in an even worse unusable state, and several third-party apps aswell.

 

I have started reading up regarding my impending re-install and already have questions in addition to the ones above --- the info I have found is far from clear:

1. Is the MCT the same thing as the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool, under a different name?
2. Much of the documentation just refers to Windows 7 --- do I take that download process detects what Windows OS you have and are intending to re-install?
3. "Before you run the Download Tool, make sure you have purchased the Windows ISO download from Microsoft Store and downloaded the Windows ISO file to your drive." What does this mean? What 'purchase'? It is not possible anyway, because a totally broken Store is one of things for which the re-install is intended as a remedy
4. the 'Missing Manual' says not only are the third-party apps / programs lost but also most drivers, which will have to be found and installed again
5. Is it still the case that USB drives larger than 8 GB will not work?

 

#1 Basically yes. I use Rufus though because I made my Windows GPT partitioned (allows UEFI) not MBR. If you're not familiar with those terms you need not concern with them and just do what you normally do.
#2 MCT also knows Windows 10
#3 Microsoft Store =/= Windows Web Store. 2 different platforms. But since Windows 10 is free, you should be able to get the ISO from Microsoft somewhere. I believe MCT actually downloads it for you.
#4 True and true. But Windows 7 onwards has its own large library of known drivers so everytime you plug something in it will just recognise it more or less. What you should do though is this. Get your network drivers downloaded before hand and have them ready after the Windows install. Once you install the network drivers you're good to go and Windows will download the rest that it needs.

Hope you have an easy time. For me, the Web Store not functioning is just something I can live without so it doesn't bother me so I don't want to go down the reinstall path. The issue is still there though, I was fortunate enough to be able to use a Restore Point to bring back the functionality of the basic apps like Calculator and such.

 

Hi Clay

Yes, you are right. The November Update has a bug that breaks windows apps when we try to fix it through the Appx cmdlet using PowerShell. In fact the Appx commands reinstalls the Windows Apps correctly, However, due to the bug, it also immediately deletes a folder within the Windows apps folder that is required for the respective Apps to launch successfully. If that deleted folder is replaced for each app that is broken, It will be up and running.

I spent quite some time trying to figure out what is happening and was able to finally get to the solution. The logic is simple, replace the missing folders back into the windows app folder. We need to follow a systematic approach fixing it. It could be the ultimate solution, until Microsoft Fixes it. I have posted the walk-through step by step in my Blog techtantri. Please check it, it would surely be helpful for our Windows 10 Community. I had also provided a fix for reinstalling edge browser which was shared in this forum by Slugger.

I can help guide you to fix the calendar app and all other Windows Apps without having to ever re-install Windows for these issues. Please post here, the symptoms of the issue as well as the steps that you had already followed trying to fix it. It will usually take no more than 5 minutes to fix the calendar App.

Download the missing Windows App files from here and then just copy and paste it into the C:\Program Files\WindowsApps Folder. You need to take ownership of the Windows App Folder to let Windows allow you to paste it.