Windows 10: Windows 11 - File explorer does not refresh, WSL will not start after recent updates

I'm running:Windows 11 Pro Version 21H2 Experience: Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22000.527.0And found that after some recent windows updates, I'm having a few problems.- File explorer does not refresh correctly. Any time I create a folder, delete something, rename, the UI does not update unless I hit F5 or manually refresh. - WSL will not start - it just hangs and never starts, eventually says "terminated with exit code 4294967295" - Task Scheduler will not run - just hangsMy most recent windows updates were these - I think it was the updates on 2/18:Updates 2/18 Update for Microsoft

:)

 

Recent File List

Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file1

Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file2
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file3
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file4
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file5
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file6
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file7
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file8
Remove-ItemProperty -Path "Registry::HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Applets\Paint\Recent File List" -name file9
...

you get the idea. ( too lazy to put it in a for loop and test it.

or just open regedit and remove all the fileX from that key.

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Pressing “Windows+Pause Break” (it’s up there next to scroll lock) opens the “System” Window.

Windows 10: In the new version of Windows, Explorer has a section called Quick Access. This includes your frequent folders and recent files. Explorer defaults to opening this page when you open a new window. If you’d rather open the usual This PC, with links to your drives and library folders, follow these steps:

• Open a new Explorer window.
• Click View in the ribbon.
• Click Options.
• Under General, next to “Open File Explorer to:” choose “This PC.”
• Click OK

credit to Lifehacker.

 

File Explorer stopped refreshing

For the record, this article worked for me. I started experiencing the no-refresh issue a few weeks ago. No other solutions I found seemed to work, but this worked!

How to Fix it When the Desktop/File Explorer Won’t Automatically Refresh in Windows 10/8/7 | scootercomputers

Basically do the following:

1. Delete all the files inside %AppData%\Microsoft\windows\recent\automaticdestinations
2. Delete all the files inside %AppData%\Microsoft\windows\recent\customdestinations
3. Restart your PC.

To quote the article why this seems to happen: