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dejudicibus's avatar
dejudicibus
Copper Contributor
Dec 25, 2020

Microsoft, please, develop a tool to reinstall the Microsoft Store and Start Menu.

I think that Microsoft should develop a tool to RECREATE the Microsoft Store. Not just a troubleshooter or a tool to reinstall packages, but something that does what Windows 10 Installation does.  Why? Let me tell you my story...

I just bought a Dell G5 with Windows 10 to replace my old Lenovo because the operating system had become too unstable. I installed Office, Adobe Creative Cloud and Norton Antivirus and everything worked fine for a while. At one point Windows Update told me there were updates to install. I did, I rebooted the system and the ordeal began.

 

The problem is well known, judging by how many people on the net claim to have it: the culprit is the Microsoft Store. There are three symptoms:

 

1. If I click on Microsoft Store the window opens for a second and then disappears
2. if I click with the RMB on Explorer on the taskbar, taskbar’s jump list does not appear
3. if I click on Start, nothing happens

 

Especially points 2. and 3. are a problem. So I began to study all the various solutions, but none of them worked.

 

a. I launched "sfc /scannow": it worked, there are no errors, but it did not fix the problem
b. I launched "dism.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /RestoreHealth": it worked, but it did not fix the problem
c. I created another user: the problem occurred also for the newly created user
d. I used PowerShell to recreate the APPs. I used

 

 

 

Get-AppXPackage-AllUsers|Foreach{Add-AppxPackage-DisableDevelopmentMode-register"$($_InstallLocation.)\AppXManifest.xml"}

 

 

 

That command reinstalled most apps, with few errors for few apps because the existing app had higher version or was in use: it did not fix the problem
e. I launched "wsreset.exe": I got error ms-windows-store:PurgeCaches - app did not start

f. of course I launched the troubleshooter for Microsoft Store, but it simply told me that it could not fix the problem

 

I also tried several other strategies I found on Microsoft sites and forums. I tried really everything. No result.

 

So I used the Media Creation Tool to get the latest version of Windows reinstalled from scratch. It was a mess because it gave me only the option to loose all apps and files — I do not know why —  but I did it. From a newly installed Windows 10, I started the whole process again. Now the Microsoft Store was ok, as well as Start and the taskbar’s jump list. The problem seemed to be solved, but of course I had just an empty operating system, no applications.

 

So I reinstalled the same applications than before, very standard, common and famous applications, like Photoshop and Office, that is, the same I had on my old PC, but again, after a couple of restarts, I got the same problem. The Start menu does not work at all, so the Microsoft Store. 

 

Now I use the Open-Shell menu to use the Start button. It is a good workaround but the Store and all the store app cannot be used. For example, the Feedback Hub does not work. Not the notification sidebar on right side of screen.

 

I suspect that the problem might be related to some dependency, for example some Visual C++ Redistributable Packages that may create a conflict, but I have no idea how to troubleshoot my system. Probably snooping inside the Event Viewer, but I have no idea what to look for.

 

That is why I think that a tool that reinstall ONLY the Microsoft and Start Menu would be necessary.

1 Reply

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    dejudicibus wrote:

     

    So I used the Media Creation Tool to get the latest version of Windows reinstalled from scratch. It was a mess because it gave me only the option to loose all apps and files — I do not know why —  but I did it. From a newly installed Windows 10, I started the whole process again. Now the Microsoft Store was ok, as well as Start and the taskbar’s jump list. The problem seemed to be solved, but of course I had just an empty operating system, no applications.

     

    So I reinstalled the same applications than before, very standard, common and famous applications, like Photoshop and Office, that is, the same I had on my old PC, but again, after a couple of restarts, I got the same problem. The Start menu does not work at all, so the Microsoft Store. 

     

    Now I use the Open-Shell menu to use the Start button. It is a good workaround but the Store and all the store app cannot be used.


    Hello dejudicibus,

     

    When you reinstalled Windows, you said everything was working fine unless you installed other applications that doesn't comes pre-installed. I highly recommend you to cross check these applications because I suspect some application is breaking your system. 

     

    To identify the problematic application, you can also try clean boot:

     

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-in/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows

     

    Once you spot the problematic application, you can uninstall it and try installing its newer version (if you had older version).

     

    Let us know if this helps! 

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