D
David Badke
Guest
There are numerous "solutions" to the missing Windows Store app problem. I have tried ALL of them (really, all! See the list below), and variations of all of them. None of them work. The thing people giving the solutions don't seem to understand is that the Windows Store app is not installed AT ALL. None of the app's files are to be found on the system. The Powershell command commonly suggested:
Get-AppXPackage *Microsoft.WindowsStore* | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}
doesn't work (can never possibly work) because the WindowsStore AppXManifest.xml file does not exist. Not anywhere. Not in the C:\Program Files\WindowsApps folder (though other app files are there). Not in some hidden folder. Not in ANY folder anywhere on my system. It is gone. It is deceased. It is an EX-AppXManifest.xml file. It has shuffled off this mortal coil. It has gone to meet its maker.
Without that file, there does not seem to be any way to (re-)install the WindowsStore app. This is a SILLY situation, a sort of Catch-22: In order to re-install the WindowsStore app, you have to have the WindowsStore app files - yes, the very files you are trying to install!!!
The only remnant of the WindowsStore app I have been able to find is a subfolder in the C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Packages folder named Microsoft.WindowsStore_8wekyb3d8bbwe. That folder has several subfolders, but they are all empty. In the registry there are a few WindowsStore entries, all either referencing the Packages folder or the WindowsStore license.
Given that the WindowsStore files are not there, is there any way to install the WindowsStore app? Is the folder containing the AppXManifest file available anywhere for download? For example the folder for solitaire (which is on my system, and has its AppXManifest file) looks like:
Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection_4.4.8204.0_neutral_split.scale-125_8wekyb3d8bbwe
So presumably there should be a similar folder for WindowsStore, like:
Microsoft.WindowsStore_x.x.xxxx.x_neutral_split.scale-125_8wekyb3d8bbwe
(which does NOT exist on my system). Is that folder available anywhere for download, and would it help if I had it? Or is there a .appx available for the app?
What I have tried, in order of destructiveness:
1. Reset WindowsStore cache with WSReset.exe. No store, so how can resetting its cache help?
2. Run Windows Store Troubleshooter. Runs, but gets a vaguely defined error that it cannot fix.
3. Run SFC and DISM with the suggested parameters. No problems found, and no store.
4. Run the various PowerShell Get-AppXPackage commands. There is no AppXManifest file, so Get-AppXPackage can't do anything.
5. Create a new local user account, restart, log in. The new account has no Windows Store. WindowsStore files not on the system.
6. Create a new user account linked to my Microsoft account, restart, log in. No store.
7. Do a Windows refresh. No errors, but still no store.
8. Do a full Windows reset, the drastic kind that wipes all installed programs and settings. STILL NO STORE.
Nothing left to try.
Anyone have anything? Please? I can't believe there is no way to re-install the WindowsStore app in the above case!!!
A very frustrated David
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Get-AppXPackage *Microsoft.WindowsStore* | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}
doesn't work (can never possibly work) because the WindowsStore AppXManifest.xml file does not exist. Not anywhere. Not in the C:\Program Files\WindowsApps folder (though other app files are there). Not in some hidden folder. Not in ANY folder anywhere on my system. It is gone. It is deceased. It is an EX-AppXManifest.xml file. It has shuffled off this mortal coil. It has gone to meet its maker.
Without that file, there does not seem to be any way to (re-)install the WindowsStore app. This is a SILLY situation, a sort of Catch-22: In order to re-install the WindowsStore app, you have to have the WindowsStore app files - yes, the very files you are trying to install!!!
The only remnant of the WindowsStore app I have been able to find is a subfolder in the C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Packages folder named Microsoft.WindowsStore_8wekyb3d8bbwe. That folder has several subfolders, but they are all empty. In the registry there are a few WindowsStore entries, all either referencing the Packages folder or the WindowsStore license.
Given that the WindowsStore files are not there, is there any way to install the WindowsStore app? Is the folder containing the AppXManifest file available anywhere for download? For example the folder for solitaire (which is on my system, and has its AppXManifest file) looks like:
Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection_4.4.8204.0_neutral_split.scale-125_8wekyb3d8bbwe
So presumably there should be a similar folder for WindowsStore, like:
Microsoft.WindowsStore_x.x.xxxx.x_neutral_split.scale-125_8wekyb3d8bbwe
(which does NOT exist on my system). Is that folder available anywhere for download, and would it help if I had it? Or is there a .appx available for the app?
What I have tried, in order of destructiveness:
1. Reset WindowsStore cache with WSReset.exe. No store, so how can resetting its cache help?
2. Run Windows Store Troubleshooter. Runs, but gets a vaguely defined error that it cannot fix.
3. Run SFC and DISM with the suggested parameters. No problems found, and no store.
4. Run the various PowerShell Get-AppXPackage commands. There is no AppXManifest file, so Get-AppXPackage can't do anything.
5. Create a new local user account, restart, log in. The new account has no Windows Store. WindowsStore files not on the system.
6. Create a new user account linked to my Microsoft account, restart, log in. No store.
7. Do a Windows refresh. No errors, but still no store.
8. Do a full Windows reset, the drastic kind that wipes all installed programs and settings. STILL NO STORE.
Nothing left to try.
Anyone have anything? Please? I can't believe there is no way to re-install the WindowsStore app in the above case!!!
A very frustrated David
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