Greetings!

After upgrading Windows 10 from Anniversary Edition to Creator's Edition, I became one of those *lucky* users whose computer system was thoroughly *borked*! I used all of my troubleshooting skills to track down the issues and finally FIXED the issues (with a lot of search-the-internet-take-a-stab-in-the-dark-sleuthing).

I created a .txt file of the whole 1.5 months of troubleshooting. It is quite lengthy. It lists the symptoms, what did NOT work, and that finally DID work.

I am offering to post it on the General Forums to help others who have the same/similar issues after their Creator's update.

I can post the whole thing (in parts per posting) or just what worked on MY system to fix the issues.

Let me know if anyone would be interested in the information.

TQQdles™,

Dolnor Numbwit
Eternal Testing Newbie
Member, The Older Gamers (TOG)

Nice offer, definately worth posting. Problem is by the time I have read through it M$ will have pushed out some other malware update, or update which breaks something else. Just trying to get rid of Cortana is a lifetime of work.
Well done on getting yours fixed.

I haven't removed the core Windows 10 apps...yet. I was only focusing on getting the system fixed first.

I'll wait to see if there are any more positive encourgements before posting the fixes (3 separate posting). Ten "Sure, post it" vs. 10 "Who Cares..." -)

TQQdles™

Post it, troubleshooting and solutions are always good to have. Be prepared for a lengthy discussion about it as well.
I would also suggest opening a discussion in the "My Digital Life" forum, since they do still seem to be the best place to discuss anything Microsoft related, and you could get additional info there.

Post it. My Windows 10 isn't broken, but that doesn't mean it is working at its full potential either.

Please do post!

I was lucky and able to fix the messes that update made in just a day or two per machine. Hardest problem was the borked graphics driver, which was not that hard to fix for me.

Yeah, watch out for Nvidia Drivers. Occulus themselves put out a warning 2 days ago for people who have Occulus Rift setups...NOT TO UPDATE their drivers! -*(

https://www.pcgamesn.com/nvidia-driver-oculus-rift-warning

TQQdles™ Do you have a link for that forum? Search doesn't seem to work.

**UPDATE** Ok, My Digital Life.net is a different forum all-together. I thought it was a sub-forum here. I can't post any message with links and this text has many links to websites where I found the information (I give credit to other posters when I can). My Digitial Life requires minimum of 20 postings before linking rights are given. I am more of a lurker than a poster...unless it is in a specific closed alpha/beta game test forum...where I go bonkers with bugs (reported over 450 bugs in the last game I tested! LOL)

TQQdles™

Folks could also turn off updating.

Fire up services.msc as admin and disable the Windows Update and the Windows Modules Installer services.

Windows 10 Version 1607 here.

edit: I had to open a local business this morning so the owner could get some blood work done. She left me a note wondering why she's got something called Windows Pay on it.

Windows Pay is just Windows Wallet renamed. This happened in a recent update to Windows 10. I notice it on my computer but only as a service that runs, and shuts down, when the computer starts. In the WindowsApps folder, it is still named "WindowsWallet". (Microsoft.Wallet_2.2.18047.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe)

=========================================================================

The Following 3 Postings are the text file how I solve the Windows 10 Creator's Borked System.

==========================================================================

**NOTE: Microsoft instituted a few new "background fixes" that would run unbeknownst to the user in the background when the computer was idle.

Your system must NOT have the following DISABLED! I know a lot of websites tell people to disable these because they slow down systems, created 100% CPU usage, 100% Disk Access, etc. But if you disable these Services, Microsoft can't help fix your system because they can't collect data and send the proper updates:

AppX Deployment Service (AppXSVC),
Contact Data,
Delivery Optimization,
Geolocation,
Microsoft (R) Diagnostics Hub Standard Collector Service,
Sync Host,
Update Orchestrator Service,
User Data Access,
User Data Storage,
Windows Error Reporting Service,
Windows Event Collector,
Windows Installer Service,
Windows Push Notifications User Service,
Windows Push Notifications System Service,
Windows PushToInstall Service,
Windows Store Install Service,
Windows Update,
Xbox Live Auth Manager,
Xbox Live Networking Service.

Symptoms after upgrading from Windows 10 Anniversary Edition to Creator's Edition:

1) Features that didn't work:
Start, Cortana, Store, Groove Music, Settings, Security, Windows Update, Notifications & actions, Xbox App for Windows, Xbox Insider, etc.

2) Features that sometimes worked if I booted/started the system WITHOUT ANY INTERNET ACCESS:
Start, Cortana, Settings, Windows Update, Xbox Insider.

3) Features that would stop working if they started working in #2 - 1 hour after I established Internet Access:
Start, Settings, Windows Update, Cortana.

I re-installed the Windows God Mode app (Creator's Update deleted it from my system) so I could access some features that were hold-overs from when the computer had Windows 7 installed. But these were limited and mostly didn't help. I could look around the computer systems, read the Windows Events, etc. I could see what was happening/stalling/exiting but couldn't change their behaviors.

===================================================================================



What DID NOT WORK to fix my problems after the Creator's Update

0) Tried the Dell Recovery that is installed on my computer. It would hang and then just reboot the computer...nothing ever got fixed. I suspect it choked when it didn't find files it needed to run...which were deleted by the Creator's Update!

1) Clearing the Store cache with the WSReset command. https://www.askvg.com/did-you-know-wsreset-command-to-clear-windows-store-cache-in-windows-8-and-later/

2) Running the Windows Store Troubleshoot from... https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4027498/windows-10-run-the-troubleshooter-for-apps
This would not work since the Store wasn't installed on my system....it was missing from the Install Manifest.

3) Ran a Windows 10 Recovery/Repair Disk from... https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4026852/windows-create-a-recovery-drive
It ran but it would try to start the Windows 10 Fresh Install...placing me at the "Choose your language" option without any way to interface with the screen...both the keyboard (usb) and mouse (usb) were not recognized by the system. I would have to reboot the computer to get past this to the desktop.

4) Since my computer system is a Dell computer, I tried using the Startup Repair described here... http://www.dell.com/support/article/gy/en/gybsdt1/sln151680/run-startup-repair-on-a-dell-pc-with-a-windows-operating-system?lang=en
Once again, it would enter the "choose your language" and lock out the keyboard & mouse interactions. Reboot the computer to go back to the desktop.

5) Tried to return to Previous Restore point described here... https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12415/windows-10-recovery-options
I found that Creator's Edition DELETED ALL OF THE PREVIOUS RESTORE POINTS! So I was screwed.

6) Downloaded the Windows 10 Creator's Edition ISO file to try a Clean Install described here... https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
This didn't work at all. It would start crashing about 50% through. My system would never complete. On reboot, it was as if I never ran the Fresh Install and the system was right were it was before I tried.

7) Contacted Microsoft Windows Support and had 2 Support Technicians (1 each time, 2 separate tries) to gain access to my computer and let them snoop around. After accumulating 3 hours each (6 hours total), neither could find the solutions to my problems. Both suggested "Get a new computer" as the only solution.

8) Returned to the Internet to research other people's solutions and taking stabs in the dark.
a. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/947821/fix-windows-update-errors-by-using-the-dism-or-system-update-readiness

b. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-other_settings-winpc/windows-10-wont-let-me-access-settings-and-has-too/950a1aac-c4ec-44f6-9f9d-46507bc98846?auth=1
Method #2 - tried this several time in different ways.

c. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-windows_store/starting-windows-10-store-app-from-the-command/836354c5-b5af-4d6c-b414-80e40ed14675?auth=1

d. https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-reinstall-default-apps-in-windows-10/
Part of this actually helped fix the computer but at this point, it didn't help.

e. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-update-error-0x80070005-need-a-fix-click/e4cb8700-f215-4f1a-8bd4-6457ac619c19

f. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=23510
Installed and allowed me to see Windows Events/Issues in greater detail but didn't help.

g. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-desktop-winpc/cannot-open-action-center-and-notification-off/e7dd105c-b374-45de-9e30-f916c303ce4e?auth=1 (This still wanted Store to be working...and so it didn't work)

h. download.microsoft.com/download/F/2/4/F24D0C03-4181-4E5B-A23B-5C3A6B5974E3/microsoftaccounts.diagcab
Thought it was Account Based issue but it wasn't.

i. https://chaosfreakblog.wordpress.com/2016/06/06/solved-windows-store-and-all-store-apps-crash-immediately-after-launching/
This helped a little bit but only in identifying issues which I didn't know were involved...just added more entries into my "list of things to lookup".

By this stage, I basically was BURNED OUT and stepped away from trying to fix the system.

I could play some games but anything that required A LOT of Texture Storage would run out of memory...since Windows 10 wasn't recognizing any Video Memory on my new 4gb DDR5 Video Card. It would ignore that memory and solely use the System Memory (8gb total). With the 1.5gb that the system needed for just running Windows 10, that meant I only had 5.5gb to use...since Windows 10 would start shutting down games when I hit 1gb of system memory left.

===================================================================================

I Finally Fixed My System!

**NOTE: I increased my Virtual Page File from "Windows recommended" size to "8096" (8gb) in size. This helped me have a bit of hard-disk based Vram to use when games/programs were only using my system RAM for everything.


After taking 2 weeks away from trying to fix the computer, I stumbled across...

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-update/windows-performance-recorder/a1648e8c-50c7-4243-9f1d-4216385c7ff3
This helped a lot by showing what was erroring out on a regular basis.

Then I found...

https://www.ghacks.net/2017/12/17/kb4058043-microsoft-store-reliability-update-for-windows-10-version-1709/

This turned out to be the first step of fixing the computer!!!

I downloaded and installed this. It ran fine and rebooted my computer. I suddenly could use Start!!! on a regular basis. Cortana also started working and lasting longer before it would stop recognizing keyboard input. Settings worked but Windows Update, Notifications, etc. still didn't work. But we are making progress!

Then came...

http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=Windows%2010%201709

Downloaded and installed the correct update for my system "2018-02 Update for Windows 10 Version 1709 for x64-based Systems (KB4090914)". The system rebooted after installing this update.

Next was....

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/windows-store-app-missing-windows-10
I downloaded the file, extracted it, and followed the instructions.

**NOTE: When you extract the files, it creates a folder named "Reinstall-preinstalledApps". When you follow the instructions, it tells you to navigate to
C:\Users\YourName\Downloads but unfortunately the correct location is C:\Users\YourName\Downloads\Reinstall-preinstalledApps folder. Then you can continue onto the other steps.

Prior to using this, the Store Icon wasn't even showing up anywhere on my system. After following these steps, the Store Icon appeared in the Start Menu (when it would work) but was greyed out with an ! icon in the lower right corner.

I then tried the WSReset.exe command from an Admin Powershell window and recieved a new message that said...
"Sorry, we cannot start the Store at this time. We will try later."

I checked and the Store icon was still greyed out.

So I figured that I now need to REGISTER the newly installed Store app to my system. I refered to...

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-reinstall-default-apps-in-windows-10/

I could start an Admin Powershell app two ways:
1) Right click the Start button and the menu has the option (Windows Powershell Admin)
2) Use the Task Manager (hold down the keys Ctrl Alt Del and choose Task Manager from the menu, click Ok when asked for permission to change the system. Then click the File at the top, click Run new task, check the box that labeled "Create this taks with administrative privileges." and type Powershell in the text box, and click OK.

In Powershell, I used the command Get-AppxPackage -allusers
This generated a list of all the Windows apps that were installed. This list is HUGE and is NOT in alphabetic order.

There are entries referring to other Store features (ConnectivityStore, Services.Store.Engagement, StorePurchaseApp, etc....these are NOT the One You Need To Find). I had to run through the listing 2 times before I found the correct Section/Entry.

Name: Microsoft.WindowsStore

My version is 2018.18021.12420.0 but your version may be different depending on which Windows version you are running. There are many variations of the Version 1709 which is dependent on your hardware configurations.

I looked for the PackageFullName (as described in the above link). Mine was Microsoft.WindowsStore_11801.1001.6.0_x64_8wekyb3d8bbwe

I highlighted it with the mouse and used Ctrl c (hold down the ctrl key and press the c key) to copy the string to the clipboard memory.

I opened up Notepad and copied that string to it. I then copied the instructions on the link above where it says
Add-AppxPackage -register "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\PackageCodeName\appxmanifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode

I pasted that into the Notepad page. I then inserted the Microsoft.WindowsStore_11801.1001.6.0_x64_8wekyb3d8bbwe where it says PackageCodeName. I will BOLD what I did below:
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsStore_11801.1001.6.0_x64_8wekyb3d8bbwe\appxmanifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode

I copied that from Notepad and pasted it into the Powershell command prompt and hit the Enter key. It paused for about 5 seconds and then returned to a normal Powershell prompt. That means it WORKED!

I checked the Start menu and the Store icon was still grey but the ! image was gone. I powered the computer down, waited 10 minutes, and powered it back up.

The Store icon was now BLUE but still didn't work. I got the "Sorry, we cannot start the Store at this time. We will try later." again.

I noticed that Windows Update was started and some other apps started running:
AppX Deployment Service (AppXSVC), Contact Data, Delivery Optimization, Microsoft (R) Diagnostics Hub Standard Collector Service, Update Orchestrator Service, User Data Access, Windows Error Reporting Service, Windows Event Collector, Windows Installer Service, Windows PushToInstall Service, Windows Store Install Service, Xbox Live Auth Manager.

I left the computer running overnight. I returned to it the next morning with the message "We are ready to install Windows Store on this computer. Please choose Accept." which I did. The system rebooted, went through the normal "Windows Updating - Do not turn off your computer" message, finished at my Desktop as normal.

When clicking the Store icon, it WORKED!!! I immediately checked for any updates needing to be installed from the Store. There were 15 apps that all needed updating...which I started running. After 4 hours, STORE was FULLY UPDATED and worked great!

I checked everything. Start, Cortana, Settings, Update, Security, etc. all worked once again!

I was testing Sea of Thieves for RARE/Microsoft before Creator's Update bunged up my system. So I opened the Xbox Insider app, went to the Sea of Thieves game, used the "Show in Store" option, and began downloading the game's update!! Entered the game and it WORKED again! -)

At this stage, I am a happy camper once again!

Sorry this was such a Wall-O-Text. But I figured that all the details may help anyone reading this to solve their issues after Creator's Updated messed up their computers.

CAVET: I know Microsoft has been running some new programs, in the background, on my machine when it is idle. I also figure that some of those newer background apps helped with fixing my computer and keeping it working. I've noticed a large increase of Microsoft background apps polling my system and reporting back home. And I am experiencing a 3-fold constant updating when compared with the Anniversary Edition.


TQQdles™

Well, that was short lived. -*(

After the lastest April 2018 update, my Microsoft Store is once again BORKED! I tried the same solution that worked last time...but this time IT DID NOT WORK.

This means any game/app that I have obtained through the Store is not working...if it needs to access the Store. Because most want to check the Store for updates..and since they can't connect to the Store, they will NOT RUN.

It looks like every time I update Windows 10, I'll have to spend 1.5 months to resolve the "Can't connect to Store" issue.

TQQdles™

If Microsofts online shop in Windows is working badly there is only one...
Solution: NEVER EVER BUY ANYTHING FROM THE MICROSOFT "STORE"!

I also ran into more problems and just downloaded and installed Windows 10 with the spring 2018 update that was published two days ago. Installing was easy (despite a silly little bug) but saving data and reinstalling programs and tweaking settings will take time :-( I did not want to retain those as the system was so messed up.

The new one is so buggy it broke Edge and caused system crashes for me. Fortunately I could go into settings to revert things and then just delete the download in softwaredistribution and hide the update with wuso. Future updates supposedly include previous ones so going from 1802 to 1805 won't be an issue. Screw 1803. :)