Start Menu and Microsoft Store are gone...

Patraputt commented 3 years ago

After fully debloat my Windows 10 Enterprise 21H1 with your script the Start Menu and Microsoft Store are gone to hell!😑

Please watch this video for your reference.

Sycnex commented 3 years ago

@Patraputt - The start menu tile layout is cleared out, and the tiles are essentially unpinned. The Microsoft Store should still exist as well if you search for it via Search. I watched your video and it just shows that the tile layout is empty, as expected.

Patraputt commented 3 years ago

@Sycnex Okay, the Start Menu issue has been solved. But there is no Microsoft Store that appears when I searching for it in the search box... And a yellow massage stating that "*Some of these settings are hidden or managed by your organization." in the Start Menu personalization settings panel. Please help.

DennisJohnsen commented 3 years ago

Im sitting here too, trying to install the store again, as it had removed liturally everything, even the calcluator. Even though i used custom blocklist, and made sure the calculator wasn't checked.

Sycnex commented 3 years ago

@Patraputt and @DennisJohnsen - What version of the script do you have? I updated it last night to fix a bug that was not saving the custom list, causing everything to be uninstalled. This is likely the issue you experienced.

DennisJohnsen commented 3 years ago

I had since removed the script, so i dont know which i used. But it was couple of days ago i downloaded the files. So i guess i've used the version that removed everything.. Do you have any good idea how to restore things without having the reinstall windows?

Sycnex commented 3 years ago

Gotcha, my apologies. Then you used the one that had the bug. It is now fixed as of the last 24 hours.

You should be able to use the Revert registry changes button, or you can run the following as an administrator: Get-AppXPackage | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml”}

The code above is also what runs when you click Revert registry changes. But you can also just run it individually in a powershell administrator prompt just like above.

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On Mar 20, 2021, at 3:56 PM, Dennis Johnsen @.***> wrote:

I had since removed the script, so i dont know which i used. But it was couple of days ago i downloaded the files. So i guess i've used the version that removed everything.. Do you have any good idea how to restore things without having the reinstall windows?

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DennisJohnsen commented 3 years ago

So i used both that button, and now your script. It does not seem to restore anything, not the store.

I can not use the script here either to restore the store, it simply just dosn't output anything in the powershell window.

Patraputt commented 3 years ago

@DennisJohnsen Yes... Even though I used the custom blocklist the script approximately removed everything including Microsoft apps and Microsoft Store. That was the first issue in my case.

Sycnex commented 3 years ago

Are you running the powershell prompt as an administrator and then running that PS code from that page? It should go through and restore everything.

Do you have a system restore point by any chance?

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On Mar 20, 2021, at 4:16 PM, PaperBoat @.***> wrote:

@DennisJohnsen Yes... Even though I used the custom blocklist the script approximately removed everything including Microsoft apps and Microsoft Store. That was the first issue in my case.

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DennisJohnsen commented 3 years ago

Yes im using it as administrator, if i try without i actually get an access denied. It does restore something (your script), i can tell, but i get 3 errors.

error-windows10debloater

I have a restore point that i made before that. I will try restoring it, as the scripts is not working.

Sycnex commented 3 years ago

I would try a system restore which should fix your issue. It looks like it failed to reinstall certain packages. I’ll take a look at that.

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On Mar 20, 2021, at 4:29 PM, Dennis Johnsen @.***> wrote:

Yes im using it as administrator, if i try without i actually get an access denied. It does restore something (your script), i can tell, but i get 3 errors.

I have a restore point that i made before that. I will try restoring it, as the scripts is not working.

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Patraputt commented 3 years ago

@DennisJohnsen Restore point wouldn't help. Try this: https://cutt.ly/lxsbo17

Patraputt commented 3 years ago

@Sycnex Okay, the Start Menu issue has been solved. But there is no Microsoft Store that appears when I searching for it in the search box... And a yellow massage stating that "*Some of these settings are hidden or managed by your organization." in the Start Menu personalization settings panel. Please help.

@Sycnex please help me on this issue : "*Some of these settings are hidden or managed by your organization." seems privacy related glitch.

Sycnex commented 3 years ago

Why would a restore point not help? It restores your system to a time before any changes took place.

The message you’re seeing is because of a group policy change, and it is not a glitch. When some registry changes are made, it might also be related to a group policy object, and then it would show that message. It’s expected.

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On Mar 20, 2021, at 4:58 PM, PaperBoat @.***> wrote:

@Sycnex Okay, the Start Menu issue has been solved. But there is no Microsoft Store that appears when I searching for it in the search box... And a yellow massage stating that "*Some of these settings are hidden or managed by your organization." in the Start Menu personalization settings panel. Please help.

@Sycnex please help me on this issue : "*Some of these settings are hidden or managed by your organization." seems privacy related glitch.

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Patraputt commented 3 years ago

@Sycnex But I don't want to restore any bloatware... What should I do now?

Sycnex commented 3 years ago

I would do a system restore, and then get the latest version of the windows 10 debloater that had the bug fix in it, and then debloat again.

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On Mar 20, 2021, at 5:23 PM, PaperBoat @.***> wrote:

@Sycnex But I don't want to restore any bloatware... What should I do now?

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DennisJohnsen commented 3 years ago

@Sycnex But I don't want to restore any bloatware... What should I do now?

I would just use the tool again, since the script is now fixed :)

Patraputt commented 3 years ago

@DennisJohnsen Using the Revert registry button?

DennisJohnsen commented 3 years ago

@DennisJohnsen Using the Revert registry button?

No i meant, in reponse to your restore windows option. That would introduce bloatware again yes, but then just run the latest tool after :)

Patraputt commented 3 years ago

@Sycnex 'System Restore' doesn't work at all... The system is corrupted by the debloat script, some things are not working properly. Now I have to completely reinstall Windows 10 on my new rig. Thanks to your script.

Sycnex commented 3 years ago

Can you expand on what you mean when you say the system restore doesn’t work at all? The one it creates? Or one that already existed on the system prior to running the script?

What exactly is corrupt? The more details I have, the better, so that I can work to improve the code.

Thank you.

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On Mar 21, 2021, at 2:41 PM, PaperBoat @.***> wrote:

@Sycnex 'System Restore' doesn't work at all... The system is corrupted by the debloat script, some things are not working properly. Now I have to completely reinstall Windows 10 on my new rig. Thanks to your script.

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Patraputt commented 3 years ago

@Sycnex Obviously, the restore point that I choose was prior to running the script (2days previous point). Now I can't pin any windows apps to the Start Menu... There is no response from apps tiles on the Start Menu. And for your information, there was no Microsoft Store that appeared after System Restore... So I was forced to sideload it.

Sycnex commented 3 years ago

Thanks for the info. It wasn’t obvious to me which is why I had asked. And it sounds like the system restore point that you used was not the one created by the script, but instead by your system before running the script. The script can now create a system restore point upon initial run of one has not been created in the last 24 hours.

What’s unfortunate is, I am unable to recreate this on 2 different systems of mine, and it seems to be completely random who it happens to and how. I’ll still investigate, but it’s difficult for me to fix something that I cannot recreate.

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On Mar 21, 2021, at 5:44 PM, PaperBoat @.***> wrote:

@Sycnex Obviously, the restore point that I choose was prior to running the script (2days previous point). Now I can't pin any windows apps to the Start Menu... There is no response from apps tiles on the Start Menu. And for your information, there was no Microsoft Store that appeared after System Restore... So I was forced to sideload it.

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NathanSweet commented 3 years ago

Downloaded the script minutes ago, via whole repo ZIP. I didn't check to uninstall the WindowStore. Ran the script (using the GUI). WindowsStore is gone. Revert button, still gone.

Actually after the revert button a bunch of stuff ran, now I can no longer type on the start menu and can't focus search in explorer. I think that means SearchApp.exe is fubar:

C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Search_cw5n1h2txyewy\SearchApp.exe

Can't run it, though I'm not sure it is supposed to work when run manually (other apps don't work).

Restarted explorer, and now I see the start menu doesn't appear anymore. This is getting really impressive. I'm definitely going to have to restore from a backup.

FWIW, this was printed when I ran the script:

Removing blocklisted Bloatware.

Requesting removal of Microsoft.PPIProjection|Microsoft.BingNews|Microsoft.GetHelp|Microsoft.Getstarted|Microsoft.Messaging|Microsoft.Microsoft3DViewer|Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub|Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection|Microsoft.NetworkSpeedTest|Microsoft.News|Microsoft.Office.Lens|Microsoft.Office.OneNote|Microsoft.Office.Sway|Microsoft.OneConnect|Microsoft.People|Microsoft.Print3D|Microsoft.RemoteDesktop|Microsoft.SkypeApp|Microsoft.StorePurchaseApp|Microsoft.Office.Todo.List|Microsoft.Whiteboard|Microsoft.WindowsAlarms|microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps|Microsoft.WindowsFeedbackHub|Microsoft.WindowsMaps|Microsoft.WindowsSoundRecorder|Microsoft.Xbox.TCUI|Microsoft.XboxApp|Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay|Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay|Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider|Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay|Microsoft.ZuneMusic|Microsoft.ZuneVideo|EclipseManager|ActiproSoftwareLLC|AdobeSystemsIncorporated.AdobePhotoshopExpress|Duolingo-LearnLanguagesforFree|PandoraMediaInc|CandyCrush|BubbleWitch3Saga|Wunderlist|Flipboard|Twitter|Facebook|Spotify|Minecraft|Royal Revolt|Sway|Dolby|Microsoft.549981C3F5F10|Microsoft.Advertising.Xaml|Microsoft.BingWeather|Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller|Microsoft.HEIFImageExtension|Microsoft.MicrosoftStickyNotes|Microsoft.MixedReality.Portal|Microsoft.MSPaint|Microsoft.NET.Native.Framework.1.7|Microsoft.NET.Native.Framework.2.2|Microsoft.NET.Native.Runtime.1.7|Microsoft.NET.Native.Runtime.2.2|Microsoft.ScreenSketch|Microsoft.Services.Store.Engagement|Microsoft.Services.Store.Engagement|Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.0|Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00.UWPDesktop|Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00|Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00|Microsoft.VP9VideoExtensions|Microsoft.Wallet|Microsoft.WebMediaExtensions|Microsoft.WebpImageExtension|Microsoft.Windows.Photos|Microsoft.WindowsCalculator|Microsoft.WindowsCamera|Microsoft.WindowsStore|Microsoft.YourPhone|Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00|TobiiAB.TobiiEyeTrackingPortal|Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge.Stable
--- This may take a while - please be patient ---
...now starting the silent ProvisionedPackage bloatware removal...
...and the final cleanup...
Bloatware removed!

Anyway, I don't want to use the store, but I have a Tobii device whose software won't run without it. This script seems to have broken the store pretty badly. Now when I run the Tobii Experience software it says "you'll need a new app to open this ms-windows-store link". Seems the store is gone, it isn't in the start menu though I see it at:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsStore_11910.1002.5.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

Before I restore, I'll try to poke it at a bit. I used this: https://store.rg-adguard.net/ I put in packagefamilyname Microsoft.WindowsStore_8wekyb3d8bbwe. Tried installing just the store, but it needed the deps. Installed them all, store runs again. Why was the store removed? Why did I have to download it to get it back? Can the script be written in a nondestructive way? Maybe we can move the apps somewhere, verify everything works, move them back if not, delete them only when sure? As it is now the damage this script does is insane.

Interestingly, now the start menu works again and I can type on it. I don't even know anymore.

So now when I run Tobii, it opens the store instead of showing its UI. WTH? Any ideas why that is? Before I ran the debloat script, the Tobii UI would show, so I'm 100% that it's something the script did.

Sycnex commented 3 years ago

Thanks for all of that information. I just googled to see what the Tobii application is to see if I was familiar with it, but I’ve never heard of it before now.

Can you do me a favor and provide the log file created in C:\Temp\Windows10Debloater please? Can you also provide me the custom-lists.ps1 file from wherever you ran the script from? It will help me look into everything that was and wasn’t checked in the allowlist/blocklist.

Additionally, this is the unfortunate case with running this code at times. Everyone’s system is different, and unfortunately I have been unable to reproduce most of the issues brought to my attention. I have 2 different machines, both with windows 10 on the latest version and have not experienced these issues.

In terms of why the store was removed, I don’t know. It really is impossible for me to say. Half of the people that use it experience no issues, the other half might experience something similar or something minor, but it is a gamble overall. I’m thinking of adding a lot more logging to see if I can capture where and how it is happening.

I can’t think of a way to verify that the apps would work before removing them, since that would be a form of unit testing. I suppose I could think of a way to program that, but I’m unsure how. When you say move the apps somewhere, they exist inside of a protected folder so I don’t necessarily have access to that particular folder (I can’t think of the path off the top of my head at the moment). The best method to do this would be to write something to take ownership of that folder, back up the data inside, and then remove the apps. If there is an issue then we could have it re-add that data back to that protected folder (if we can even do that).

When you say write the script in a non-destructive way, what do you have in mind? Just testing the apps and backing up the data? There is a decent amount of code, and it does need refactoring, and perhaps some suggestions could help to drive that forward.

Lastly, it can be unfortunate that it can damage someone’s OS install in such a manner and that it can be unpredictable in random scenarios that I have yet to experience. Keep in mind that this is something that is used at your own risk, and I do have a disclaimer on the ReadMe. This was not created specifically to be destructive, but there can be unfortunate consequences running scripts.

I usually do work on this on the weekends or in my limited free time, so I’ll see what I can come up with.

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On Mar 24, 2021, at 5:03 PM, Nathan Sweet @.***> wrote:

Downloaded the script minutes ago, via whole repo ZIP. I didn't check to uninstall the WindowStore. Ran the script. WindowsStore is gone. Revert button, still gone.

Actually after the revert button a bunch of stuff ran, now I can no longer type on the start menu and can't focus search in explorer. I think that means SearchApp.exe is fubar:

C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.Search_cw5n1h2txyewy\SearchApp.exe Can't run it, though I'm not sure it is supposed to work when run manually (other apps don't work).

Restarted explorer, and now I see the start menu doesn't appear anymore. This is getting really impressive. I'm definitely going to have to restore from a backup.

FWIW, this was printed when I ran the script:

Removing blocklisted Bloatware.

Requesting removal of Microsoft.PPIProjection|Microsoft.BingNews|Microsoft.GetHelp|Microsoft.Getstarted|Microsoft.Messaging|Microsoft.Microsoft3DViewer|Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub|Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection|Microsoft.NetworkSpeedTest|Microsoft.News|Microsoft.Office.Lens|Microsoft.Office.OneNote|Microsoft.Office.Sway|Microsoft.OneConnect|Microsoft.People|Microsoft.Print3D|Microsoft.RemoteDesktop|Microsoft.SkypeApp|Microsoft.StorePurchaseApp|Microsoft.Office.Todo.List|Microsoft.Whiteboard|Microsoft.WindowsAlarms|microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps|Microsoft.WindowsFeedbackHub|Microsoft.WindowsMaps|Microsoft.WindowsSoundRecorder|Microsoft.Xbox.TCUI|Microsoft.XboxApp|Microsoft.XboxGameOverlay|Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay|Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider|Microsoft.XboxSpeechToTextOverlay|Microsoft.ZuneMusic|Microsoft.ZuneVideo|EclipseManager|ActiproSoftwareLLC|AdobeSystemsIncorporated.AdobePhotoshopExpress|Duolingo-LearnLanguagesforFree|PandoraMediaInc|CandyCrush|BubbleWitch3Saga|Wunderlist|Flipboard|Twitter|Facebook|Spotify|Minecraft|Royal Revolt|Sway|Dolby|Microsoft.549981C3F5F10|Microsoft.Advertising.Xaml|Microsoft.BingWeather|Microsoft.DesktopAppInstaller|Microsoft.HEIFImageExtension|Microsoft.MicrosoftStickyNotes|Microsoft.MixedReality.Portal|Microsoft.MSPaint|Microsoft.NET.Native.Framework.1.7|Microsoft.NET.Native.Framework.2.2|Microsoft.NET.Native.Runtime.1.7|Microsoft.NET.Native.Runtime.2.2|Microsoft.ScreenSketch|Microsoft.Services.Store.Engagement|Microsoft.Services.Store.Engagement|Microsoft.UI.Xaml.2.0|Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00.UWPDesktop|Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00|Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00|Microsoft.VP9VideoExtensions|Microsoft.Wallet|Microsoft.WebMediaExtensions|Microsoft.WebpImageExtension|Microsoft.Windows.Photos|Microsoft.WindowsCalculator|Microsoft.WindowsCamera|Microsoft.WindowsStore|Microsoft.YourPhone|Microsoft.VCLibs.140.00|TobiiAB.TobiiEyeTrackingPortal|Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge.Stable --- This may take a while - please be patient --- ...now starting the silent ProvisionedPackage bloatware removal... ...and the final cleanup... Bloatware removed! Anyway, I don't want to use the store, but I have a Tobii device whose software won't run without it. This script seems to have broken the store pretty badly. Now when I run the Tobii Experience software it says "you'll need a new app to open this ms-windows-store link". Seems the store is gone, it isn't in the start menu though I see it at:

C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsStore_11910.1002.5.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe Before I restore, I'll try to poke it at a bit. I used this: https://store.rg-adguard.net/ I put in packagefamilyname Microsoft.WindowsStore_8wekyb3d8bbwe. Tried installing just the store, but it needed the deps. Installed them all, store runs again. Why was the store removed? Why did I have to download it to get it back? Can the script be written in a nondestructive way? Maybe we can move the apps somewhere, verify everything works, move them back if not, delete them only when sure? As it is now the damage this script does is insane.

Interestingly, now the start menu works again and I can type on it. I don't even know anymore.

So now when I run Tobii, it opens the store instead of showing its UI. WTH? Any ideas why that is? Before I ran the debloat script, the Tobii UI would show, so I'm 100% that it's something the script did.

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NathanSweet commented 3 years ago

The Tobii is eye tracker hardware. It's neat, I use it with this to click the mouse where I'm looking when I press capslock. That the Tobii software needs the Windows Store is ridiculous.

Can you do me a favor and provide the log

Sorry, I spent all night reinstalling Windows. I'm too scared to run the script again. FWIW, I did look at custom-lists.ps1 and it had lots of entries, presumably all those I had checked. However, I know I checked the Windows Store (don't know if it made it into the custom-lists.ps1 file), and yet the Windows Store was still removed. That is very disturbing.

When you say write the script in a non-destructive way, what do you have in mind?

I'd like to be able to run the script, have it smoke stuff. Then I test manually, make sure all my stuff is working like I want. If something is not working, I'd want to revert some or all of the changes the script made. For example, the damn Windows Store got removed and it seems impossible to put back. I downloaded it and reinstalled it, but it didn't work right. The store ran, but the stupid Tobii software still didn't work right. The only recourse is to reinstall the OS, which is a brutal time waste.

I don't know if that is possible, just saying it would be ideal!

IMO the script is way too risky. After reinstalling Windows I used these scripts, first reading through the code and customizing what was going to be removed, etc. I could probably have done that with your scripts, but I saw there was a UI and I thought that would be easier. After your scripts ruined my Windows install, I can't trust them again. I think there may be bugs, at least in the UI scripts, that remove more than they should. I don't see any other reason that the Windows Store got removed when it shouldn't have.

IMO I don't think you should have a UI at all. It just gives people a big "fuck yourself" button. :D Better to keep the scripts simple and well commented, similar to the linked project. If someone can't read through the scripts and customize what is being done, they shouldn't be using them at all.

I usually do work on this on the weekends or in my limited free time

I understand and I like the idea of your project, which is why I took the time to share my experience. I knew the potential for disaster.

Cheers!

Faty100 commented 3 years ago

I went through your script its fine. Scripting is designed to only do what you tell it to do nothing else. People who are not IT should not be using this tool period.

The store has been removed a few times myself but that's because i accidentally told it to be removed. There are powershell codes you can use if you google it to restore windows store.

Its possible these users tested things they never tested before and noticed its not working and then ended up blaming your script. I have been using this for 5 years now and i dont have any of these issues these people are responding with. But i work in IT so maybe that could be why.

Majority of these issues is user related and not script related.

But you can always add a restore windows store option on the gui. But keep in mind there are multiple versions of the store so one script command may not cover them all. You may need to add all the versions for it to work perfectly. I removed the registry once and it took me awhile to realize my windows store had a specific version once i found it i ran the powershell command using that version and it worked.

Anyways thanks for all your hard work.

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From: Richard Newton @.***> Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2021, 10:17 p.m. To: Sycnex/Windows10Debloater Cc: Subscribed Subject: Re: [Sycnex/Windows10Debloater] Start Menu and Microsoft Store are gone... (#361)