# All "Modern" apps including PC Settings non-functional



## CaptainBritish (Apr 4, 2014)

Hello all, I upgraded to 8.1 earlier this evening and was greeted by an extremely unpleasant error in that all of my Metro apps have now become non-functional, including the Windows Store and the PC Settings apps.

I have spent the last 2 hours trying numerous solutions to the issue, none of which work. The only remaining option seems to be to try "refreshing" my Laptop, but this is not an option as I do not own any Windows 8.1 Installation media. I used the $15 Windows 7 to Windows 8 upgrade offer a few years back, so I don't even have an original Windows 8 CD.

I also really cannot download an ISO as I am currently on satellite internet, it took me nearly two days to download the 8.1 update so I would rather avoid doing that if possible.

I've checked my file permissions, I've tried all of the Powershell commands suggested here and here, none of it has worked. When I attempt to do the powershell commands I get the following error:


```
Add-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CFE, The package repository is corrupted.error -1121: Windows cannot process a deployment operation because the package repository database encountered an
ESENT error. Use the Reset Your PC feature to recover your PC. See the Application event log for messages with ESENT
as the event source for more details.
NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] 1ebb3798-4ff5-0004-c63b-bb1ef54fcf01 in the Event Log or use
the command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID 1ebb3798-4ff5-0004-c63b-bb1ef54fcf01
At line:1 char:1
+ Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register C:\WINDOWS\WinStore\AppxManife ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : NotSpecified: (C:\WINDOWS\WinStore\AppxManifest.XML:String) [Add-AppxPackage], Exception
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.AddAppxPackageCommand
```
There has to be some way to fix this without formatting/refreshing. Any ideas?


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

Try these suggestions: Apps and Tiles Not Working or Responding: Fix in Windows 8


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## CaptainBritish (Apr 4, 2014)

Tried everything posted on that URL, no dice.


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## BIGBEARJEDI (Aug 8, 2012)

Hi Captain:

Seen this before. You have a 5 yr. old laptop, and Internet-based 8.1 upgrade with a really slow Internet connection. You should try downloading the Win98SE upgrade on a dialup connection...<just kidding, that's old news>.

It would really help us to diagnose your problem properly if we got some information on your laptop hardware. Make/Model, Hard drive Make/Model, GPU (Graphics chip) Make/Model, etc. If you have trouble getting that, go to piriform.com and download the free SPECCY program and upload the result to this thread and Post for us. 

Prior to installing your 8.1 upgrade, did you remember to run the Microsoft Upgrade Advisor? If not, you could very well have one or more non-WHQL compliant drivers and devices in that laptop that are NOT capable of running 8.1 software. Simple as that. Go into your 8.1 and run the Advisor. Or better yet, if you have access to another computer with Internet, you can go to Microsoft.com and download the advisor onto cd or usb flash drive; take and run against your laptop. Make sure the cd or flash are bootable so you can bypass windows when you run it. 

If none of these options pan out for you, you can always contact the laptop manufacturer directly and simply ASK them if your model laptop is 8.1 compliant! If they say no, you'll need to uninstall your 8.1 and go back to 8 or Win7 and live with that; you're hardware is just to old. So if you have Dell, Lenovo, Sony, Gateway, Acer, whatever, they can just tell you that on the phone and it's a long hold but usually on a toll-free number. 

Alternatively, if your laptop maker says no dice to 8.1, you can consider taking it in to your local Computer Pro and have them do an examination of your upgrade attempt for a nominal cost $30-$80 or so in U.S. If they tell you no dice, you'll have to go back to 8 or Win7 as I said or just bag it and convert the thing to Linux Ubuntu or some other flavor of Linux you are in love with..or use it as a doorstop so the kitty can go in and out to the back yard! 

I'm not chastising you for not knowing about the MS compatability advisor, but if you aren't aware of it, how would you know to do it? That's where having a good local computer tech comes in handy--you could have asked him before you did the 8.1 upgrade, and save yourself a big headache. 

BTW, if you read the actual Microsoft License that comes in a boxed version of 8.1 that you would buy in a retail computer store like Best Buy or Staples, it actually tells you to run the "upgrade advisor" program, and there is a multi-paragraph disclaimer in their that states if your hardware is not upgraded or tested with that version of Windows, Microsoft is not responsible to make your Windows 8.1 (or any version of Windows since the beginning of time) work for you on that hardware.

Looking forward to your posted specs back and your results of testing phone-calling etc.

BIGBEARJEDI


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

Unfortunately you'll need a Windows 8.1 installation media to perform a refresh because that seems like the only way out now. I do not see any reason why your pc shouldn't be compatible with Windows 8.1 if it flawlessly ran 8. It's a botched upgrade, most likely because of an unreliable internet connection as you said, "it took me nearly two days to download the 8.1 update"

You could fall back to Windows Seven if you still have manufacturer-supplied recovery discs (hardly happens these days) or the recovery partition (common these days). At least that way you'll retain the OEM licence for Windows Seven that shipped with the pc, assuming it did come with Seven pre-installed. If you haven't already backed up your data to external media, now is the time to do that because unpleasant actions are gonna be taken that could possibly end with a clean reinstall (reset).


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## CaptainBritish (Apr 4, 2014)

Actually my laptop is only maybe a year and a half old now, it's been running Windows 8 happily for over a year now and did just fine in the Upgrade Advisor tests iirc. I should have posted the specs in the OP, my bad.

The laptop is an MSI GT70. Intel Core i7 3610QM @ 2.30GHz, 12.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 798MHz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M. Speccy screenshot.



Stancestans said:


> Unfortunately you'll need a Windows 8.1 installation media to perform a refresh because that seems like the only way out now. I do not see any reason why your pc shouldn't be compatible with Windows 8.1 if it flawlessly ran 8. It's a botched upgrade, most likely because of an unreliable internet connection as you said, "it took me nearly two days to download the 8.1 update"
> 
> You could fall back to Windows Seven if you still have manufacturer-supplied recovery discs (hardly happens these days) or the recovery partition (common these days). At least that way you'll retain the OEM licence for Windows Seven that shipped with the pc, assuming it did come with Seven pre-installed. If you haven't already backed up your data to external media, now is the time to do that because unpleasant actions are gonna be taken that could possibly end with a clean reinstall (reset).


I was really hoping to avoid that but it seems I have no choice, luckily I still have the "ESD" folder that my original Windows 8 setup was downloaded into a few years back. I'll have to perform some backups tomorrow and wipe.

Thanks for your attempts at helping, lads.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

That ESD folder will save you a great deal of downloading Windows 8 again. You can make a bootable Windows 8 installation DVD from the ESD folder's contents as described in an easy step-by-step tutorial here, assuming the 8.1 upgrade didn't touch this folder. If it was touched (look at the Date Modified property of the folder to tell if it was indeed touched by the upgrade. I'm not sure if it is because I haven't done an in-place upgrade from 8 to 8.1 so I wouldn't know, but I'll look it up) then chances are high you may end up creating an install disc from a corrupt Windows image. In that case you'll have to re-download the package using the Upgrade license key that was emailed to you when you switched from Seven.

There's no harm in using the ESD folder's contents for the procedure though, it's worth a shot even if its contents were modified by the botched 8.1 upgrade. Good luck. Keep us posted on how it goes.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

Bump
-----
A quick search revealed that upgrading to Windows 8.1 through Windows Store does not update the ESD folder created when upgrading to Windows 8. It is a good and a bad thing. 

It is good because that means the ESD contents weren't touched by the upgrade to 8.1, meaning the files and folders therein are intact and not corrupt by the botched upgrade as earlier suspected.

It is bad because you no longer have the Reset and Refresh options because any attemps to perform these will ask for installation media for the currently installed version 8.1, which you weren't provided with because you obtained 8.1 from the Store. Furthermore, Windows 8.1 won't allow you to use the ESD folder to perform a refresh or reset because the ESD folder contains the Windows 8 image. Similarly, it wouldn't let you do these from a Windows 8 DVD/USB. Only a Windows 8.1 installation media can be used to refresh/reset a Windows 8.1 installation.

It seems your best choice is to create the Windows 8 installation DVD using the ESD folder's contents and perform a clean Windows 8 install, then upgrade to 8.1 through the Store before installing anything else. Only after you have a working Windows 8.1 installation should you install your other programs and apps (not really necessary, but for good measure.)

In my opinion, it doesn't make sense creating a Windows 8 DVD from the ESD folder and then upgrading to 8.1 through Windows Store if you can, instead, simply use your Windows 8 upgrade key (that was emailed to you) to download Windows 8.1 media, which you can always use to refresh/reset/recover your Windows 8.1 installation when the need arises. It beats having a Windows 8 DVD which you cannot use on an 8.1 installation.


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