Fix Modern Apps and Windows Store After Upgrading to Windows 8.1

This article is aimed to assist those, who have just upgraded their PCs from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1, and triggering the following issues.

• Modern Apps do no run properly on Windows 8.1. On launching, these applications start into a black blank screen with nothing to proceed. However, the mouse cursor shows itself in a fine way and moves accordingly. Clicking anywhere, on the blank screen shuts down the process and returns to Windows 8.1 Start screen.
• Windows Store does not perform what it is supposed to. It either fails to launch or stuck while launching successfully. In other cases, it does not let you search, download, or install applications.

This is a simple issue with complex consequences. There is no need to perform a clean install or rollback to Windows 8, see the below troubleshooting points and repair this thing yourself.

• Repair Corrupt Windows Files
• Repair Windows Store
• Clean Windows Store Cache
• Retrieve Built-in Apps
• Fix Third Party Apps

Repair Corrupt Windows Files

• Right click Windows 8.1 Start button and click to select Command Prompt (Admin)
• Click Yes button to confirm UAC message
• In the command prompt screen, type the command line SFC /SCANNOW and hit Enter
• System File Checker will perform a thorough scan to identify and repair the damaged files
• Exit Command Prompt, when the scan finishes

Repair Windows Store

• Type Regedit in Windows 8.1 Start screen and choose to open it from search results
• Click Yes on UAC message to open Windows Registry Editor
• Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER to navigate the following stated key
• Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\AppModel \Repository\Packages
• Right click the Packages key and choose to set Permissions
• Click Advanced button below
• Locate the Account name stated as Owner
• Click Change button next to this category and type System
• If Multiple Names Found select the one stated as SYSTEM
• Click OK to close all dialog boxes

• Now go to Command Prompt, type the following command line and hit Enter key
• powershell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $Env:SystemRoot\WinStore\AppxManifest.xml
• Close command prompt. The Store should successfully run now.

Clean Windows Store Cache

• Press Windows key + R on your keyboard to bring up the Run box
• In the Run box, type wsreset.exe and hit Enter key
• The command runs opening up the Store and clearing all its temporary files

Retrieve Built-in Apps

• Run the Windows Powershell with Administrative Rights
• Type the command line given below and hit Enter key
• ((Get-ChildItem “HKLM:SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore\InboxApplications”) | Get-ItemProperty).Path | Add-AppxPackage -Register –DisableDevelopmentMode
• Exit Windows Powershell and Reboot your system

Fix Third Party Apps

• Locate Command Prompt and run it as administrator
• Type WMIC USERACCOUNT GET NAME, SID and hit Enter.
• Note down the SID from shown results
• Go to Registry Editor and navigate through HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to reach the following key
• SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Appx\AppxAllUserStore
• Locate the exact SID as you noted earlier and Delete it

Restart for the last time after performing all the fixes. You can now enjoy a pleasant experience of exploring through Windows Apps Store and download/installing apps directly to your computer.

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