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Ok, so I was trying to edit files in the the WindowsApps directory (I made this post Remove pre-installed apps (Candy Crush, Bubble Witch Saga, March of Empires) from Windows 10) and I set myself as the owner of all of the folders in this directory. Then, this made Windows Store unlaunchable, so I began fiddling with the permissions, which was a big mistake. If I add a permission rule giving "All application packages" full control of the WindowsApps folder and subfolders, then Windows Store begins functioning again, but this seems like a band-aid fix so I tried to find another solution. I tried resetting Windows twice (once keeping files and once losing files) but this issue still persists.

I am running 64-bit Windows 10 Pro - I am preparing to reinstall Windows with a USB drive created through the media creation tool but I am worried this will install a standard version of Windows. Will I be able to keep the Pro version?

Does anyone have any other ideas - maybe ways to reset permissions of an entire folder tree or is there a way to delete the entire WindowsApps directory and have Window update repair it?

At this point, I am considering just using my computer as-is, because I don't really use the Windows store.. please help!

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    You might also check this answer and the section Reset Windows 10 in particular too: superuser.com/questions/1283165/uwp-icons-are-missing/… ... I have a comment in there about icacls WindowsApps /T /Q /C /RESET and such so check it out.
    – Vomit IT - Chunky Mess Style
    May 31, 2018 at 4:36
  • Only way to fix this is a clean install of Windows 10. I suggest you use “Fresh Start” but that of course will restore the applications you just removed (only because it’s a simple solution)
    – Ramhound
    May 31, 2018 at 9:28
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    To whoever marked this as duplicate. Just because the solution is same, does not mean the question is duplicate. They describe quite separate situations. Eventually all worlds problems can be reduced to some universal underlying cause also, but we mortals prefer to keep them separate.
    – Roland Pihlakas
    Feb 5, 2020 at 23:15
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    How to Restore the Default Permissions for WindowsApps folder
    – w32sh
    Nov 8, 2020 at 8:24

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Restore WindowsApps permissions as follows, using an elevated command prompt:

icacls "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps" /reset /t /c /q

source: Reset default ACLs for C:\Program Files\WindowsApps

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    I get a huge amount of Access is denied message when running this. The prompt is elevated. Any ideas?
    – Shadow
    Jan 16, 2020 at 2:56
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    Hi Shadow, referring to the same question (superuser.com/questions/1288014/…), follow the instructions from JTE: download psexec from sysinternals (docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/psexec), then execute: psexec.exe -s -i cmd A new elevated command prompt will be opened, on that prompt, execute the icacls command: icacls "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps" /reset /t /c /q
    – Stijn Bousard
    Feb 12, 2020 at 8:50
  • Tried that - it worked, but it didn't solve the problem. Thanks anyway.
    – Shadow
    Feb 13, 2020 at 11:51
  • Hi Shadow, can you tell me what your problem is?
    – Stijn Bousard
    Feb 14, 2020 at 13:26
  • I'm getting a "[...].exe The parameter is incorrect" every time I (or the computer) attempts to open a windows store application. Similar issue to this site. Verifying permissions was on one of the many many guides to solving it that I have found.
    – Shadow
    Feb 16, 2020 at 23:26

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