Windows App Store missing from my account

get-appxpackage *windowsstore* returns nothing, though get-appxpackage *windowsstore* -allusers returns two entries (as explained before), one presumably representing the installation of the app on the computer, the other the registration of that app to another user on the same computer.

Since I haven't got much to lose, I ran the command:

get-appxpackage *windowsstore* -allusers | remove-appxpackage

It failed with (two instances of) the error message 'ObjectNotFound', perhaps because the app isn't currently registered to my account, so I don't see much point in reinstalling Windows 10 (again - I'll already tried this as advised in my original post).

It was wsreset which put me in this situation in the first place, as explained yesterday, and unsurprisingly doing it again yesterday didn't solve anything.

Go ahead.

Type PowerShell in your Cortana/Search window on the Taskbar.

Right click it and select "Open as Admin"-

In the PowerShell window copy and paste the following instruction:

Get-AppxPackage *windowsstore* | Remove-AppxPackage

hit enter and wait for the program to remove the store from your device.

Close PowerShell.

Be advised the only way to reinstall the store once you have done this is to

reinstall Windows altogether.

Let's clear and reset the cache of Windows Store. Please follow the steps below:

1. Close Windows Store app, if it is running.
2. In the search box, type wsreset (Windows Store Reset).
3. Right-click on top result and select Run as Administrator.

This should clear the cache of Windows Store. Please check the Microsoft Store app again and see if it fixed the issue.

Regards.

Thanks for coming back to me again.

I had run the Windows App troubleshooter before, that is what led me to 'resetting' Windows Store, which took the situation from bad to worse, i.e. before the Windows Store was simply failing to update any existing apps or download any new ones, after the Store itself disappeared altogether.  Anyway, I've run it again and it reports that 'Windows Store cache may be damaged' (I assume it is missing altogether), and that the problem is 'not fixed'.

SFC reports no integrity violations, so do dism /checkhealth and dism /scanhealth.  Nevertheless, as advised on the relevant webpage, I ran dism /restorehealth anyway, which completed 100% successfully but has made no difference to the availability of the Store app.

I have tried the relevant Add-AppXPackage command again, and still get the error code 0x87AF0001A, "The Visual Elements extension failed while processing the Notification element".  I've pasted in below a fuller transcript of the relevant log file entry.

As I mentioned in my original post, I had already tried a repair install of Windows 10 from installation media, and this didn't fix my problem.  It took rather a long time to run, but at least it's relatively straightforward compared to setting up a new user account so I'll try that again overnight tonight in the absence of any other ideas.

add-appxpackage command, error message and (part of) log file entry:

Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsStore_11802.1001.11.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\AppXManifest.xml"

Add-AppxPackage : Deployment failed with HRESULT: 0x80073CF6, Package could not be registered.

error 0x87AF001A: The Visual Elements extension failed while processing the Notification element.

NOTE: For additional information, look for [ActivityId] fadec784-be19-0002-68d4-defa19bed301 in the Event Log or use

the command line Get-AppxLog -ActivityID fadec784-be19-0002-68d4-defa19bed301

At line:1 char:1

• Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "C:\Program Files\W ...

    + CategoryInfo          : WriteError: (C:\Program File...ppXManifest.xml:String) [Add-AppxPackage], IOException

    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.AddAppxPackageCommand

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> Get-AppxLog -ActivityID fadec784-be19-0002-68d4-defa19bed301

Time                      ID           Message

----                      --           -------

17/03/2018 18:05:55       603          Started deployment Register operation on a package with main parameter:

                                       AppXManifest.xml and Options: 0 and 0. See

                                       http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=235160 for help diagnosing app

                                       deployment issues.

17/03/2018 18:05:55       216          App manifest validation warning: Declared namespace

                                       http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/appx/2015/build is inapplicable, it will

                                       be ignored during manifest processing.

17/03/2018 18:05:55       10002        Creating Resiliency File C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\AppRepository\19006094

                                       -3dff-4866-9701-026bf30c2439_S-1-5-21-643963961-2918267189-167714174-1000_30.rsl

                                       c for Register Operation on Package

                                       Microsoft.WindowsStore_11802.1001.1113.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe.

17/03/2018 18:05:55       607          Deployment Register operation on package

                                       Microsoft.WindowsStore_11802.1001.1113.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe has been

                                       de-queued and is running for user SID

                                       S-1-5-21-643963961-2918267189-167714174-1000.

17/03/2018 18:05:55       613          Adding uri to the list of Uris: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsSt

                                       ore_11802.1001.1113.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe\AppxMetadata\AppxBundleManifest.xm

                                       l.

17/03/2018 18:05:55       613          Adding uri to the list of Uris: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsSt

                                       ore_11802.1001.11.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\AppxManifest.xml.

17/03/2018 18:05:55       613          Adding uri to the list of Uris: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsSt

                                       ore_11802.1001.11.0_neutral_split.scale-100_8wekyb3d8bbwe\AppxManifest.xml.

17/03/2018 18:05:55       216          App manifest validation warning: Declared namespace

                                       http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/appx/2015/build is inapplicable, it will

                                       be ignored during manifest processing.

17/03/2018 18:05:55       492          In-place package update policy result for

                                       Microsoft.WindowsStore_11802.1001.1113.0_neutral_~_8wekyb3d8bbwe - staging:

                                       false, applying false

17/03/2018 18:05:55       573          Setting Sync Enabled status, package family name

                                       Microsoft.WindowsStore_8wekyb3d8bbwe, enabled false.

17/03/2018 18:05:55       10000        About to service package

                                       Microsoft.WindowsStore_11802.1001.11.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe. Setting the package

                                       state to disabled returned with 0x0.

17/03/2018 18:05:55       339          Registration will process the extensions in the following order:

                                       windows.stateExtension windows.applyDataExtension windows.repositoryExtension

                                       windows.capability windows.MRT windows.visualElements windows.alarm

                                       windows.autoPlayContent windows.autoPlayDevice windows.autoPlayHandler

                                       windows.activatableClass.inProcessServer

                                       windows.activatableClass.outOfProcessServer windows.activatableClass.proxyStub

                                       windows.activatableClass.downloadUpload windows.gameExplorer windows.search

                                       windows.fileOpenPicker windows.fileSavePicker windows.cachedFileUpdater

                                       windows.appUriHandler windows.appPrinter windows.startupTask

                                       windows.shareTarget windows.lockScreenCall windows.personalAssistantLaunch

                                       windows.fileTypeAssociation windows.contentType windows.protocol

                                       windows.appointmentsProvider windows.defaultPrograms

                                       windows.activatableClass.backgroundPlaybackClass windows.backgroundTasks

                                       windows.DefaultBackgroundTasks windows.webAccountProvider

                                       windows.userDataAccountsProvider windows.preInstalledConfigTask

                                       windows.updateTask windows.appService windows.appointmentDataProvider

                                       windows.contactDataProvider windows.emailDataProvider

                                       windows.userDataTaskDataProvider windows.internal.filePickerExperience

                                       windows.dialProtocol windows.internal.componentUI windows.lockScreenComponent

                                       windows.printWorkflowBackgroundTask windows.printWorkflowForegroundTask

                                       windows.restrictedLaunch windows.integrityExtension windows.licensing

                                       windows.accountPictureProvider AppSync windows.cameraSettings

                                       windows.printTaskSettings windows.print3DWorkflow windows.DeviceSetupManager

                                       windows.appExecutionAlias windows.activatableClass.collector

                                       windows.certificates windows.preCompilationExtension windows.runTime

                                       windows.DeviceAccess windows.indexedDB windows.MicrosoftAccountClient.SignOut

                                       windows.searchIndexer windows.sharedFonts windows.geolocation

                                       windows.userDataAccess windows.repositoryExtension.remove

                                       windows.stateExtension.remove .

17/03/2018 18:05:55       827          Capability parsing started for the package

                                       Microsoft.WindowsStore_11802.1001.11.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

17/03/2018 18:05:55       5505         Microsoft.WindowsStore_11802.1001.11.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe : C:\Program Files\Win

                                       dowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsStore_11802.1001.11.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\microsoft.sys

                                       tem.package.metadata\S-1-5-21-643963961-2918267189-167714174-1000-MergedResource

                                       s-0.pri : Linked user-specific merged PRI file

17/03/2018 18:05:55       5092         error 0x87AF001A: The Visual Elements extension failed while processing the

                                       Notification element.

17/03/2018 18:05:55       306          error 0x87AF001A: While processing the request, the system failed to register

                                       the windows.visualElements extension due to the following error: File opened

                                       that is not a database file

                                       .

17/03/2018 18:05:55       316          error 0x87AF001A: Cannot register the request because the following error was

                                       encountered during the registration of the windows.visualElements extension:

                                       File opened that is not a database file

                                       .

17/03/2018 18:05:56       5252         An internal error occurred with error 0x80070002. See

                                       http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=235160 for help diagnosing app

                                       deployment issues.

17/03/2018 18:05:56       331          error 0x80070002: While reverting the request, the system failed to de-register

                                       the windows.stateExtension extension due to the following error: The system

                                       cannot find the file specified.

                                       .

17/03/2018 18:05:56       5507         Microsoft.WindowsStore_11802.1001.11.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe : C:\Program Files\Win

                                       dowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsStore_11802.1001.11.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\microsoft.sys

                                       tem.package.metadata\resources.d1c0bb8c.pri : Shared merged file still in use

17/03/2018 18:05:56       5508         Microsoft.WindowsStore_11802.1001.11.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe : C:\Program Files\Win

                                       dowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsStore_11802.1001.11.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\microsoft.sys

                                       tem.package.metadata\S-1-5-21-643963961-2918267189-167714174-1000-MergedResource

                                       s-0.pri : Deleted

17/03/2018 18:05:56       5507         Microsoft.WindowsStore_11802.1001.11.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe : C:\Program Files\Win

                                       dowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsStore_11802.1001.11.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\microsoft.sys

                                       tem.package.metadata\S-1-5-21-643963961-2918267189-167714174-1000-MergedResource

                                       s-*.pri : No user-specific merged files found

17/03/2018 18:05:56       5507         Microsoft.WindowsStore_11802.1001.11.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe : C:\Program Files\Win

                                       dowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsStore_11802.1001.11.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\microsoft.sys

                                       tem.package.metadata\resources.d1c0bb8c.pri : Shared merged file still in use

17/03/2018 18:05:56       300          error 0x80073CF6: Cannot register the Microsoft.WindowsStore_8wekyb3d8bbwe

                                       package due to the following error: Package could not be registered.

                                       .

17/03/2018 18:05:56       605          The last successful state reached was ResolvedDeferredRegistrations. Failure

                                       occurred before reaching the next state RegistrationChanged. hr: 0x80073CF6