Another question regarding Uninstalling "ExpressVPN"

Question

I have been using ExpressVPN for three years now, mostly successfully.

But yesterday when I logged in and tried to start it, the app just would not start.

I got error messages asking me to reboot or try repairing.

I tried all 3 options, none of which would work. All leading back to this error message.

I also tried to uninstall it from the Start menu (right click and choose Uninstall), and through Settings / Apps and through Control Panel / Programs and Features, none of which worked.

I spent time online in a chat box with ExpressVPN support, who suggested many of the same things.

I discovered that I had two instances of ExpressVPN in my start menu and in the Settings/Apps and in Programs and Features / Uninstall. One was from 2022 and one from 2023.

When I could not reconnect with ExpressVPN support, I then tried BCUninstaller.

BCUninstaller ran the app uninstaller, which came with the same result, a failure to uninstall. But then allowed me to get rid of remnants. Only it did not get rid of all remnants.

There seems to be two folders, under control of the system that remained. I tried to take control of those folders and change the owner to me. I should be the administrator as I am the only person on this laptop, but the system will not give me control. I can't delete the folders or even see them from the folder above. I can't access the parent folder.

Now, when I try to uninstall from Settings / Apps, I get the following error:

I got back in touch with ExpressVPN support.

They had me check Task Manager and search for any running process for expressvpn. There were none.

They asked me to try to reinstall ExpressVPN, which I did successfully.

But now there are three entries in the Start menu for ExpressVPN and also in Settings /Apps, and only one works and I can't get rid of the two bad versions.

I tried using Settings / Apps / Advanced Options which shows the following:

I tried the Reset option and got this:

I thought of trying to use regedit.exe to try to remove the remnants, but I would not be capable of telling what entry belonged to what version of the install.

I tried using a suggestion that came from another post regarding problems with uninstalling expressvpn.

takeown /f "C:\ProgramData\ExpressVPN\AccessTokens" /a /r /d y

icacls "C:\ProgramData\ExpressVPN\AccessTokens" /grant %username%:F /T

The result from the first command:

---

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19045.5131]

(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\hstock>takeown /f "C:\ProgramData\ExpressVPN\AccessTokens" /a /r /d y

ERROR: The current logged on user does not have administrative privileges.

C:\Users\hstock>

---

I am the administrator, but that is apparently not enough.

Does anyone have any other thoughts about this? I really could use help from a Microsoft expert, I think.

Note to Microsoft: Please add a Topic for System Admin or somethin like that. The other topics do not adequately describe this kind of situation.

***moved from Windows / Windows 10 / Settings***

Answer 1

Hello,

Based on the information you provided, I suspect this is a known issue with the Windows Application SDK caused by Windows 10 updates. For details, you can refer to the solution in the following link.

After updating Windows 10, Windows can no longer manage any appx packages, and I can't deploy WinUI 3 apps from VS · Issue #4881 · microsoft/WindowsAppSDK

Best Regards

Zunhui