Start Menu Search Problem -> Appdata subfolder doesn't recognise the file link

Question

Hello,

I've been having a problem for some time now, and I can't seem to find any sort of help to solve it.

Whenever I use the search feature in the Start Menu for Windows 8.1, i happen upon the same result.

Let's say I search for the word 'mouse', which gives me a few options, for the mouse and touchpad settings for my notebook. I then select the result for the settings, which should open the settings options in the desktop, but instead of that, a popup error appears with the following header:

" C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Packages\windows.immersivecontrolpanel_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Indexed\Settings\it-IT\AAA_SettingsPagePCSystemDeviceSettings.settingcontent-ms

This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. please install a program or, if one is already installed, create an association in the default programs control panel. "

(I am Italian, thus the it-IT option instead of US one)

this happens for every search on the Start Menu that opens files on the desktop except for stuff like the calculator (both the calculator for the desktop and the one for the start menu work fine) or icons with a blue background (basically options with a green icon fall under this problem but not 'control panel')

All files contained in the it-IT folder of the local state AppData subsection give me the same answer if i click on them individually, and of course going to the association option in the control panel does not allow me to fix these broken associations. Any help?

Edit: I have also checked the computer (Asus) with chkdsk and sfc scan. The first did not find any problem, the second found another problem which i manually fixed but that was not pertaining to this one.

Answer 1

popup error appears with the following header:

" C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Packages\windows.immersivecontrolpanel_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Indexed\Settings\it-IT\AAA_SettingsPagePCSystemDeviceSettings.settingcontent-ms

This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. please install a program or, if one is already installed, create an association in the default programs control panel. "

Looks like it is a bogus message which does not take account of special cases.

C:&gt;assoc	find /i "sett" <br><br>.settingcontent-ms=SettingContent<br><br><br>C:&gt;ftype SettingContent <br><br>File type 'SettingContent' not found or no open command associated with it.<br><br><br>C:&gt;ftype	find /i "sett"<br><br><br>C:&gt;

So, my guess is that you have some registry corruption or a permissions problem.  In either case ProcMon could be used to help discover the exact cause.   It would be best to have two traces to compare for their essential differences, one with the problem and one without, both doing otherwise the same thing.

Or, as another guess, you could try the PowerShell workaround that is often advised for various symptoms with the Settings charm.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/notime/archive/2013/10/18/fix-store-app-in-windows-8-1.aspx

<quote>

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $Env:SystemRoot\ImmersiveControlPanel\AppxManifest.xml

</quote>

Good luck

Robert Aldwinckle

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Answer 2

Hello, thanks for your reply!

• Do you receive any error if you try to open the file by directly following the file path?

If I click on the file directly from the it-IT folder (AppData\Local\Packages\windows.immersivecontrolpanel_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Indexed\Settings\it-IT) the files don't open up and it says exactly the same thing (that there is no association to any program). If I search for the program itself through a desktop search (by opening a folder, going to Control Panel and searching for example for the mouse and touchpad settings, they open normally, it's just the shortcut from the start menu and the folder itself that do not work properly.

• Do you remember making any specific change in the computer prior to the issue?

I am not sure whether with Windows 8 it worked and it is when I updated to Windows 8.1 that it stopped working, but when I got the computer the search worked perfectly until at one point it did not anymore. (it is not a very recent thing but i've been trying on and off for months to find a way to fix it)

• If you have another user account on this computer, does the issue persist on the other user account as well?

I only have one account since it's a private notebook.

• Is your computer connected to a domain?

No.

(I thought about doing a Refresh to bring the PC back to factory without losing my files, but the pc alerted me that I would lose a lot of apps that came pre-installed on this pc if i did so, and for which i have no cd to reinstall them afterwards. (which made me decide not to do any refresh. i hoped it'd keep my programs but it's basically identical to a full formatting only that it keeps my files, which would have been the same as me backing up the files elsewhere, but i'd still lose programs and apps i have no way to reinstall afterwards, so)

I also tried making systems restores in the past, not just for this particular problem, but the few restore points were all apparently made afterwards and so nothing got fixed. i had a restore happen two days ago for unrelated things and yeah, nothing changed since it's been a while.

I will try opening the pc on safe mode to see if there's anything i can do in that setting and will report if the problem persists in safe mode. thank you for your consideration!

C. Francesca

Answer 3

Hi Francesca,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

I appreciate the effort put towards trying to resolve the issue. Let me ask you;

1. Do you receive any error if you try to open the file by directly following the file path?
2. Do you remember making any specific change in the computer prior to the issue?
3. If you have another user account on this computer, does the issue persist on the other user account as well?
4. Is your computer connected to a domain?

This could be caused due to that particular file may not have a program installed associated with it. This could be due to file explorer issue. However, I understand that you are facing this issue not only with that particular file but more.

I would suggest you to directly go to the location of the file and try to open it. Let us know if you are still getting any error.

Also, if you remember making any changes in the computer recently or if you think this issue did not occur prior to any particular date, I would recommend performing system restore and check.

Method 1: Start the computer in safe mode

a) Press the Windows key + C key on the keyboard.

b) Click on Settings, Change PC Settings and then General.

c) Scroll down to Advanced Startup, click Restart Now.

d) Click on Troubleshoot, Advanced Options, Startup Settings.

e) Click Restart, select Safe mode and then press Enter.

Method 2:

Step 1: To restore your PC to an earlier point in time:

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
2. Enter Control Panel in the search box, and tap or click Control Panel.
3. Enter Recovery in the Control Panel search box, and then tap or click Recovery.
4. Tap or click Open System Restore, and then follow the instructions.

Step 2: If the above steps do not work since the issue is related to Search, try the following:

1. Press Windows key + X and click System
2. Click System Protection and then click System Restore tab
3. When system restore window appears, click Next
4. By default it will show you a restore point created already. Click to check the box which says "Show more restore points"
5. Select one if you think this issue did not occur and click Next, click Finish.

Important: When you use System Restore to restore the computer to a previous state, programs and updates that you have installed after that date are removed.

Hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to reply in case you face any other issues with Windows in future.