"The specified path does not exist. Check the path, and then try again." When ever I try opening applications with Windows default applications

Question

So, an Expiro type virus ate up some of my System 32 so I reinstalled windows to recover those files. This was reinstall-repair at mode that left my files and applications safe. So, everything was looking file but then I tried to open some image using Windows default image opening app, it doesn't work; giving the error "The specified path does not exist. Check the path, and then try again." . Same with videos but when I try to open using installed applications like GIMP or VLC, it works. How can I fix this?.

Answer 1

Hi Obu,

Thank you so much for reaching out. I am Iggy, an independent advisor, and glad to assist you today with this issue.

Thanks for the detailed explanation, the issue you're seeing is a known side effect of doing a Windows "repair install" after malware (like Expiro) damaged core system files. Here's exactly what’s happening and how to fix it.

Step1 :Reinstall All Default Microsoft Apps

Step-by-step (PowerShell method):

1. Press Win + X → click Windows Terminal (Admin) or PowerShell (Admin)
2. Run this command:

Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers| Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}

This command will:

• Re-register all built-in apps (including Photos, Videos, Calculator, etc.)

• Fix missing or broken default app paths

Note: This will take a couple of minutes. You’ll see lots of output and that's normal

Hope this helps and let me know once done.

Regards,

Iggy

Answer 2

It has been a while but while this worked to remove the error and most applications are now running fine, windows default photo viewer isn't working properly for me. Any image I try to open shows up as below, just a blank white screen. I have tried repairing and resetting the app in settings, I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling it, nothing. The only other photoviewing applications also affected are those with a similar build, like "Picsart AI Photo editor", sufficiently different photoviewers like "Paint.net", "XnViewer MP"and even other imbuild ones like "Paint" are working perfectly but for some reason, Photos and similar apps can't view images and just open a white-gray window.