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MD-100 Troubleshoot the Windows client operating system and apps - Training
MD-100 Troubleshoot the Windows client operating system and apps
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Applies to: Windows 10
Start failures can be organized into these categories:
When troubleshooting basic Start issues (and for the most part, all other Windows apps), there are a few things to check if they aren't working as expected. For issues where the Start menu or subcomponent isn't working, you can do some quick tests to narrow down where the issue may reside.
If Start fails immediately after a feature update, on thing to check is if the App package failed to install successfully.
If Start was working and just fails intermittently, it's likely that Start is installed correctly, but the issue occurs downstream. The way to check for this problem is to look for output from these two PowerShell commands:
get-AppXPackage -Name Microsoft.Windows.ShellExperienceHost
get-AppXPackage -Name Microsoft.Windows.Cortana
Failure messages will appear if they aren't installed
If Start isn't installed, then the fastest resolution is to revert to a known good configuration. This can be rolling back the update, resetting the PC to defaults (where there's a choice to save to delete user data), or restoring from backup. No method is supported to install Start Appx files. The results are often problematic and unreliable.
If either component is failing to start on boot, reviewing the event logs for errors or crashes during boot may pin point the problem. Booting with MSCONFIG and using a selective or diagnostic startup option will eliminate and/or identify possible interference from additional applications.
get-process -name shellexperiencehost
get-process -name searchui
If it's installed but not running, test booting into safe mode or use MSCONFIG to eliminate third-party or additional drivers and applications.
test-path "$env:windir\panther\miglog.xml"
test-path "$env:windir\panther\miglog.xml"
If these events are found, Start isn't activated correctly. Each event will have more detail in the description and should be investigated further. Event messages can vary.
When did the problem start?
To narrow down the problem further, it's good to note:
What is the install background?
Domain-joined
Is the environment virtualized?
System Event log
Application Event log
Microsoft/Windows/Shell-Core*
Microsoft/Windows/Apps/
Microsoft-Windows-TWinUI*
Microsoft/Windows/AppReadiness*
Microsoft/Windows/AppXDeployment*
Microsoft-Windows-PushNotification-Platform/Operational
Microsoft-Windows-CoreApplication/Operational
Microsoft-Windows-ShellCommon-StartLayoutPopulation*
Microsoft-Windows-CloudStore*
Check for crashes that may be related to Start (explorer.exe, taskbar, and so on)
If there is a component of Start that is consistently crashing, capture a dump that can be reviewed by Microsoft Support.
The following list provides information about common errors you might run into with Start Menu, as well as steps to help you mitigate them.
You may experience various issues related to the Windows Shell on devices that are running Office Click-to-Run, along with some third party applications that use Office APIs:
Event 1000 is logged in the Application event log. The event log reports that an application crashes for StartMenuExperienceHost.exe, ShellExperienceHost.exe, SearchUI.exe, with an error code 0xc000027b / -1073741189.
Errors in the Microsoft-Windows-AppModel-State event log mentioning the following error with various package names:
Triggered repair of state locations because operation SettingsInitialize against package Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin_cw5n1h2txyewy hit error -2147024891.
The Windows Start Menu does not respond to mouse clicks or the Windows key.
Windows Search does not respond to mouse clicks on pressing the Search button or Windows+S key.
Affected devices may have damaged registry keys or data which might affect apps using Microsoft Office APIs to integrate with Windows, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Outlook, or Outlook Calendar. This may occur if application packages permissions are being removed from the following registry path:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
Note
Barco has reported to have fixed this issue starting their App version 4.27.2. However, the affected devices may need to follow the steps mentioned in the workaround section.
For more information, see Unresponsive Windows taskbar or user shell folder permissions issues with ClickShare App Calendar integration.
To workaround the issue, follow these steps:
Download the scripts to fix the issue when it happens, though the scripts cannot prevent the issue from re-occurring.
Open a Powershell prompt under the affected user identity, and run
.\FixUserShellFolderPermissions.ps1
If the script can't access the registry key because the registry permissions are wiped out, then open an elevated Powershell prompt and run the following command:
FixUserShellFolderPermissions.ps1 -allprofiles
If an application doesn't work, you may need to register the shell packages by running from the affected user the command
FixUserShellFolderPermissions.ps1 -register
Microsoft is aware of this issue and is working to resolve it in an upcoming Office update. We will post more information in this article when it becomes available.
Background Tasks Infrastructure Service (BrokerInfrastructure) service isn't started.
Ensure that Background Tasks Infrastructure Service is set to automatic startup in Services MMC.
If Background Tasks Infrastructure Service fails to start, verify that the Power Dependency Coordinator Driver (PDC) driver and registry key aren't disabled or deleted. If either are missing, restore from backup or the installation media.
To verify the PDC Service, run C:\>sc query pdc
in a command prompt. The results will be similar to the following:
SERVICE_NAME: pdc
TYPE : 1 KERNEL_DRIVER
STATE : 4 RUNNING
(STOPPABLE, NOT_PAUSABLE, IGNORES_SHUTDOWN)
WIN32_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0)
SERVICE_EXIT_CODE : 0 (0x0)
CHECKPOINT : 0x0
WAIT_HINT : 0x0
The PDC service uses pdc.sys located in the %WinDir%\system32\drivers.
The PDC registry key is:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\pdc
Description="@%SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\pdc.sys,-101"
DisplayName="@%SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\pdc.sys,-100"
ErrorControl=dword:00000003
Group="Boot Bus Extender"
ImagePath=hex(2):73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,64,00,
72,00,69,00,76,00,65,00,72,00,73,00,5c,00,70,00,64,00,63,00,2e,00,73,00,79,
00,73,00,00,00
Start=dword:00000000
Type=dword:00000001
In addition to the listed dependencies for the service, Background Tasks Infrastructure Service requires the Power Dependency Coordinator Driver to be loaded. If the PDC doesn't load at boot, Background Tasks Infrastructure Service will fail and affect Start Menu.
Events for both PDC and Background Tasks Infrastructure Service will be recorded in the event logs. PDC shouldn't be disabled or deleted. BrokerInfrastructure is an automatic service. This Service is required for all these operating Systems as running to have a stable Start Menu.
Note
You cannot stop this automatic service when machine is running (C:\windows\system32\svchost.exe -k DcomLaunch -p).
There was a change in the All Apps list between Windows 10, versions 1511 and 1607. These changes mean the original Group Policy and corresponding registry key no longer apply.
This issue was resolved in the June 2017 updates. Update Windows 10, version 1607, to the latest cumulative or feature updates.
Note
When the Group Policy is enabled, the desired behavior also needs to be selected. By default, it is set to None.
This issue is known. The first-time sign-in experience isn't detected and does not trigger the install of some apps.
This issue has been fixed for Windows 10, version 1709 in KB 4089848 March 22, 2018—KB4089848 (OS Build 16299.334)
There are two main reasons for this issue:
Incorrect format: Editing the xml file incorrectly by adding an extra space or spaces, entering a bad character, or saving in the wrong format.
Unexpected information: This occurs when possibly trying to add a tile via an unexpected or undocumented method.
The attribute 'LayoutCustomizationRestrictiontype' on the element '{http://schemas.microsoft.com/Start/2014/LayoutModification}DefaultLayoutOverride' is not defined in the DTD/Schema.
XML files can and should be tested locally on a Hyper-V or other virtual machine before deployment or application by Group Policy
If a user is having problems with a PC, it can be refreshed, reset, or restored. Refreshing the PC is a beneficial option because it maintains personal files and settings. When users have trouble starting the PC, "Change PC settings" in Settings isn't accessible. So, to access the System Refresh, users may use the F12 key at startup. Refreshing the PC finishes, but Start Menu is not accessible.
This issue is known and was resolved in a cumulative update released August 30, 2018.
Install corrective updates; a fix is included in the September 11, 2018-KB4457142 release.
"Remove All Programs list from the Start menu" Group Policy is enabled.
Disable the "Remove All Programs list from the Start menu" Group Policy.
There are two different Start Menu issues in Windows 10:
Specifically, behaviors include
Working layout on first sign-in of a new roaming user profile
Failing layout on subsequent sign-ins
A timing issue exists where the Start Menu is ready before the data is pulled locally from the Roaming User Profile. The issue doesn't occur on first logons of a new roaming user, as the code path is different and slower.
This issue has been resolved in Windows 10, versions 1703 and 1607, cumulative updates as of March 2017.
Before the upgrade:
Note
In the screenshot, Corporate Applications and Utilities are group policy controlled, and the tiles under these items are user pinned.
After the upgrade the user pinned tiles are missing:
Additionally, users may see blank tiles if sign-in was attempted without network connectivity.
This issue was fixed in the October 2017 update.
The April 2018 LCU must be applied to Windows 10, version 1709 before a user logs on.
CopyProfile is no longer supported when attempting to customize Start Menu or taskbar with a layoutmodification.xml.
Windows 10, version 1507 through the release of version 1607 uses a database for the Tile image information. This is called the Tile Data Layer database. (The feature was deprecated in Windows 10 1703.)
There are steps you can take to fix the icons, first is to confirm that is the issue that needs to be addressed.
windows-feedback://
Note
Corruption recovery removes any manual pins from Start. Apps should still be visible, but you'll need to re-pin any secondary tiles and/or pin app tiles to the main Start view. Aps that you have installed that are completely missing from "all apps" is unexpected, however. That implies the re-registration didn't work.
Open a command prompt, and run the following command:
C:\Windows\System32\tdlrecover.exe -reregister -resetlayout -resetcache
Although a reboot isn't required, it may help clear up any residual issues after the command is run.
Start menu, Search, and Apps do not start after you upgrade a computer running Windows 7 that has Symantec Endpoint Protection installed to Windows 10 version 1809.
This problem occurs because of a failure to load sysfer.dll. During upgrade, the setup process doesn't set the privilege group "All Application Packages" on sysfer.dll and other Symantec modules.
This issue was fixed by the Windows Cumulative Update that were released on December 5, 2018—KB4469342 (OS Build 17763.168).
If you've already encountered this issue, use one of the following two options to fix the issue:
Option 1: Remove sysfer.dll from system32 folder and copy it back. Windows will set privilege automatically.
Option 2:
Third-party information disclaimer
The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.
Training
Learning path
MD-100 Troubleshoot the Windows client operating system and apps - Training
MD-100 Troubleshoot the Windows client operating system and apps