Windows 10 problems on new laptop

[Guest almenzies]

I have been helping a friend with her new laptop - an Acer. All was working well, but a problem has arisen. The task bar has emptied itself of all the apps that were on it and there seems to be no way to get them back. She also cannot access the Action Centre, and if she tries to get to Settings with a right click on the desktop, it says that there is no program associated with this app and so it cannot be opened. The Windows Start button is also dead. Can anyone help please?

[Guest almenzies]

I have now fixed this myself.

[Brian Burgess]

@almenzies Can you explain exactly what the issue was and how you were able to fix it? That could help out other members of the forum who have the same or similar issue

[Guest almenzies]

She had lost the use of the Start menu, task bar and Action Centre. I tried sfc /scannow from a powershell window (via Ctrl Alt Del, Task Manager, File, Run New Task). This didn't work. I then tried Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"} from a powershell window. This didn't work. My conclusion was that there was a corruption in Windows 10, so I ended up reinstalling Windows 10, by holding down the Shift key on Restart, then Troubleshoot, Reset this PC. I chose to keep her data. This all went smoothly and no data was lost. I had to reinstall some apps but it was quite painless.

[Brian Burgess]

@almenzies Wow, sounds like you're well versed in technology. Glad you were able to figure out the issue, and hopefully your post will be beneficial to others.

The troubleshooting and PC Reset / Reset features are much better than the old days.

[Guest almenzies]

I have a postscript to this.

Bizarrely, another friend who has just upgraded to Windows 10 had exactly the same problem. The thing I found that was common to both of them was that they were both using the free anti-virus Avast. I am now convinced that this was the problem. With the second friend, uninstalling Avast did the trick (not straightforward when you can't get at anything). So, the moral of the story is to uninstall Avast before you upgrade to windows 10!

I appreciate your comments - I am both female and a pensioner, so not your usual nerd

[Brian Burgess]

You know, so many issues with Windows in general and Windows 10, in particular, are anti-virus programs. It's a shame, but the free versions are usually the worst, too.

I wish every user would just allow Windows Defender to do its thing, and if you want a secondary opinion use MalwareByte's.

Also, of course, a healthy dose of common sense when online.