Unable to Update, Reset, or Uninstall Microsoft News

[DrMacintosh]

Hello, today I logged into my Bootcamp partition on my MacBook Pro. I opened the MS Store to update my apps and checked for Windows updates. A fair number of apps from the Store updated and installed successfully but then noticed that the Microsoft News app was stuck at downloading 130Kb. I waited a few minutes and there was no change. The app opens and runs fine, but I just can't modify it and its really getting on my nerves. Applications should not be this complicated, macOS has a infinitely superior OS design. On macOS I could simply drag the .app into the Trash. For some reason Microsoft it their infinite wisdom has made dealing with UWP apps harder than it ever should have been.   

 

I was annoyed to I opened the apps section in settings to remove the app altogether so I could reinstall it, but the process just stalls and nothing happens. I tried again from the start menu but nothing happens as well. I then proceeded to go into the advanced settings to maybe reset the app and then install it....but of course the reset process just spins forever and nothing happens. 

 

I found a older thread where a user had a similar issue: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/newmsn/forum/newmsn_install-newmsn_launchapp-newmsn_device_win8_1/msn-news-wont-start-cant-be-repaired-cant/b3891326-d68f-470a-98ae-3f1ad851665d 

 

I'm very proficient in diagnosing problems and the steps I should take when it comes to troubleshooting. Naturally the first thing I did was launch terminal and performed a scan using DISM.exe and sfc /SCANNOW. Both came back showing now integrity violations. 

 

Seeking a nuclear option at this point I downloaded this program to remove the Microsoft News App: 

https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Windows-10-Store-Apps-5f60b9e3

 

When I attempted the uninstall the app, the program locked up and became unresponsive. 

 

So what do I do at this point? My operating system is not corrupt, the app technically works, I just cannot update or change the application in any way. Also why is Windows 10 Designed to cause the most frustration possible for its users? I really don't understand why anyone would want to use this operating system on a mission critical device when something as simple as removing a 30.5MB app can be this difficult. I hope that Apple Silicon kills the Windows based laptop market. 

[Uptivuptiz]

Try removing the app with this Powershell command (run as admin): 

Get-AppxPackage *bingnews* | Remove-AppxPackage