WindowsApps folder access denied

[MyWaifuMeiAihara]

Yo

 

I need help with windows denying access to basically anything thats in the WindowsApps folder...

I had this error (pic below with nvidia control panel as example) before, and it was so annoying after a while that i ended up clean installing the os again.

 

Last time I tried the following to solve this (none of them worked):

- editing permissions in properties/security (my windows account was already there, so i added everyone as full control)

- take-ownership script

- installing pending windows updates

- repairing the os from an install image

- DDUing the vga driver

(im sure i tried some other things as well, but nothing significant comes to mind)

 

At first I thought it was because my RAM XMP was slightly unstable, and some bug occurred when the system crashed, so i tuned it back and when after a month or so passed and it appeared rock solid, i wiped the system disk and installed a clean windows.

It solved the problem (for a while).. then today (around 3 months after the installation), it just appeared again.. the system did not crash a single time, everything appeared to be working, then i shut down my pc and when i turned it back on, there was the message on my screen right after logging into windows...

 

Yes, i tried to google the problem, but everything that comes up talks about a simple permission not being set.. my problem is much deeper than that, so that wont help..

I also tried to ask on the microsoft forum, but all i got as reply was "change the permissions, if that does not help, then clean install windows"..

Since i dont want to reinstall the os and all my apps on a 2-3 month basis, i hope someone here can help me

 

some things to note:

- i have an administrator account

- no other accounts are present, and windows denies access even after UAC prompt

- it literally happened with no warning after a restart cycle (no windows updates, no driver updates..)

- it does not affect anything else (as far as i know) but the WindowsApps folder..

- last time it also affected Vanguard (riot anti-cheat software), but it appears not to be the case this time

 

i guess it doesnt matter in this case, but here are my pc specs anyways:

- Ryzen 9 3900x

- 32GB G.skill trident z neo 3600Mhz 4x8GB kit (runs at 3400 and slightly altered timings, because the XMP was unstable [also i had this problem with another ram kit as well, that also crashed after overclocking.. hence i thought it was related, but as i said, this time there was no crash or weird behavior before the problem came up])

- Asrock Taichi x570

- MSI gaming x GTX 1080 Ti

- Samsung 980 1tb system drive (this problem occurred on an older sata ssd as well [same system except RAM])

 

 

[Kilrah]

That's how it's supposed to be, WindowsApps is not user-accessible. 

 

It's not clear why you want to try to go do stuff in there in the first place. Shouldn't be required.

[MyWaifuMeiAihara]

Welp, nvidia control panel installs there as starters, so i cant use it.. like.. at all... literally cant change a single setting thats not present in something, like MSI afterburner...

and that gets me to having to unplug and plug all my displays into the pc every single time i restart it, because windows recognizes my secondary display as primary, and no matter what i change in windows or which port i plug them in on the gpu, it remains that way, unleash i plug them back in a specific order...

thus i cant use shadowplay if i dont do that every time i restart my pc, because that can only record the primary display

BUT it listens to nvidia control panel, so i need that to avoid climbing to the back of my pc and unpluging my displays (i hope you can see how that becomes really annoying really fast)

and for nvidia contol panel to work, i have to have access to the windows app folder

 

does this reason justify my need for a solution?

 

Also, WINDOWS CANT ACCESS IT... its not me who want to install some app there.. windows cant install or run anything from that folder... and for the contol panel, you cant even change the install location

[Kilrah]

The error you get doesn't necessarily mean "Windows can't access it", but maybe just that whatever file is trying to be opened doesn't exist.

Would try uninstalling the Nvidia panel and reinstalling it. 

[MyWaifuMeiAihara]

yeah, tried.. it says installation was successful, then goes back to the same error.. also tried to ddu the full driver, same error

[Kilrah]

You can try this: https://www.thewindowsclub.com/reset-windows-store-cache#:~:text=To reset Microsoft Store%2C open,Microsoft Store apps via Settings.

[MyWaifuMeiAihara]

didnt do anything..

 

 

[MyWaifuMeiAihara]

installed a really old driver (441.41) from 2019, and the control panel works.. not because the issue have been solved.. i still cant run the windows store version of spotify for example!

basically, i cant install anything thats newer than the version in which nvidia moved the control panel to windows store

but at least im allowed to use a 2 and a half year old driver version

 

edit: this killed the shadowplay, so im back to square one.. YEY

 

 

 

[DAOWAce]

Funny how the first reply to this topic is a complete non-understanding of the problem, and from a moderator no less.

 

I've been running into this too after finally updating Windows to a version that supports DCH drivers (been on v1703 since 2017, long story).  Ripping my hair out looking for a fix.

A fresh install of Win10 20H1 has everything working fine, but my old upgraded Win10 1909 from 1703 which was then from Win 7 is running into this permissions issue.

 

Taking ownership of the directory lets me launch it manually and everything seems to work mostly fine.. but any shortcuts to the 'app' (ie; desktop context menu) still spit out the same error.  Manually opening the control panel every time is horrid.

 

UWP is a plague on Windows.  NVIDIA never should've stopped releasing non-DCH drivers.

 

 

Edit: Could try this: https://github.com/AgentRev/WindowsAppsUnfukker

 

Didn't work for me for the NVCP, but re-fixed the other 'apps' I broke trying to fix it.  Still no solution to the issue as of August 9 2022.   Still forced to use the last non-DCH driver for the NVCP to work correctly, which includes having G-sync functional (mandatory).

Edited August 9, 2022 by DAOWAce

[DAOWAce]

If you haven't yet reset Windows, I finally found a fix for this issue.

 

The issue with the NVCP was really a root issue of UWP (of course).

 

Everything worked fine under a new user account.  This lead to a more focused investigation, and in the end I wound up using a tool that reset a bunch of things.  The Xbox app started working properly (sign-in) and not complaining, Gamebar actually worked and didn't immediately end the GameBarFTServer.exe and refuse to open, and now after installing DCH drivers again, the NVCP works without issue as well.  I was never lead here because.. I never used Gamebar (disabled it on a system level), and only recently got into Gamepass stuff, since it wouldn't work on 1709.

 

This is the tool I used: https://www.tweaking.com/content/page/windows_repair_all_in_one.html

 

The functions I ran were Reset Registry Permissions (did first by itself, no fix), Reset File Permissions, Reset Service Permissions, Register System Files and Repair WMI.

 

Had I the patience, I wish I could've known which one actually fixed it.  One of them reset default programs, which was quite unwelcome as I had numerous things customized.

 

I believe Windows Store apps were messed up after (missing links, showing as ms-app or w/e), so I ran the Repair Windows App Store function, which didn't fix it, and the complete reset option, which did, but also didn't (and obviously resets every app installed).  That or I ran these both and it's what broke everything, really can't remember.

 

To fix the apps again I had to run https://github.com/AgentRev/WindowsAppsUnfukker

 

After that.. it was as if I made a new user account, but still had all my old data.  Everything working flawlessly.. besides being UWP apps.

 

Hope this post (and the one on Reddit) help the 0.000001% of people googling a fix for this.

[Nikko.]

I really appreciate your contribution with this solution. It's been a couple of weeks since I installed the program, and so far, I haven't had any issues.

 

It's amazing how weird and complex this error is. Literally, the same thing happened to me twice on my PC, and it was a nightmare. The first time, I didn't understand what was happening. I thought it was a virus because I couldn't open any programs or even use the Windows search bar (for some reason, when I tried to open it or type in it, it would close on its own). So, I ended up formatting everything.

 

The second time, I noticed that I could open some things if I ran them as an admin. I don't remember exactly what I did that time, but I think I changed the UAC settings so that it never asked for admin permissions for applications. Finally, it happened again recently, but this time I had a clue – an error message that said, "Microsoft Teams can't open because Windows doesn't have access to the WindowsApps folder." That's when I realized the error was coming from Windows itself (and not because of my user permission), which, for some reason, couldn't access its own programs and, as a result, couldn't run them (hence why the Windows search bar wasn't working; it's located in there and couldn't start, so it kept closing on its own, even in safe mode was bugging like crazy).

 

Anyway, I really appreciate this post, and as you said, I hope that the 0.00001% of people who experience this issue manage to find this fix.