Fixing broken Windows Store

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Recently, I saw a few computers with Windows Store and a few other Apps disappeared after some Windows Updates. Generally, the lack of “Store” would be a good thing – I don’t want any “modern apps” or games that Microsoft insists on installing on all computers, however… I use Sticky Notes and Calculator a lot and didn’t want to find a replacement for these. There are some other useful apps for home users too so I needed to find a way to fix it.

First, things that DIDN’T work.
1. WSReset.exe command resets the store cache. The problem is, it was trying to open the Store and because it was missing from the computer, would ask what program to open it with. Um, itself!

2. Microsoft has a troubleshooting utility that claims to fix all Store problems… not so fast. I downloaded it from here , it asked me to sign in to a Microsoft account, which I did. I had to reopen the tool and was presented with this dialog

Sure, let’s reset. It did something for a minute and failed to fix it with the same error message as from step 1.

Didn’t allow me to submit feedback though 🙂

3. Next I tried Windows All-in-one-Repair from tweaking.com. They make an awesome free app that allows to fix many Windows issues in a semi-automated way. Didn’t work either and the message I saw was “This repair is currently disabled for this version of Windows due to the constant changes to the app store”…

4. Next I tried Powershell. It’s very useful to script things and sometimes is the only way to get something done in Windows. There are plenty of tutorials on the Internet but most commands are pretty simple and can be just copy-pasted with little modifications.
open the command prompt as admin, type powershell.exe and then the commands below
Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register
“$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml”}

Did something for a few minutes but the Store still didn’t work.

5. Tried “SFC /scannow” and it said no corruption was found
6. Same with DISM and the variety of switches (ScanHealth, CheckHealth, RestoreHealth) – all clean!

This is what finally worked.
I noticed that the powershell commands from the step #4 used files AppXManifest.xml. I searched for the files and found a hidden folder C:Program FilesWindows Apps. I didn’t have access to it so had to change the owner to the logged in user account and add the required permissions. Don’t forget to change it back to the TrustedInstaller afterwards!

I copied the missing Store app folder from a known good computer. It appears that the folder contents depend on the edition of Windows, so if you are trying to fix Windows 10 Pro, make sure you copy the folder from the identical Windows 10 Pro setup. Mine looked like Microsoft.WindowsStore_11706.1002.9.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe, yours could be different. Now, some PowerShell magic.

After this, you’ll need to make sure the proper permissions are set. A common cause of many problems is not having Full Control permissions for “ALL APPLICATION PACKAGES”. As soon as I did that, I was able to open the Store and install the only apps I use – Sticky Notes and Calculator. I really wish Microsoft had kept them as regular apps but they clearly didn’t listen to my feedback!

Spectre and Meltdown – should you be worried?

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A few weeks ago, it was revealed that pretty much all modern CPUs designed after 1995 suffer from a major design defect that can be used to create critical vulnerabilities. An existence of a vulnerability doesn’t mean there is a way to exploit it for malicious purposes, however, I wouldn’t be surprised if something is invented soon… the cyber criminals won’t miss their chance to create malware that could potentially attack most computers.

Since then, there have been some measures to mitigate the vulnerability. Microsoft released new updates for Windows but it’s not enough. The system manufacturers must provide updates for their systems (BIOS and firmware) and most probably won’t bother… especially for systems older than 3 years.

Apple also released updates for their most recent Macs, iPads, and iPhones but devices made more than a few years ago won’t be compatible with the updates. If your Mac can’t run OS X Sierra or High Sierra… well, might be time to upgrade.

The updates patching vulnerabilities will slow down most computers. The impact won’t be much but it’s noticeable for those who still use old hardware. General CPU and gaming performance isn’t affected much, but the storage performance is. If you have a fast SSD, it will become up to 30% slower – which isn’t really that big of a deal for most people. It’s worse if you have a spinning hard drive… especially if it’s a cheap laptop that has a 5400rpm drive. In this case it would be best to upgrade to a Solid State Drive (SSD). Not only it will prevent your system from slowing down too much, it will make it perform better than when your laptop was new!

Do you want to check if your system is already protected from Spectre and Meltdown? Gibson Research Corporation has released a tool that works on all versions of Windows and can test your computer. You can download it from their website. I installed it on my computer and found that it has already been patched against Meltdown

Protection from Meltdown doesn’t require any processor or motherboard firmware updates so no surprises here.

However, my system was vulnerable to Spectre! I have an HP EliteDesk business grade PC and these systems are usually supported for a long time after being released so I went to HP website and found there was an update for my system. I downloaded it, and it took about 5 minutes to install. I ran InSpectre program again and was told my system is fully protected.

Now, the performance impact… I used UserBenchmark free tool to measure performance of my computer before and after update.

The CPU performance was not affected at all. Graphics card (integrated Intel) and RAM became a bit faster by about 5% – not what I expected! SSD suffered but I can live with that.

Metrics Before After
Seq performance 309 MBps 277 MBps
4k performance 34 MBps 28 MBps
Deep queue 4k 151 MBps 92 MBps

I was really surprised to see such a big drop in deep queue performance but it only matters when the computer is running many programs reading and writing to storage at the same time.

So, what if you have an older system that won’t get the updates? Time to upgrade it. Or take the risks – the choice is yours.

Are older Macbooks still worth fixing?

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I recently got a few older Macbooks from customers who upgraded to newer computers and wanted to make them as fast as possible for those who don’t mind using older computers. The laptops I got are white Macbooks from 2007-2009 era, with very modest specifications, like Core 2 Duo CPU, 2 GB of RAM, and mechanical drives. All had bad batteries but that’s not surprising considering their age!

I found batteries online (not original but will last for couple years), got new chargers, and realized that finding RAM for these is almost impossible in New Zealand! Macbooks are very picky when it comes to RAM and I had to order it from overseas. Some people managed to get 6GB of RAM in these old laptops but it was too expensive so I settled on getting 2 sticks of 2GB each. That will make 4GB total, so plenty for older OS X. The RAM must be DDR2, 667Mhz, PC2-5300. I tried faster sticks but they didn’t work.

These laptops only support OS X Lion, which was first released in 2011 and got its last update in October 2012, more than 5 years ago! Compare it with Windows 7, that was released in 2009 and will still be supported until 2020… Getting the installer for Lion was another challenge… Long time ago, Apple used to charge for its Operating System upgrades and such is the case with Lion. It was $29.99 in the Mac store but I wasn’t the original owner so I couldn’t buy it. Luckily, I had one from a long time ago on my server (can’t recall where I got it from but probably torrents) and I used my Macbook Air to make a USB drive with Lion.

Yet another challenge… I inserted a 16GB stick, launched Disk Utility, erased the USB drive (not the partition below), and tried to restore the installer from the image. I kept getting the same error message, something like “Failed to restore, resource is busy”. You don’t expect things like this from Apple, do you? Neither did I. Turns out that I had to eject the USB drive volume (but not the drive itself, or else it wouldn’t be visible) and then the restore proceeded without a hitch. With a relatively fast USB 3.0 drive, it took just 4 minutes.

I replaced the original hard drive with a 120GB SSD, and powered on the 1st Mac while holding the Option key. My installer showed up right away and after a minute or so, I was greeted with the Lion welcome screen. I first erased the SSD with the disk utility (otherwise installer wouldn’t work), and started the installation. The 1st phase took just 5 minutes and I thought that was it – what a surprise. No, the Macbook restarted and continued with the install. Said it would take 20 minutes but actually took less than 5. After yet another restart, it was almost ready. OS X asked me to connect to a network, choose user account name and a few more things and it was ready.

I immediately checked for updates, and it found the combo update (10.7.5). It’s actually available as a download from Apple here. The whole update is just 2GB and took about 15 minutes to install. I dread having to install Windows 7 from scratch and then waiting couple days for the updates to finish, so I was glad it went fast and painlessly.

Being the old version, I found Safari painful to use and replaced it with Firefox. The last version to support OS X Lion is ESR 48, so that’s what I downloaded from here. I didn’t try Google Chrome as it stopped supporting Lion a very long time ago, unlike Firefox, that was updated some time in 2016… Firefox updated to 48.0.2 and then complained that the most recent version isn’t compatible with my system. Oh well.

I also installed LibreOffice for Mac and it’s a free alternative to Microsoft Office. The latest supported version is 4.3.7.2, can be downloaded from here. It opened several files created by Microsoft Office 2016 and saved in docx and xslx formats, so, probably, will be good enough for many users.

I tried browsing, watching Youtube videos, opening programs – and it feels pretty smooth, even despite having just 2GB of RAM (I’m still waiting for 4!). Youtube played trailers in 1080p without any noticeable lags, buffering and skipping frames. Actually, somebody did a detailed video on whether Lion is still usable in 2017. TLDR – yes, it is.

Was it really worth the trouble, considering these computers age and prices? I honestly don’t know. However, fewer laptops in the landfill is always better for the environment and having something old but still useful is definitely good for not-so-demanding budget users.

Still, if you have an older Macbook and deciding whether it’s worth fixing – the answer is both yes and no. If it has a broken screen, failed motherboard, or wouldn’t turn on – it’s time to move on. If it works ok but just a bit slow, or doesn’t hold the battery charge, extra RAM and SSD make a huge difference.

Why you need a cloud backup

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What can happen with your data?

The files you store on your computers and phones are invaluable. It will cost you time and effort re-create it, and that costs money or at least personal grief and tears; sometimes it can’t even be re-created – such as pictures from your childhood, school graduation, vacations, your baby’s birth and first steps, and other significant milestones. If your computer crashes, house gets robbed, or you become a victim of viruses and crooks, you risk losing it all! Are you prepared for it?

There are basically four reasons why you might lose data: hardware failures, software bugs, human action, or natural disasters. Although modern hardware tends to be quite reliable, it can still break seemingly spontaneously. One day your computer is chugging along but the next day you push the power button and get a cryptic message that tells you hard drive is missing, or no message at all, just a black screen!

Programs don’t even tend to be reliable. A rock solid program is an exception, not a rule. If they were design well and didn’t break, you’d think there wouldn’t be so many updates…

Nature might not be evil, but it can wreak havoc when you least expect it. Here in New Zealand, earthquakes, floods, and strong winds are quite common. All in all, it is a small miracle that anything works at all!

And of course, the weakest link in the chain – we, ourselves! Users make mistakes, delete files they shouldn’t have, change something and then realize the previous copy was better, move files to USB drives and then forget they did it… Some people are actually malicious, and can destroy your data on purpose. Think about disgruntled employees, misbehaving children, spiteful spouse, what else…

Ways to protect data

The best way to backup your data is to several places. You should always have a copy of your data both on-site and off-site. Most people are familiar with portable USB flash drives and hard drives. They will do the job of having an extra copy of your data on site. Doing backups to external drives requires a good amount of discipline – you need to actually plug the drive, run the backup, and then unplug the drive to be stored safely somewhere else. If you leave the drive plugged in at all times, hardware crash or viruses can make your backups useless. If you decide to make backups just once a month or even less often, you will lose all data since the last time a backup has been made. Doesn’t sound good, does it?

When you have a company with several computers, or have a tech in your family, you might have a server or a network attached storage to keep backups and other data. These are usually easier to manage and can backup your stuff automatically but they are expensive to set up and need skills and knowledge to take a full advantage of them. On-site backups will protect you against hardware malfunctions, human mistakes, or software bugs.

In addition, you also need to get your data off-site – and this is where cloud backups are to the rescue! Cloud backup is exactly what it sounds like. Your data is stored online, where it’s accessible to you when you need it. It works like this: You download a program to your computer, select the folders you want to back up, and that data uploads to the cloud on a certain schedule. Then if a disaster strikes, such as a house fire or robbery, you have a clean, up-to-date copy of your data stashed on a server somewhere, all safe and sound.

You will still need a local backup on an external hard drive of some sort, just in case your files are huge and your Internet bandwidth is slow, because restoring from the cloud is limited by your download speed – and it’s almost always easier and faster to restore from a hard drive.

Cloud backup provides an easy solution for keeping another backup off-site. Your other options are to circulate a few hard drives that you keep in a safe at the office, which is pain to remember, and quickly becomes yet another task to do… and who’s got time to do it regularly? So, the cloud backups are the easiest option for keeping your data safe and secure.

Choosing a cloud backup service

There are plenty of cloud backup services you can use if you know how to set them up. It’s not that complicated but is usually beyond the skill level of most computer users. I recommend Backblaze for unlimited backup and iDrive for when you need to backup multiple computers and phones. There are many others that you might have heard of, such as Carbonyte, CrashPlan, Mozy, and others. Each has their own advantages and downfalls, so it helps to know an expert (hint ;)) to find out what’s best for your needs.

Cloud backup vs Cloud sync

You might think you already have a cloud backup if you use services like DropBox, OneDrive, iCloud, Google Drive, and many others, but it’s important to clarify the difference between cloud syncing and cloud backups. These are good for syncing files between several computers but this is why the are also not a proper backup solution. As soon as you make changes to files, delete something, or get a virus that encrypts your files and asks for a ransom, your online sync location is going to to update almost immediately!

Security concerns

Some people might think storing their data in the cloud is dangerous. I don’t worry about it at all and so shouldn’t you. We already use email, social networks, online baking, pay utilities and do shopping online. With the amount of information you already give to the third parties, do you really think hackers will be after your baby’s pictures? Besides, you can actually encrypt your backups, so even if somebody were to hack your account by guessing the password, or resetting it (by means of social engineering), everything they will see will be scrambled and useless unless they know the decryption key. Even the supercomputers at NASA will take hundreds of years to decrypt commonly used encryption algorithms, and trust me, it’s always easier to get the key by other means… like asking you (nicely and not so).

Those are probably the biggest issues to think about as you dive into cloud backup. The only other thing to keep in mind is that your first-time backup usually takes a long time to finish – as it has to upload everything you chose. You can expect it to take at least a few days, but in my experience it takes at least a week, if not closer to two. It all depends on your connection’s upload speed, as well as any throttling limits on the service’s side. Next backups will be almost instant as only the new and modified files are uploaded.

Interested? Contact us!

Your Computer Guy

03 544 1995
120 Bridge St
 Nelson, 7010

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