Broken modern app shortcuts in Windows 8.1 after updating from Windows 8

Anonymous

EDIT: See Page 3 for the solution to this problemNOTE: Please click the "Me too" link to the right of this post if you experiencing this issue so that Microsoft and Avast take notice of it. Thanks.

Short Story: Avast 2014 appears to interfere with the app shortcut cleanup process that occurs during the 8 -> 8.1 update. Also, Windows 8.1 really needs an easy/elegant way to remove dead Modern app shortcuts as you can with dead desktop app shortcuts

I updated from Windows 8 Pro x64 with Media Center on my 2 machines (Ivy Bridge Core i3 & i7) via the Windows Store and have had multiple broken/dead app shortcuts in All Apps on both machines as seen in the red rectangle below (direct image link):

When I attempt to launch any of the apps by clicking the shortcuts, I get the following message (the "Microsoft.Camera" part is specific to 1 of the shortcuts I tried) (direct image link):

Clicking the Go to the Store link only produces this message in the Windows Store app (direct image link):

Returning to All Apps and right clicking any of the dead shortcuts to remove it exposes no such option. There's no way to uninstall the app (it's probably gone already gone anyway) and also no way to remove the dead shortcut. As you can see below. the only options are Pin to Start and Customize (direct image link):

Does anyone know how to remove the dead shortcuts? I've tried going to *C:\Program Files\WindowsApps*, but access to that is denied and I can't find any way to give myself permissions for it. The offending shortcuts aren't listed in Control Panel -> Programs and Features, C:\Users<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs, or C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu either. Microsoft's own Apps Diagnostic utility doesn't fix it, and neither does syncing app licenses within the Windows Store app.

Help? Any ideas? TIA

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

OK -- I FIXED IT.

Through a lot of trial and error.

Head to users/user/appdata/local/microsoft/windows/applicationshortcuts

Once there do a search for each file within application shortcuts using the search bar in the top right of the explorer, you might need to play with the search terms. For example, mine found the photo app when I searched 'modern' but not 'photo'. Odd.

I used the following terms, camera, microsoft ((for skydrive)), bing, modern.

You need to delete the little white shortcut tile (I had to adjust security settings first and give myself permission to delete within the app shortcuts file, but Windows will guide you through it.)

For the chat app, just delete and reinstall the calendar/people/mail group and its gone.

Hope it works for you guys too...

this worked like a charm, thanks

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

OK -- I FIXED IT.

Through a lot of trial and error.

Head to users/user/appdata/local/microsoft/windows/applicationshortcuts

Once there do a search for each file within application shortcuts using the search bar in the top right of the explorer, you might need to play with the search terms. For example, mine found the photo app when I searched 'modern' but not 'photo'. Odd.

I used the following terms, camera, microsoft ((for skydrive)), bing, modern.

You need to delete the little white shortcut tile (I had to adjust security settings first and give myself permission to delete within the app shortcuts file, but Windows will guide you through it.)

For the chat app, just delete and reinstall the calendar/people/mail group and its gone.

Hope it works for you guys too...

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64 additional answers

Anonymous

2013-10-18T19:01:10+00:00

Same problem here.

My pc spec are

Core i7-4770k

Windows 8.1 Pro x64

Avast 2014
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Anonymous

2013-10-18T18:34:54+00:00

To the other people who're also having this problem, could you reply with your config (CPU, Windows 8.1 version, antivirus, etc.?) If there's a common element among us it might be the problem. Here's mine:

Core i7 & i3 Ivy Bridge CPU

Windows 8.1 Pro x64 with Media center

Avast 2014
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Anonymous

2013-10-18T16:00:50+00:00
"Did you try by Turning on automatic app updates?"
- Automatic app updates are already enabled. Manually forcing an update check and updating all my apps doesn't fix the problem.
"Check if the screen resolution is set to 1024×768 or more than that. If the screen resolution is less, I would suggest you to set higher screen resolution."
- The smallest screen resolution on both PCs is 1080p
"Windows Store will automatically notify you if there’s a problem with an app and try to fix the problem."
- Read my original post. Windows Store says it can't fix the problem with the app
"Troubleshoot problems with an app.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/what-troubleshoot-problems-app"
- Tried everything there "Reinstall the app" (I can't even uninstall it.) "Contact app publisher" is what I did by posting about the bug
"As a work around, I would suggest you to create a new user account and check.

Create a user account."
- ?? How would this solve my problem? I'd have to recreate everything about my Microsoft Account from scratch, including a new email address, password, OS settings, etc. That's a MUCH bigger pain than the actual bug itself. Suggesting I create a new account is like suggesting I build a new house because I'm having difficulty changing the paint color in the living room of my current one.
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