"(1) Make a Windows System Image Backup."
And presumably do a restore too? So instead of an in-place upgrade which you thought might have a chance of working, you want to restore an installation which we already know isn't working? Why?
"(2) If we take the error message at its word, it could work to simply bypass the quality updates during the in-place upgrade (or over-install), as kriegalex reports in here..."
I did another in-place upgrade to SP build 239. This time I set it not to download updates, and I removed my second hard drive. The in-place upgrade succeeded but the result is the same as before.
17 applications still say they were presented by Microsoft Corporation and have various sizes and installation dates, but no names and I can't guess what the applications are. Microsoft Store is not one of them. Microsoft Store is still listed by name.
But still Microsoft Store does not open.
"(3) But may as well do these 10 quick fixes first, but skip QF #9..."
'1. Remove nonessential external hardware, such as docks and USB devices.'
That would be my second internal SATA hard drive. I did.
'2. Check the system drive for errors and attempt repairs.'
I've checked the system event log to see if it reported any bad blocks found on my hard drives. It didn't.
'3. Run the Windows Update troubleshooter.'
I've done that numerous times. It didn't help.
'4. Attempt to restore and repair system files.'
We already discussed that, right?
'5. Update Windows so that all available recommended updates are installed, and ensure the computer is rebooted if this is necessary to complete installation of an update.'
Yes, I do that all the time too. If in the middle of working on something then I delay these, but during this discussion I've done lots of reboots. The same updates get installed too, except that if I let the updates install as part of the in-place upgrade
then the in-place upgrade fails.
'6. Temporarily uninstall non-Microsoft antivirus software.'
Malware Bytes? Sorry, I didn't uninstall it.
'7. Uninstall all nonessential software.'
Microsoft Store? Actually I did, which can be done from the command line. And then I reinstalled it. But it still doesn't work. I don't know what the other 17 are.
I did not uninstall Microsoft Word, Acrobat Reader, drivers, etc. Those are essential and they work. They aren't Store apps so they work. They survive the in-place upgrade too.
'8. Update firmware and drivers.'
Done a long time ago. Dell Precision M6500, BIOS A10. By the way, 3 other computers with the same model and same version of Windows 10 1903 do work, and this one did work until it stopped working, so I don't think the firmware and drivers are the reason
why Microsoft Store stopped working.
'9. Ensure that "Download and install updates (recommended)" is accepted at the start of the upgrade process.'
As you and I agreed, I did try that before and the upgrade process failed, so I tried not doing it this time and the upgrade process succeeded but the non-working apps are still non-working.
'10. Verify at least 16 GB of free space is available to upgrade a 32-bit OS, or 20 GB for a 64-bit OS.'
591 GB free.