Windows 10 Cortana "How Can I Help" Collapse

thaBadfish · 21 Apr 2016

I have 7 Windows 10 computers (4 @ office, 3 @ home). Of these 7, only 1 is having this issue. Beginning about a month ago, Cortana has started giving me a "How Can I Help?" sort of splash screen, with a "^" on the bottom to collapse into my interests. See screenshots:

Windows 10 Cortana "How Can I Help" Collapse-cortana1.jpg

Windows 10 Cortana "How Can I Help" Collapse-cortana2.jpg

Typically with all my other W10 computers, Cortana will default directly to my interests, as seen in the second screenshot. I tried a support session with microsoft, who simultaneously declared it a "new feature" while trying to fix it, unsuccessfully.

Other troubleshooting steps I've taken unsuccessfully:

elevated cmd: sfc /scannow
elevated cmd: Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
elevated cmd->powershell: Get-AppXPackage | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest*.xml
"upgraded" my current W10 installation by using the mediacreationtool to "upgrade" my current installation while keeping apps and files
Turned all cortana cards off and back on
turned off cortana completely and went to bing.com/account/personalization and cleared all information, rebooted

I'm just trying to get cortana to go back to the way she was...

dalchina · 21 Apr 2016

Hi, not seen that for sure..
Have you tried creating a new user to check for user profile corruption?
I think the 4th thing you've tried is an in-place upgrade repair.. is that correct?
Can you check you don't have
Some settings are managed by your organisation
E.g. in Settings, Privacy, General?

Have you tried this?
Cortana - Clear Your Personal Information - Windows 10 Forums

Is there any change if you do a clean boot?

thaBadfish · 21 Apr 2016

dalchina,
Thanks for the reply. First off, I was able to resolve the problem, I'll get to what eventually worked in a second, but for sake of being thorough for anyone else who has this problem, I'll run through all the steps.

Regarding what I listed as my 4th step, what I did was use the mediacreationtool to create a USB install drive, but I ran it from within Windows. The install window looks like this:

Windows 10 Cortana "How Can I Help" Collapse-cortana3.jpg

So I basically just re-installed Windows right on top of itself, downloading updates as requested by the installer.

Settings -> Privacy -> General had no indication that any settings were managed by my organization.

I didn't get around to trying a clean boot, or creating another user profile, because what ended up working was in your link:

Windows 10 Cortana "How Can I Help" Collapse-cortana5.png

I had already done "Option 2" from that link several times, but I did it again just for completeness. I was not aware of this settings page, or its relation to Cortana, so this was all new to me. For a few minutes, Cortana appeared frozen, and eventually she opened up and asked the normal question about getting to know me (essentially asking if she can turn back on the setting that I just turned off). From this point forward, the issue of the "^" has disappeared, and she now shows my interests immediately:

Windows 10 Cortana "How Can I Help" Collapse-cortana4.jpg

dalchina · 22 Apr 2016

Ok, good, I think you mean you did an in-place upgrade repair install. It's a valuable technique and the one I'd have suggested if trying simpler things didn't work.

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