Incomplete Start Menu

CJW · 04 Nov 2021

Previously, my Start Menu icons looked normal (nice colored icons) & I was able to delete all Provisioned Applications (even including Edge) that I wanted to.

I recently did a Clean Install of Windows 10 & updated it to v20H2. Something must have changed, because I am not able to delete most Provisioned Applications now & the Edge shortcut is now a phantom. The icon is gone, the wording is there, but nothing happens when it's clicked.

1. How do I fix my icons?
2. How do I delete Provisioned Applications in v20H2?
3. How do I get rid of the phantom Edge?

dalchina · 04 Nov 2021

Hi,

I am not able to delete most Provisioned Applications now

- do you mean no rt click, Uninstall option?

- or do you mean the Powershell commands don't work?

If you drag one of those problem shortcuts onto your desktop (it creates a shortcut there), does it look normal?

You could try
Reset Start Layout in Windows 10

Start Menu Troubleshooter in Windows 10

CJW · 04 Nov 2021

Hello dalchina,

The Right-click>Uninstall option is there & looks to be working fine, but I do mean the Powershell (Remove-AppXProvisionedPackage ...) commands. Either I read my notes wrong or something changed.

As for Drag & Drop; my own installed program's icons look fine, but the Windows icons still look bad & have a blue-squared background.

I'll try those links & see if they help.

dalchina · 04 Nov 2021

Thanks. Could you post a screenshot showing the Powershell command and the outcome, making sure you include the title bar?

N.B. if the background is black, this can be very hard to read, so please consider that.

Also post a link to the tutorial where you found that command.

If you click 'Uninstall', does that work?

Bastet · 04 Nov 2021

The latest version is 21H1 (with 21H2 released soon) is there a reason why you didn’t upgrade to this version?

CJW · 04 Nov 2021

Seems that I blundered somewhere while trying to delete the Provisioned Applications!
Attached are pictures of what happened when I used the Reset Start Menu Layout.reg & the Start Menu Troubleshooter.diagcab

1. Yes, the Uninstall does work.
2. Here is the page I followed to delete the Provisioned Applications.
3. I didn't upgrade to 21H1 because that did not show up on my computer for some reason.

I may do a clean install again & try a few things differently.

dalchina · 05 Nov 2021

Powershell: see options 7, 8 in this tenforums tutorial.
Uninstall Apps in Windows 10

The tutorials section is huge- you are free to search and browse it.

As asked- please post a screenshot showing your attempt to uninstall one of those apps as per that tutorial.

Please be careful to follow the instructions at the top of the appropriate section.

Start menu troubleshooter:
- have you at some point removed Cortana?

I get the impression something you've done has caused what you are seeing.

If you see the same thing when you create a new user for test purposes and when logged in as that user, try an in-place upgrade repair install. This keeps all progs and data and would save you time compared to a clean install.

Thanks.

CJW · 08 Nov 2021

Here's a screenshot of what I tried in PowerShell:

dalchina · 08 Nov 2021

Thank you. That looks like Option 6, having scanned through the tutorial.
Sadly the red script is quite unreadable as is usual with dark background/dark mode. Example:

Option 7 is easier e.g.

Get-AppxPackage *OneNote* | Remove-AppxPackage

but I expect the outcome will be the same.
You have the other option I suggested above, of course.

CJW · 20 Nov 2021

After trying a few different instructions, I decided to start over.

I did a complete Clean Install, installed all Updates the computer could find (OS-still only up to 20H2 & Drivers) & I have NOT uninstalled anything yet.

So why do most Start Menu icons look so flat & dead?