Start Menu / System File Checker Issue

Hello. I have an odd issue I was hoping someone may be able to help me with. It seems to be quite possibly the most ridiculous issue ever (as-in, it shouldn't be an issue in the first place) and I can't find a solution anywhere...

The last few days I've been changing and customizing some of my start menu icons in Windows 10, largely because some of the program icons clash with the Windows Store app tiles and I wanted the start menu to look appealing.

I ran a system file check via Powershell with administrator privileges and I had zero issues. Then, I changed the icon of Windows Defender via Start > All Apps > Windows System > Windows Defender > right click > more > open file location and changing the icon of the Windows Defender shortcut in the destination folder.

Then, I ran system file check again and now it continually fails and cannot fix the corrupted files. I've since changed the icon back but the issue persists.

Is there a way to fix this or reset the default icons under the All Apps section in the start menu? Thank you.

To : Vesperas,
On running the dism/restorehealth command, you might get an error report that " Source files could not be found ", if so, follow this .......................

Use the Tech Bench link and download the iso file :
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/softw...load/techbench

Once you have the iso downloaded, right click at the ISO > click Mount > leave it there
Then open the elevated command prompt and copy and paste this................

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:wim:H:\sources\install.wim:1 /limitaccess

Note : H is the drive where the iso is mounted. Change it if your driver letter is different.

When it is completed, you should get the report that the operation is successful.
Now run the sfc /scannow again. It should be ok this time.

davidhk said:

To : Vesperas,
On running the dism/restorehealth command, you might get an error report that " Source files could not be found ", if so, follow this .......................

Use the Tech Bench link and download the iso file :
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/softw...load/techbench

Once you have the iso downloaded, right click at the ISO > click Mount > leave it there
Then open the elevated command prompt and copy and paste this................

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:wim:H:\sources\install.wim:1 /limitaccess

Note : H is the drive where the iso is mounted. Change it if your driver letter is different.

When it is completed, you should get the report that the operation is successful.
Now run the sfc /scannow again. It should be ok this time.

I attempted the DISM command earlier and yes, I did receive that error. I'll attempt this now and get back to you. Thank you.

On my end, I've honestly managed to make the issue worse in the last hour... Following my post here, I kept searching for possible solutions online and ended up following a supposed "fix" elsewhere that involved deleting the entire Start Menu folder, restarting and then letting Windows recreate it when I logged back in.

It did recreate the folder. Sort of, anyway. The problem I have now is my default Windows folders are broken into several folders that cannot be changed. The super odd part is they display fine in the hidden ProgramData folder but not in the start menu.

So now I have that happening on top of system file checker failing due to the changed icon on the Windows Defender shortcut.

You might have to do a Repair Install, or even a Clean Install.
Depending on the outcome of the last dism command I posted to you on post #4.
If everything returns to normal, then you are out of the woods.

davidhk said:

You might have to do a Repair Install, or even a Clean Install.
Depending on the outcome of the last dism command I posted to you on post #4.
If everything returns to normal, then you are out of the woods.

It worked! Thank you!

Yeah, I was really worried I was going to have to do a reformat or repair (and a little frustrated considering what caused the issue), especially after the extra damage I did but you saved me from that fortunately. I was able to copy the icons out of the ProgramData folder back into my username folder and it fixed them. I'll just leave the default Windows icons alone and be happy with my now working properly again SFC /scannow. Thanks again!

You are welcome.
Please mark this thread as Solved.
Thank you.