W10 1803 - Corrupt Store - Upgrades = Explorer Not Responding - HW OK

Hello All,

I am a very experienced desktop technician, but I have ran into a troublesome problem on a HP laptop I have not had any luck with saving the current installation. I am attempting to keep this persons OS and Data in tact without doing a full reinstall and I have tried all standard troubleshooting so I am looking for some assistance from anyone that has good suggestions I have not tried.

Initial problem was a Windows Crash after updates. Specifically I found the system to boot to Windows 10 Home login screen without a issue, but after logging in Explorer would not respond. I rolled back the update, got the system up and made a full image of the system while it was working. Since then over the past week I have tried all of the following to get the 1809 or 1903 upgrades to work and none have helped.

Safe mode Also does not work after upgrade.
DISM cleanup-image online restorehealth (both before and after upgrades)
SFC scannow both before and after upgrades
Updated bios and all drivers and attempted upgrade as well no change
Scanned all hardware, ram and hard drive multiple times and tried imaging to new hard drive and no change
Made new windows account and tried upgrade no change
Event viewer shows upgrade failing with different error codes which I have tried all listed fixes for on google. Performed upgrades offline and online, all result in the same failure
Event viewer has Appx Readiness errors leading me to find the windows store is corrupt, even on my working image at 1803.
I have cleared all caches, including full reset of windows store and windows upgrade softwaredistribution folders
Powershell Get-Appx commands all fail with database mailformed errors.
I also tried in-place upgrades from OEM Windows 10 ISOs and they do complete and boot to logon screen and then after logging in black screen with explorer hung. At this point it responds to contrl-alt-delete but talk manager does not load.
I have tried the in-place upgrades from original user account, new fresh accounts, and with no startup items loading and no non-MS services.
I have does full chkdsk and sector scans on hdd
Removed all 3rd party AV, disabled defender and windows firewall and tried updates and in-place upgrades and all end the same.

Only visible errors from event-viewer after I re-image before upgrades or updates are related to the store. App Readiness failures and malformed database.

What other ways can I go about rescuing this Windows besides full format and fresh install? What haven't I thought of?

- - - Updated - - -

Also to Add I tried all of the MS troubleshooters including start menu, Update, and store troubleshooters.
It is a UEFI system with Secure boot disabled.

Restoring a backup image may leave the computer with the same windows version/build and similar upgrade problems. If the restore can be performed without future upgrade issues then Ztrucker may indicate how it is performed.

Why not perform a reset save files or reset save files equivalent?
(reinstall drivers and applications)
Reset Windows 10

For the HP notebook:
1) Onto a flash drive download HP Diagnostics UEFI
https://www8.hp.com/us/en/campaigns/.../pc-diags.html
2) Run the extensive tests overnight
3) The next AM run the component tests (some are interactive)
These steps can rule in / rule out many hardware problems.
Post images of all steps and results into the thread
Take Screenshot in Windows 10

How to Upload and Post Screenshots and Files at Ten Forums

4) Run HP support assistant to check for updates of drivers an BIOS

5) Open disk management > by default some columns are compressed > widen each Status and Volume > make sure the contents within the parenthesis are in full view and that none of the characters are cutoff > view disk 0 > widen this row as needed so that all of the characters are in full view > post an image into the thread
Disk Management - How to Post a Screenshot of

6) Download and install Mini tool partition wizard > post images into the thread:
MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download.com


7) Create a bootable Windows 10 iso that has the same version as the problematic notebook.

Windows Download - #1 Windows ISO Download Source
Microsoft Windows and Office ISO Download Tool
TechBench by WZT (v4.1.1)

8) Perform an in place upgrade repair with the same iso while
a) in clean boot
b) with any non-Microsoft AV uninstalled using the applicable uninstall tools
c) with any non-Microsoft Firewall uninstalled
d) with any non-Microsoft drive encryption software uninstalled
Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade

9) Run through this upgrade checklist:

Code:

Run through this check list before the next upgrade attempt:

1) remove nonessential hardware
docks
USB devices
printers
headset
speakers
joysticks
projectors
scanners
plotters
portable optical drives (CD, DVD)
microphones
cameras
webcams
smartphones
bluetooth devices
USB drives (other than a windows 10 iso if used for the upgrade)
USB Wireless Mouse or Keyboard Receiver, USB Wireless Network Card
secondary monitors


2) These should be the only attached devices:
wired mouse
wired keyboard
monitor

Any of these that have been done in the past week are not necessary to repeat:


3) open administrative command prompt and type or copy and paste: (repair file system)
chkdsk /r /v 
This may take many hours so plan to run overnight
Find the chkdsk report in the event viewer using the information in this link and post into the thread:
Read Chkdsk Log in Event Viewer in Windows 10 Performance Maintenance Tutorials
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/40822-read-chkdsk-log-event-viewer-windows-10-a.html 

4) open administrative command prompt and copy and paste: (repair operating system)
sfc /scannow 
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth 
When these have completed > right click on the top bar or title bar of the administrative command prompt box > left click on edit then select all > right click on the top bar again > left click on edit then copy > paste into the thread

5) update windows (have all recommended updates installed) and reboot after updates

6) List and uninstall all non-Microsoft antivirus software
(This includes always on and manual software.)
(This includes running the applicable antivirus uninstall tools for any AV that could have been incompletely uninstalled)

7) List and uninstall all non-Microsoft firewall software

8) List all Microsoft and non-Microsoft drive encryption software. 
Uninstall all non-Microsoft disk encryption software

9) Run disk cleanup to clean temporary and system files

10) Verify that the drive has > 30 GB free space (At least 25 GB is needed for creating dumps)

11) Place the computer in clean boot:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows
How to perform a Clean Boot in Windows 10 - TechNet Articles - United States (English) - TechNet Wiki
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/29876.how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-10.aspx
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/41804-perform-clean-boot-windows-10-troubleshoot-software-conflicts.html


12) Detach all SATA devices other than the disk drive that has the Windows operating system
(Make sure that the only disk drive that is attached to the computer at the time of the upgrade attempt is the disk drive containing Windows)
(Other disk drives may be able to be detached by disconnecting cables or if necessary to remove the drive from the computer)

13) Make sure that there is no metered connection:  https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17452/windows-metered-internet-connections-faq

10) After an upgrade failure run setupdiag > post a share link into the thread using one drive, drop box, or google drive:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...rade/setupdiag


11) There are log collectors used in another forum room.
Run each V2 and DM and upload results into this thread:
BSOD - Posting Instructions