Search Bar/Cortana Non-functional

[bittercold]

I have tried everything under the sun to fix this. The search/Cortana button on the taskbar is unresponsive. Whenever I try to adjust setting under Cortana & Search I get this error:

ms-cortana://StartMode=Settings&QuerySource=Settings
The app didn't start

Any ideas?

 

[bittercold]

Fixed. Took a lot of work and browsing but I finally found something that worked. Here is what you need to do:

1. Open powershell as admin.
2. Browse to C:\Program Files\Windowsapps
3. Do a Dir
4. You will find something like: Microsoft.Cortana_1.4.2.200_neutral_CortanaApp.scale-180_8wekyb3d8bbwe
5. CD to it.
6. Run this command: powershell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register AppxManifest.xml
7. Cortana comes back from the dead.
8. If that doesn't work you might also have to run I on another Cortana folder (there are two).

 

[SoapBox3000]

I tried what you suggested and i got the following error:

Log Name: Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeploymentServer/Operational
Source: Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeployment-Server
Date: 4/24/2015 14:23:07
Event ID: 404
Task Category: (3)
Level: Error
Keywords: (35184372088832),AppXDeploymentServer Keyword
User: JOSH-PC\Joshua
Computer: JOSH-PC
Description:
AppX Deployment operation failed for package Microsoft.Cortana_1.4.3.156_neutral_CortanaApp.scale-180_8wekyb3d8bbwe with error 0x80073CF3. The specific error text for this failure is: Windows cannot install resource package Microsoft.Cortana_8wekyb3d8bbwe because the app package it requires could not be found. Ensure that the app package is installed before installing the resource package
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeployment-Server" Guid="{3F471139-ACB7-4A01-B7A7-FF5DA4BA2D43}" />
<EventID>404</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>3</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x4000200000000001</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2015-04-24T19:23:07.249362400Z" />
<EventRecordID>7073</EventRecordID>
<Correlation ActivityID="{E0E57EA6-7EA2-0000-92AC-F7E0A27ED001}" />
<Execution ProcessID="6452" ThreadID="7728" />
<Channel>Microsoft-Windows-AppXDeploymentServer/Operational</Channel>
<Computer>JOSH-PC</Computer>
<Security UserID="S-1-5-21-3676521468-3969948205-2051942860-1000" />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data Name="SummaryError">Windows cannot install resource package Microsoft.Cortana_8wekyb3d8bbwe because the app package it requires could not be found. Ensure that the app package is installed before installing the resource package</Data>
<Data Name="PackageFullName">Microsoft.Cortana_1.4.3.156_neutral_CortanaApp.scale-180_8wekyb3d8bbwe</Data>
<Data Name="ErrorCode">0x80073cf3</Data>
<Data Name="MountPoint">C:</Data>
<Data Name="TargetPlatform">0x0</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

 

[bittercold]

Make sure to look in the windowsapp folder and check the name for your Cortana app is the same.

 

[SoapBox3000]

I can't seem to get access to C:\Program Files\WindowsApps within Windows Explorer. Its completely locked down. Under the security tab in Properties>Advanced>Advanced Security Settings for WindowsApps, it wont let me add a user to the Security Permissions in Advanced. My user account is a full administrator on the machine. The administrator group is added under Allow with Read & Execute Access and it applies to "This Folder, Sub-folders and files". The Add and Remove Buttons are grayed out.

 

[bittercold]

I had issues also. Just take ownership of the folder with your account and then you should be able to force the rights onto it.

 

[pr35968]

Hi guys. I also have this problem - but in my windows apps folder, there is nothing with cortana at all. Can anyone troubleshoot that?