There are two issues related to Microsoft Store Apps, one may encounter because of the Registry and File Permission issue.

Redirected to Start Screen when trying to open the App

When users are trying to open a Microsoft Store app, the app starts but then they are redirected to Start Screen without seeing any error message. This usually happens because of alterations in Registry and File Permission. Microsoft Store Apps have their registry and file system stored in the All Application Package group. When the group loses the required access to these registry and file systems, you may encounter this behavior.

Windows Store Apps and Start Menu not working

Many users are experiencing an error where they are unable to open Microsoft Store Apps or access the Start Menu. The reason for the error is pretty clear, one or all the keys have lost their read permission. The All Application Package lacks permission to the registry and file subsystem location. The solutions we are going to lay in this article will apply to both these errors.

Windows Store Apps fail to Start because of Registry and File Permission

Before checking solutions, we need to determine how the permissions were changed. We are going to see three scenarios that could have happened. They are. Let us determine what happened to your computer.

1] File Permissions were changed

You need to check File Permissions of three folders, Programs Files, Windows, and Users\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WER.  You need to make sure that the first two folders have control over the Read, Read & Execute, and List folder contents options and the last one has control over List folder/read data, and Create Folders/Append Data. You can do that by right-clicking on the folder, going to the Security tab, and checking the Permissions.

2] Registry Permissions were changed

You need to check the following Registry keys and see if the All Applications Packages group has the Read permissions. If they don’t possess the permission, your Registry Permissions were changed.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\DriversHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWAREHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SAMHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWAREHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEMHKEY_USERS

3] Group Policy was used

To know if Group Policy was used to alter permissions, you need to check the gpreport of the computer that’s experiencing the trouble. So, go to that computer, launch Command Prompt as an administrator, and run the following command. Replace with the drive letter on which you want the HTML file to be made. Now, expand as per the following instructions. Now, check if there’s a File System and Registry, if they exist then this means that the Group Policy is altering permissions. Now that you know what’s altering the Permissions, it is time to fix the error. Depending on the way permissions were altered, you need to solve the Microsoft Store Apps fail to start because of changed Registry & File Permissions. The following are the four things that could have happened. Let us talk about them in detail.

1] File System Permission changed manually

If you came to a conclusion that File System Permission changed manually then execute the following steps to fix the error. Do the same for Windows and Users. But make sure to grant the All Application Packages group Full Control for the latter. Hopefully, this will fix the issue if the File System Permission changed manually.

2] File Permission changed by Group Policy

If you conclude that File Permission is changed by Group Policy, read this solution to fix the error. Launch Group Policy Administrative Console and Go to the following location. If the path exists then edit it, if not, right-click on the File System and select add file then browse to c:\Program Files and click Ok. Now, click Add > Location > Local Machine Name. Now, add All Application Package, give them control over Read, Read & Execute, and List folder contents, and click Apply > Ok. Finally, select the Replace existing permissions on all subfolders and files with inheritable permissions option. Do the same for Windows and Users. But make sure to grant the All Application Packages group Full Control for the latter.

3] Registry Permissions changed manually

If you conclude that Registry Permissions are changed, read this solution to fix the error.

Launch Registry Editor from the Start Menu.Right-click on HKEY_Users and select Permissions. Now, give All Application Packages full control over Read and click Apply > Ok.Do the same for HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.For HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, you need to make sure that subkeys HARDWARE, SAM, SOFTWARE, SYSTEM have the Read permissions.

This will fix the issue for you.

4] Registry Permissions changed by Group Policy

The last possible combination is when Registry Permissions are changed by Group Policy. To fix it, you need to read this solution. Launch Group Policy Administrative Console and Go to the following location. Right-click on the Registry and select add key then select CLASSES_ROOT and click Add. Now, click Location > Local Machine Name. Now, add All Application Package, give them control over Read. Do the same for Users and MACHINE\HARDWARE, MACHINE\SAM, MACHINE\SOFTWARE, and MACHINE\SYSTEM. We hope these solutions suggested by Microsoft help you.