Windows 10 Start menu, notification center, store apps not working

Everything in Windows 10 worked perfectly for just 3 or 4 days after upgrading from 8.1. Yesterday I wanted to use the search feature, so I press win+s and get the error "Critical Error: Your Start menu isn't working. We'll try to fix it the next time you sign in."

(I also can't open the settings app since that's also a 'metro' app)

I have tried everything I could find and nothing worked for me.

Things I've tried include:

• 
  

  In powershell:

  
  

   Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}
  



• 
  

  The answer here.

  
  

And things like that.

"Did you modify the registry?"

Yes:

• 
  

  Adding Sublime Text 3 to the "Open with" list (It can't be because of this can it?)

  
  


• 
  

  Back in Windows 8; Adding a few things to the RMB menu of some files (no trouble at all)

  
  

So what can I do to fix these problems?

Answer

A solution posted by Loopey:

1. Login to your current profile


2. Press Win+X, and select "Command Prompt (Admin)"


3. 
   

   Enter the following commands, in this order

   
   
   
   
   1. net user "TempAdmin1" "password1" /add
   
   
   2. net user "TempAdmin2" "password2" /add
   
   
   3. net localgroup administrators "TempAdmin2" /add
   
   
   
   


4. 
   

   Press Ctrl+Alt+Del, click Sign Out

   
   


5. Login to the "TempAdmin1" account using password "password1"


6. Logout, and then login to the "TempAdmin2" account, using "password2" (note: you must fully sign out, not just switch users)


7. Open File Explorer, select View, then check the box marked "Hidden Items"


8. Directly navigate to C:\Users\TempAdmin1\AppData\Local\TileDataLayer by typing it in the address bar. (click "continue" to gain access when prompted)


9. Right Click the folder "Database" & Copy


10. Now, navigate to the same folder for your damaged profile (C:\Users\YOUR_USERNAME\AppData\Local\TileDataLayer)


11. Right click "Database", and rename to "Database.BAD"


12. Right click empty area in the folder, and select Paste


13. Reboot, then sign back in with your original profile.

Now, assuming all is well, you want to delete the two accounts you created:

1. Win+X → Control Panel → User Accounts → Manage Another Account


2. Select Account, then "Delete Account"

Brief explanation:

1. Your TileDataLayer database is damaged


2. You need a new TileDataLayer database


3. Create a new user (user A), and login with it (a new database will be created). Proceed with this procedure only if the Start Menu and all other apps are working correctly as user A.


4. Because the database is locked when you're logged in, you create user B (with access to user A's profile and your user profile)


5. Rename the old database, and copy the new database from user A to your profile


6. Logout from user B, and your account should work again