Hi, guys. I'm in need of a little help here.

The short version of the story is that Windows 10's action center (that bar that shows notifications on the right side of the screen) is not showing/opening on my user's account in my gaming laptop.

It seems to be showing the correct number of notifications on the icon in the bottom right and even updating them, but the bar doesn't open anymore.

Also, the calendar that shows when you click the clock in the taskbar isn't showing as well. The volume bar that shows on top of the volume icon seems to be broken too.

All other taskbar functions, including search and Cortana seem OK.

I created a local administrator user to test, and when I log in with this user, these controls work correctly, including the action center.

If I log into my user's account in my other machines (it's a microsoft account, so it keeps some configurations between machines, like your desktop wallpaper), they are also working correctly there.

I found some suggestions online, like running SFC and DISM. The first fixed some corrupt stuff I don't really know what was the first time I ran it, them nothing else in subsequent runs. The second never found any problems.

I also tried renaming UsrClass.dat, a file that exists inside my User folder so that Windows would create another (this is the reason I created the other user originally, since I couldn't change it while logged in). Though Win did create another copy of the file, it didn't solve the problem and it also broke the start menu (if I clicked it, win would say there was an error and log me off), so I reverted to the original file.

I should also note that while I don't know the exact moment where the bar broke, yesterday I was uninstalling a lot of games, including some from the Windows Store (because I got a 14 day trial of gamepass from IGN). which I uninstalled from Galaxy, actually. I remember Win updating some of its apps through the store as well (things like Alarms & Clock, for example).

I did also run ccleaner's latest version yesterday, and ran it's cleanup process and its Registry fixer thingy (Though I don't recall if I had already noticed the problem at the moment I did this. I think so).

So, any tips or suggestions? Please.

Try a repair install with an in-place upgrade:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-windows_install-winpc/how-to-perform-a-repair-upgrade-using-the-windows/35160fbe-9352-4e70-9887-f40096ec3085

Microsoft and Windows 10 are notorious for forcing unwanted updates recently. If you can have Windows 7 instead i'd go with that for a while longer.

As I understand, this is a problem happening to my user account in the machine, not Windows as a whole, as the action center works fine in the other account I created.

I may end up trying your suggestion in the weekend, if I can't manage to find a proper fix, though. :( Sorry, Win 7 is not an option right now.

Maybe you can try to Clear and Reset the Windows Store Cache. After you do it, you should try to reinstall the
Calendar and restart your PC to see if it got fixed.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/15057-clear-reset-store-cache-windows-10-a.html

You should follow the Part 1 instructions. I don't think you need to do Part 2.

I found the following command* on a website to re-register the action center app and it worked. :) All three broken things are now fixed again (action center, calendar and volume bar).

Thanks everyone for taking a moment to help me find a solution. ^_^

*The command is to be run on a PowerShell with Admin priviledges. That Part 1 I had actually tried before and it didn't work.

This just fell in my lap. You might be interested in it. Video talks of a modified install script for Windows 10 which removes... unwanted spyware & Bugs... *AHEM* Features

We fixed Windows 10 - Microsoft will HATE this!

I presume the problem will be that Windows 10 will just re-install and activate all that disabled/removed stuff in future updates, and also make it harder or impossible to use that script. Just like the video mentioned, the script started as some modified Windows 10 installer utility that disabled "unwanted features", but then Microsoft went on to integrate that telemetry stuff etc. even deeper into Windows 10, making that installer utility useless.

I wouldn't be surprised the same will happen with that install script too, and the authors need to be updating it all the time.

So if you go that route, you'll probably be in an uphill battle against what Microsoft wants. So either give in and don't care, or switch to Linux (or FreeBSD or or or...). Maybe not Ubuntu though, Canonical seems to want to be the Microsoft of Linux. Luckily there are options to Canonical Linuxes. Even Linux Mint, which is a derivative of Ubuntu, fights Canonical's influence and unwanted features, and they have the plan B too, Linux Mint based on Debian (not Ubuntu). I have the Debian Mint running in one virtual machine, seems to work fine.

I've mostly given up caring that much about the telemetry and surveillance stuff etc. in Android, Windows 10, Steam etc., as long as it doesn't restrict how I use the product (like DRM or requiring always-online connection for a single-player game etc.). I am not that much concerned how much a company knows about me (at least if I am getting some useful service or product from them), I am more concerned about them restricting after purchase how, when and why I use the product.


Funny thing though: last week I got a message in one of my machines which is running TeamViewer, that its TeamViewer has been now disabled as they suspect I am using it (the free license) for work-related stuff. I am not, but that raised the question in my mind, what is all the stuff that TeamViewer tracks on me, and how did they come up with the incorrect conclusion I was using it for professional use? (I use TeamViewer to connect to my various home PCs remotely, including my Raspberry Pi4).

Anyway, there was an option to send them a message, trying to explain that you are not using TeamViewer Free for professional use. I did, but they replied back that they are still not convinced, and then they wanted me to print out some form where I vow that i am not using it for professional use, sign it and send it back to them.

At that point I said phuck it, and replied to them in email that I feel I can't convince them, so I will just uninstall TeamViewer from my PCs and use AnyDesk instead. AnyDesk seems just as good, it also has Raspberry Pi4 support and apparently in RPi4 you can even use AnyDesk fully, while with TeamViewer the RPi4 was "host-only", ie. you could only connect to it, not use it to connect elsewhere.

(Another option would probably be the free Google Chrome Remote, but its downside apparently is that you can't use it to reboot and log into your remote machines, like you can do at least with TeamViewer, and apparently with AnyDesk.)

Anyway, yeah, I did start wondering what is it that these "remote desktop" companies are spying on their users. Do they send live video feed from my desktop to their headquarters?

But it already exists, so you might have to use a previous fixed version you can download an image for (or pirate). It's still an option.

I've said before 7 is the last version of windows i'll ever use, and mostly for games. I don't trust the big companies like i used to.