After performing a system restore with Windows 11 22H2, certain Microsoft applications fail to start.
It appears that Windows 11 22H2 users are experiencing another round of operating system problems. Even though Microsoft’s goal with Windows 10 and 11 has been to provide continuous performance and feature upgrades with two major updates per year (and many smaller updates in between), occasional bugs still manage to sneak in. The latest issue, documented under KB5023152 (opens in a new tab), involves applications crashing upon launch after a system restore.
According to Microsoft, users of Windows 11 22H2 who perform a system restore may encounter the following issues:
- The error message “This application cannot be opened” is displayed instead of the application starts.
- The application may have multiple Start menu entries.
- An application may not respond when you attempt to launch it.
- An I/O error may occur, followed by the application becoming unresponsive and then crashing.
- If you try to launch the application again, it will now launch.
Microsoft claims that Notepad, Paint, Office, Cortana, and Terminal are all affected by the latest Windows 11 22H2 issues, although this is not an exhaustive list. The MSIX package format is utilized by all of the applications. Microsoft boasted in a 2021 support document (opens in a new tab) that MSIX has a 99.96% success rate across “millions of installs,” is optimized for disk space to prevent file duplication across applications, and reduces network bandwidth requirements.
Microsoft’s solution to the ongoing issue is a Troubleshooting 101 exercise. The company suggests that users attempt to resolve the issue by restarting the application, reinstalling the application, or running Windows Update. Interestingly, Microsoft typically indicates that it is working to fix the underlying cause of these app failures and provides an estimated timeframe for a fix. Microsoft does not provide this guidance with KB5023152, unfortunately.
Furthermore, it is somewhat ironic that Windows users typically resort to system restoration when confronted with significant software issues. Possibly a malicious software program has wreaked havoc, or you’re in driver purgatory with a piece of hardware. System restore is intended to provide a relatively painless method of reverting your computer to a point before the problems began. It is a much faster solution than reinstalling the operating system from scratch.
In this instance, however, system restoration may solve one problem while creating others. We hope a quick fix is in the works to spare Windows 11 22H2 users from these annoyances.
