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I just installed Windows 10 a few days ago (Enterprise IoT).

Suprinsingly, if I open the "Start menu" and type "Device manager" and then Enter, I get this error:

enter image description here

It is:

Windows cannot access the specified device path or file. You may not have the appropriate permission...

(I will update this post to include a screenshot instead of photo as soon as I can).

Why this error? What is this GUID in the dialog box title?

Notes:

  • If I go in the Control panel, and click on "Device manager", it works.

  • I am doing this from main user of the computer (which is administrator).

  • Important update: the error comes if and only if we use this specific setup:

    • I created a key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell containing C:\myapp\myapp.exe to boot directly on my software, without Explorer (kiosk computer)

    • Then when I occasionally want to start the Windows desktop/Explorer anyway, I do CTRL+SHIFT+ESCAPE to run the Task Manager, then I run a new task from File > New task, then explorer. I tried both with "Run with admin privilege" checkbox checked or not.

    • Then, after this, from the newly started Explorer, the problem described on top is present.

    • Without this winlogon change, the problem is not present

Basj
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  • You can also launch device manager with devmgmt.msc from either run or the cmd prompt. – cup Jan 02 '23 at 08:54
  • Have you tried starting explorer from cmd.exe? Maybe with an argument like: "explorer.exe C:\" – ciao1092 Jan 02 '23 at 09:41
  • @cup yes, but I need to solve the root cause of the problem anyway – Basj Jan 02 '23 at 09:56
  • @develc I need to open the Windows desktop (i.e. explorer.exe) which also shows the start menu, etc. (and not specifically a File explorer window like `C:\ `) – Basj Jan 02 '23 at 09:59
  • Changing the question so radically is really not good practice. – harrymc Jan 02 '23 at 10:09
  • @harrymc Yes I know this is not optimal... The reasons is that these new tests have now shown that the *root problem* is elsewhere. But you're right. I now removed the last sentence of the post. Thanks for your input again. – Basj Jan 02 '23 at 10:36

1 Answers1

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To answer one question : The GUID corresponds to the Documents folder. You may test this by running Explorer with the full GUID as parameter:

explorer "shell:::{26EE0668-A00A-44D7-9371-BEB064C98683}\0\74246BFC-4C96-11D0-ABEF-0020AF6B0"

Such an error means some corruption and shouldn't be happening in a fresh Windows 10 install.

I suggest:

After the poster communicated the fact that the desktop was never launched during login, it is now clear that to get a desktop in this environment, Explorer needs to be launched inside the environment of the Windows login process. This is of course impossible, since this environment is not documented at all.

The final answer is that the above answer cannot work in this environment, so the answer is negative. The poster rejects the idea of starting and terminating Explorer immediately after login, so I can see no solution for the problem.

The only solutions I can see are either to use another login that has Explorer as its shell, or use a third-party Explorer replacement.

harrymc
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  • Thanks @harrymc! Finally it is not linked with a disk/corruption problem, but to a `regedit` `HKCU/.../Winlogon/Shell` change, see my "update" in the question. Do you know how should I run `explorer.exe` from task manager to avoid this problem? – Basj Jan 02 '23 at 08:49
  • Why not use instead a [File Explorer Alternative](https://alternativeto.net/software/windows-explorer/)? – harrymc Jan 02 '23 at 09:02
  • No @harrymc, I either need to boot the computer on my own kiosk application `myapp.exe` (imagine a public kiosk machine in a public place) OR on the regular `explorer.exe` (I don't need a 3rd solution) – Basj Jan 02 '23 at 09:56
  • Try this to run Explorer : `%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\System Tools\File Explorer.lnk`. – harrymc Jan 02 '23 at 10:06
  • Thanks @harrymc, but I'm not speaking about *File Explorer*, but rather about explorer.exe (which starts the Desktop, Start menu, etc.) – Basj Jan 02 '23 at 10:40
  • You can't start Explorer with the same parameters as the login process. I suggest that you modify your method, in effect starting Explorer for the desktop, then start your process and kill Explorer. This way you can restart the desktop. – harrymc Jan 02 '23 at 10:49
  • For a kiosk computer, we would like to avoid the Explorer (dekstop) to start, and rather boot as soon as possible to the app. You are right in your comment: this is a totally different question, so I will ask a different one. – Basj Jan 02 '23 at 10:50
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    I updated my answer as well as I could, in view of your comments. I have no other suggestions that I think will work for the original question, except the ones in my answer. – harrymc Jan 02 '23 at 19:46
  • Thanks @harrymc, you're right, the (negative) answer is probably the answer. – Basj Jan 02 '23 at 20:32