Solved Blank Taskbar Icons for Windows Store Apps

bigwebmaster

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On my Surface 3 Pro, in Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 (tech preview), my taskbar icons are blank for any Windows Store apps. The icons are normal for other apps (like MS Office, Explorer, etc...).

I am betting it has something to do with a group policy. But I can't find anyone else out there with this problem. I've reimaged the device, upgraded from 8 -> 8.1 -> 10. Nothing has changed.


When I first got the Surface - it all worked great. I could see the icons fine. As soon as I joined the device to our corporate domain, that is when the problem started happening. I have tried connecting to the internet from home (thinking it was a network/firewall issue at work) but that did not solve it.

See the attached screenshot (it's a screenshot of Windows 10 - but the same thing was happening in Windows 8 and 8.1). It does this for any of the "apps".
taskbar.png
Any ideas what group policies might affect this? Any other ideas?

Dan
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire E1-571
    CPU
    i5-3230m
    Motherboard
    Acer Type-2
    Memory
    8GB DDR3 1333MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD 4000
    Sound Card
    High Definiton Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Generic
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 Pro 256GB
    PSU
    Generic
    Keyboard
    QWERTY
    Mouse
    ELANTECH Touchpad
    Internet Speed
    12.68Mbps
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
When I log in locally using my Microsoft account, the problem does not exist. When I log in using my corporate domain account, the problem exists.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
I figured it out. There is a group policy at the account level which blocks the Windows Update service (because we aggregate updates and push them out after they've been tested). The description of that policy indicates it also blocks the Windows Product Catalog. I believe the icons get populated by hitting this service.

Probably a crappy design by Microsoft. It should be two separate services (one for Windows update, one for Windows Product Catalog), and two separate policies.

Once I disabled that policy on my account, I logged out, logged in, and bingo - it worked.

We are
We are on functional level 2008 R2. I wonder if 2012 gives us any more granularity around blocking access to Windows Update versus Product Catalog.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Same problem, pls explain solution

I figured it out. There is a group policy at the account level which blocks the Windows Update service (because we aggregate updates and push them out after they've been tested). The description of that policy indicates it also blocks the Windows Product Catalog. I believe the icons get populated by hitting this service.

Probably a crappy design by Microsoft. It should be two separate services (one for Windows update, one for Windows Product Catalog), and two separate policies.

Once I disabled that policy on my account, I logged out, logged in, and bingo - it worked.

We are

We are on functional level 2008 R2. I wonder if 2012 gives us any more granularity around blocking access to Windows Update versus Product Catalog.


I am having the exact same problem with you. I am just a casual user that I am using my lap top just for my every day needs. I just updated my system to windows 10 and I am facing the same problem. All the official windows programs are appearing blank in the taskbar. Could pls explain me what I should do in order to correct this malfunction?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
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