Power Toys Run doesn't open

[VidathD]

Environment

Windows build number: [run "ver" at a command prompt]: 10.0.19041.329
PowerToys version: 0.18.2
PowerToy module for which you are reporting the bug (if applicable): PowerToys Run

Steps to reproduce

It started out of nowhere.

Expected behavior

When I press Alt + Space in my keyboard, I want PowerToys run to open.

Actual behavior

No matter what key combination I configure PowerToys run to, it won't open. Instead, it will do something else using those keys. If there is no other shortcut for that combination, nothing happens.

Screenshots

[DavidGretzschel]

Any chance you just updated to Windows 2004 and this is #3925?
You can check by opening settings and seeing whether or not PowerToys Run and possibly Keyboard Manager is greyed out.

[VidathD]

@DavidGretzschel No, they are not greyed out.

It worked before in Windows 2004 btw. I have 2 laptops of the same model (Dell Latitude 3379) and it worked before in both of them. However, I didn't use it in one of them after I upgraded to 2004. Maybe it was caused by a cumulative update?

[saahmedm]

hey @Sasukeeuchiha, sorry about this, we need a few more details however. can you check out event viewer and share any event logs related to this?

[VidathD]

Where in event viewer can I find these? @saahmedm

[crutkas]

Would be here but it would say "PowerToys"

[VidathD]

Nothing new appears there when I press Alt+Space.

[crutkas]

Is powerlaunch showing in task manager?

[VidathD]

Only power toys runner.

[crutkas]

that means something is causing a crash on your system. Lets revisit this tomorrow with 0.19. Tons of fixes there and we may have fixed this.

In theory event viewer would have something ala this:

[VidathD]

@crutkas The update did not fix it! In the log the only thing about powertoys even when I press alt+space is that powertoys was updated

[crutkas]

Right now we need more data. Can you do a teams call maybe so we can see closer what is happening?

[VidathD]

Sure How? @crutkas

[VidathD]

@Sasukeeuchiha, This a test msi that I created to figure out the issue.
Can you please uninstall the msi that you have and install this. Please note this is strictly for testing pusposes, it is not an official build and please uninstall it after.
PowerToysSetup-testBuild-x64.zip

You should see a popup either with an error code or without, which would help us narrow down the issue.

Please share the message window that you get. Thanks!

@alekhyareddy28 No popup, or anything. Nothing in eventviewer or task manager.

[alekhyareddy28]

@Sasukeeuchiha, thank you for your response. UAC pop up is not expected when launching with admin turned off. Can you share a screenshot of the popup or atleast the program name in the pop-up? Thank you for that information will look into it. Also to confirm, PowerToys was running as a normal user (not as admin) with the above msi, correct?

[VidathD]

@Sasukeeuchiha, thank you for your response. UAC pop up is not expected when launching with admin turned off. Can you share a screenshot of the popup or atleast the program name in the pop-up? Thank you for that information will look into it. Also to confirm, PowerToys was running as a normal user (not as admin) with the above msi, correct?

@alekhyareddy28
The UAC says powertoys.exe

I tried the msi with both admin on and off if that's what you mean

[VidathD]

Here's a screen record. The screen goes black when the UAC pops up.
https://1drv.ms/v/s!AvPTmwNcI1nvnl3P2_JCK1ukaAIR?e=jMiijX

[alekhyareddy28]

@Sasukeeuchiha, seems like something is going wrong from the settings/runner side because it is always launching settings as admin even though the always launch as admin toggle button is turned off. You can see that the run as admin button is greyed out in the screen recording that you have shared. This might be the reason for the UAC to pop up. To figure out why that might be happening can you please share your settings.json file located at C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Microsoft\PowerToys?

Once that is done, can you please try to delete that file and start PowerToys again?
We really appreciate your help and patience. thank you.

[VidathD]

settings.json.txt
Still doesn't work. I tried deleting PowerToys Run folder and trying to get PT to recreate it but it only creates an empty folder. I can't open PT run in setting UI either. I can open it again when I restore the folder. But PT run doesn't work.

[VidathD]

@alekhyareddy28 settings.json.txt
Here's the one from PT Run folder. If you want to remote into my laptop and have a closer look, I am OK with that.

[alekhyareddy28]

@enricogior, Do you have any idea why the settings app would be launched as admin even when the always launch as admin option is turned off? Thanks.

[VidathD]

@crutkas @alekhyareddy28 @enricogior For now I have implemented a temporary fix. I have manually set up a task in task scheduler to start powerlauncher.exe on log on. Works fine till you come up with a fix. May not be perfect but works...
powerlauncher.xml.txt
Slightly edited the attached file (Name, userID)

[enricogior]

@alekhyareddy28
I don't have enough information to make a guess.

@Sasukeeuchiha let's start from scratch:

• remove the scheduled task you created
• uninstall the current version of PowerToys
• check if the C:\Program Files\PowerToys as been removed, if not, open the control panel (in the Start menu type Controp Panel), go to Programs -> Uninstall or change a progam and verify if there is still PowerToys present
• keep uninstalling PowerToys until it's gone from the list of installed programs
• check again if the C:\Program Files\PowerToys as been removed, if not, manually delete it
• go to C:\Users\Enrico\AppData\Local\Microsoft\ and delete the PowerToys folder
• install (direct download link) https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/download/v0.21.1/PowerToysSetup-0.21.1-x64.exe
• open the PowerToys Settings, does it prompt the UAC?

[VidathD]

@enricogior Did all that. Had to manually remove C:\Program Files\PowerToys. Still prompts for UAC. Admin is off.

[enricogior]

@Sasukeeuchiha
you have the default Windows UAC settings right?
Do you run any third-party shell?
Can you please upload the C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\PowerToys\settings.json file, to check if the elevation is set in the settings?

[alekhyareddy28]

@Sasukeeuchiha
you have the default Windows UAC settings right?
Do you run any third-party shell?
Can you please upload the C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\PowerToys\settings.json file, to check if the elevation is set in the settings?

The settings.json file was shared in this comment - #4399 (comment).

[enricogior]

@alekhyareddy28
I would like to see the new settings file after the clean up.

[VidathD]

@alekhyareddy28
I would like to see the new settings file after the clean up.

settings.json.txt

[VidathD]

@enricogior

@Sasukeeuchiha
you have the default Windows UAC settings right?
Do you run any third-party shell?
Can you please upload the C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\PowerToys\settings.json file, to check if the elevation is set in the settings?

Yes. Default UAC, NO third party shell, run elevated is false in settings.json

[enricogior]

@Sasukeeuchiha
this is weird:

even if the run_elevated setting is OFF, the process is actually running elevated.
How did you start? Automatically at start up?
If you quit PowerToys and restart it manually is still elevated?

[VidathD]

@Sasukeeuchiha
this is weird:

even if the run_elevated setting is OFF, the process is actually running elevated.
How did you start? Automatically at start up?
If you quit PowerToys and restart it manually is still elevated?

@enricogior Yes. It still prompts for UAC and the .json file is still the same

[alekhyareddy28]

@Sasukeeuchiha, thank you for your patience. PT Run not launching for the first time when powertoys was being run as admin was a known issue and a fix has been made for the same. That might be a part of the problem that you're facing along with something always launching PowerToys as admin.

Can you please see if the always run as admin is set for PowerToys.exe? You can follow these steps to check.
Have you maybe in the past configured it to always run as admin ? (I'm ruling out anything to do with UAC as you said that you have the default configurations)

Our next release should be out soon, so maybe we should try out the new release and see if that fixes your issue. thank you once again for your response.

[VidathD]

@Sasukeeuchiha, thank you for your patience. PT Run not launching for the first time when powertoys was being run as admin was a known issue and a fix has been made for the same. That might be a part of the problem that you're facing along with something always launching PowerToys as admin.

Can you please see if the always run as admin is set for PowerToys.exe? You can follow these steps to check.
Have you maybe in the past configured it to always run as admin ? (I'm ruling out anything to do with UAC as you said that you have the default configurations)

Our next release should be out soon, so maybe we should try out the new release and see if that fixes your issue. thank you once again for your response.

@crutkas @enricogior @alekhyareddy28 Looks like that was the issue. Even though the "Run as administrator" is greyed out in advanced, it was ticked in the compatibility tab. Now the only issue is that it doesn't run as when launching PT as admin. But that is a known issue. So I guess you can mention that issue # here and close this. Thank you for all your time and attention.

[alekhyareddy28]

@Sasukeeuchiha that's great. Thank you. Glad the issue is fixed. Closing in favour of #6060.