Solved can't get rid of PC App Store pop-ups

My wife's Lenovo computer is stuck with PC App Store pop-ups. I can't get task manager, the Run box, The PC app window blocks everything. I can't get this computer to go to the safe mode or command prompt. Trying the safe mode had it go to bitlocker asking for a recovery code. This is maddening

GerryPeters said:

My wife's Lenovo computer is stuck with PC App Store pop-ups. I can't get task manager, the Run box, The PC app window blocks everything. I can't get this computer to go to the safe mode or command prompt. Trying the safe mode had it go to bitlocker asking for a recovery code. This is maddening

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Too much missing info. What kind of pop-ups? Can you not right click on start icon and get into task manager from there? Can you hold down shift and restart to get into recovery to access command prompt? And yes, to get into recovery, if you have device encryption or bitlocker enabled you will have to have your bitlocker key.

GerryPeters said:

I can't get task manager, the Run box, The PC app window blocks everything. I can't get this computer to go to the safe mode or command prompt. Trying the safe mode had it go to bitlocker asking for a recovery code.

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Sounds like some serious corruption/failing. Backup all personal data before going any further.

With such a range and variety of faults, prepare for worst case scenario - clean install. A system restore may work, though

Outta curiosity, run CrystalDiskInfo to check integrity

Trying the safe mode had it go to bitlocker asking for a recovery code.

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You need to Disable Bitlocker

However from what you say normal methods may not be available. You might try launching the task manager
CTRL SHIFT ESC and File, New Task, cmd.exe then

Method 3: Using Command Prompt (Advanced)
If the graphical user interfaces are unavailable or failing, you can force BitLocker to turn off using an administrator command prompt. [1, 2]

• Press Windows Key + S, type cmd, and select Run as administrator.

• Type manage-bde -status and press Enter to verify which drives have BitLocker active.

• Type manage-bde -off C: (replace C: with the appropriate drive letter if necessary) and press Enter.

- and in your case in particular

CTRL SHIFT DEL
Click task manager

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*** Please be aware that Win 11 Pro (is your wife's O/S that? - presumably..) enables Bitlocker by default.
This in my view is a remarkably poor design decision by MS and guaranteed to catch some people out at some time, as they won't have a recovery code provided automatically.

Therefore disable Bitlocker, and if you don't plan to use it, do so immediately after a clean install.
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Too much missing info. What kind of pop-ups?

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Take a photo as you can't create a screenshot. Reduce the image file size enough as necessary to upload it. Size limits apply.

Agree with above. Worst case could be malware.

Some success here with disabling internet,

I’ve tried logging into her Microsoft account and I can successfully log into that but then when I try this link http://aka.ms/myrecoverykey that is supposed to get me to her bit locker code, it's in an endless loop saying trying to login and processing authentication. THis is all in my chrome browser in the incognito mode. I know if I can somehow get to the safe mode I can uninstall the PC app store.

I’ve tried a bios tweak I think called secure boot and it keeps coming back to the problem with the bitlocker code which I can’t seem to get. This is a Lenovo computer with already installed. We certainly did not ever install bitlocker which I would never do.

This is a fairly common problem with this PC App Store totally taking over the screen not letting any other windows come up. Once I get this resolved, I will certainly use the advice found here about getting rid of bit locker completely. It’s totally useless and a pain

I have several phone images of what I took during this process. I think part of this problem came about doing a Microsoft update because I noticed when I chose restart it said restart and update so I did that and let it update but still the same problem.

And thank you for your reply.

I've shown you how to disable Bitlocker above. Hopefully.

Disabling the internet did it. I was able to uninstall PC APP Store whcih was installed yesterday 7/21. Not sure how, my wife didn't do it. I'm not sure if it had soemthing to do with I rebooted her computer and it all works. Thanks everyone expecially Thank you Fabler2. Now I'll get rid of bitlocker and make sure I can use the safe mode

GerryPeters said:

I was able to uninstall PC APP Store whcih was installed yesterday 7/21. Not sure how, my wife didn't do it.

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I think she did:

PC App Store is a third‑party platform that allows software developers to distribute apps and users to install software on their computers. However, it’s not an official Microsoft or Windows tool, and it isn’t distributed through official channels.

While the PC App Store can be downloaded directly from its publisher’s website, it’s also commonly distributed through bundled installers (often in the installation process) that often contain other software, which users can install unintentionally if they don’t review setup options carefully. Fake pop-up ads and update prompts may also install the PC App Store.

What is PC App Store?

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Last week she installed MS Word and Excel that MS tries to trick us into buying. I prefer Wordpad because it opens quickly and no nonsense. I had to jump through hoops to get it on my Win 11 computer and tried to do that on her computer and it didn't work that great, so she bought it.

I'd be surprised if Word and Excel did this, she said it was $139. Seems high to me. I wonder if it was legit. I also noticed McAfee installed an update today. Maybe that's the one that did it. I thought I removed McAfee.

GerryPeters said:

Maybe that's the one that did it.

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It's good at that

GerryPeters said:

I thought I removed McAfee.

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How? McAfee cannot be removed by the simple/usual uninstall process, that's the nature of that insidious beast.

There is no need whatsoever to disable BitLocker. You can temporarily SUSPEND protection instead to avoid being asked for the recovery key at startup. You can do this from the GUI (to suspend for one single reboot) or you can do it from the command line to give the flexibility to tell it how many reboots to suspend protection for.

As an example, if I wanted to suspend protection for 5 reboots, I would issue this command:

manage-bde -protectors -disable C: -RebootCount 5

If after just a couple of reboots I decide that I want to resume protection right away, I would issue this command:

manage-bde -protectors -enable C:

NOTE: In the first command, if you omit the reboot count at the end of the command, it will suspend protection until you re-enable it with the second command.

ADVANTAGES: Suspending protection has the advantage of not needing to re-encrypt your data, especially good if you have a lot of data for saving huge amounts of time plus it reduces wear on an SSD. Re-enabling protection is very fast, typically requiring mere seconds.

dacone I used your instructions to get rid of bitlocker and it still comes up, when I hold the Shift key and hit restart. Then the blue screen comes up and I choose troubleshoot, startup options etc. Then at the end I hit restart and that's when the bitlocker comes up. I rebooted and did your CMD again and bitlocker is still there. I repeated the steps but one thing didn't make sense

and in your case in particular

CTRL SHIFT DEL

Click task manager

nothing happened when I hit

CTRL SHIFT DEL

and the 2nd time task manager was not open since I needed to use it as the administrator. It said decryption was in progress, so do I need to wait? How long? Is that why bitlocker seems to still be installed?


Here's the CMD window results from the 2nd time

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26200.8894]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\System32>manage-bde -status
BitLocker Drive Encryption: Configuration Tool version 10.0.26100
Copyright (C) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Disk volumes that can be protected with
BitLocker Drive Encryption:
Volume C: [Windows]
[OS Volume]

Size: 236.25 GB
BitLocker Version: 2.0
Conversion Status: Used Space Only Encrypted
Percentage Encrypted: 100.0%
Encryption Method: XTS-AES 128
Protection Status: Protection On
Lock Status: Unlocked
Identification Field: Unknown
Key Protectors:
TPM
Numerical Password


C:\Windows\System32>manage-bde -off C:
BitLocker Drive Encryption: Configuration Tool version 10.0.26100
Copyright (C) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Decryption is now in progress.

C:\Windows\System32>