I used the takeOwnership reg hack to gain access to the WindowsApp folder but once I had done this FS2020 would no longer run complaining about a permission issue.
I know there is a manual method for performing this task. But… Can anyone enlighten me as to why this issue happened with FS2020? It acts as if the application does not exist and it’s clearly a permission issue.
Thanks!
Don’t try to understand why MS does what it does. They’ve always been unnecessarily over-protective. One good example for one of their products is when there was a warning “don’t open the package if you don’t accept these terms and conditions”, the warning of course being inside the package.
To get to the FS files, just type %AppData% into the windows explorer address bar. This works for me, with no problems.
You cannot traverse the WindowsApps folder due to permissions. You can however go directly to your MSFS folder in Windows Explorer by typing the name of the folder in the address bar:
The path to the folder is:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe
Hope it helps,
Thanks gents. Sadly none of those solutions work as I have FS2020 installed on a dedicated SSD.
actually you CAN access the folder and its quite easy:
navigate to the C:\Program Files\WindowsApps folder, select it, then right click and select “Properties”. Now navigate to the Security Tab, click Advanced, a new window will pop up, click “CHANGE” next to Owner, another new window will pop up, on this screen click Advanced, yet another window pops up, click the FIND NOW button, find the User name that has the computer name in all caps next to it
- select it,then click OK, click OK again, now, a new user is in the list, click that name and the EDIT button, put a check mark in the box that says Full Control and click OK. OK out of all the windows. you should now have full access to the WindowsApps UWP Folder.
you say the app is on a dedicated SSD?
the store files will be in the Windows Apps folder, but the actual Sim itself and its content, will be were ever you specified the launcher to install it to.
You can also move the Store to another drive if you dont want it to clutter up your C: Drive if its a smaller drive.
Hold Down the Windows Key ⊞ Winand tap the I key, this will bring up PC Settings. navigate to SYSTEM>STORAGE>Find “Change where new content is saved” the first option is “New Apps will save to:” and pick whatever drive you want MS Store to save to.
I resolved the issue by going to settings > system > storage > “change where new content is saved” and pointing that at my SSD.
You can access the windows app folder by modifying security settings, but you can’t modify the files inside the msfs folder including the exe. Reshade won’t install either because you can’t copy the files into the msfs directory. It sucks big time.
funny, i can modify my contents…
did you miss a step in modifying the security and user account access details? you do have the change the default access attributes or it wont let you access it with full control rights.
this part is critical ^ ^ ^
Confirming that you purchased from ms store? Are you absolutely sure you can actually access/read files in the WindowsApps/Microsoft.FlightSumulator_1.7… folder and subfolders?
Say for example, the xml files in Packages/fs-bse-propdefs/Propdefs/1.0/ ??
I am able to gain access to the folders and read the contents, but cannot open or read any of the files.
Thanks.
oh im sure, its a gamepass edition, on another drive both store and content.
Here is a random folder on my C: Drive in the UWP Windows Apps folder with a file actively open
Here is another one on my E: Drive, yet another UWP Windows Apps Folder with a file actively open
and lastly, the active folder, on my F: Drive which contains the GamePass FS 2020 install from the Store.
recheck ALL your permissions and make sure you are assigning the correct user account and have the option under that user that says “FULL CONTROL” Checked and active.
Now, in terms of your actual folder and file specified, you cannot take ownership of that file or let alone the file structure because it has DRM Rights associated with it and Windows will NOT allow you to override them. this is how UWP Works, and unless you are given a access key file to that particular UWP Program’s Source Code, you will NEVER get into them.
however, i can still fully see and copy/cut/paste them at will. but being able to see them, due to how UWP Works, does not mean i can manipulate or otherwise alter the data within the files and if needed, cannot even open them. sure, its a XML Document, but its a protected one with hidden user access attributes that only Windows Kernel can see and UWP Permissive accounts can see due to the DRM in play.
