Windows apps and features

The June 2020 cumulative update for Windows 10 released by Microsoft has been causing printing issues and other bugs for some users. Now, users report that they are getting the error message “Windows cannot find [*.exe]” when they launch apps such as Microsoft Office.

This has been reported by users on Microsoft’s forum and the bug is reportedly caused by Windows 10 KB4560960 (version 1909) and Windows 10 KB4557957 (version 2004) cumulative updates.

It’s worth noting that Avast recently released an update with a similar bug that prevents apps from running and following error message is displayed:

  • Windows cannot find ‘C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\root\Office16\EXCEL.EXE’. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again.

However, users noted that they have this problem when trying to launch apps without Avast software:

“I don’t have Avast installed on my machine,” one user noted. “No, not running Avast on the machine,” another user added.

Windows app launch error

A Microsoft community volunteer confirmed that this is a “known problem” with Windows 10 update and users can fix it by tweaking Registry entries.

To fix “Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again” error, you can try these steps:

  1. Open Windows Registry (regedit).
  2. In Registry Editor, navigate to the following path:
  3. Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution folder
  4. Rename the folders of the apps that do not work. For example, rename “Chrome.exe” to “BackupChrome.exe”.
  5. Restart the computer.

Based on reports, both Windows 10 cumulative update and Avast update are breaking down the apps.

If the problem persists and you don’t use Avast, you can also uninstall Windows 10 cumulative update KB4560960 or KB4557957.

To remove the update, open up the Settings app and then click ‘Update & Security’. From Windows Update pane, click ‘View update history’ then ‘Uninstall updates’ and finally select ‘KB4560960’ if you’ve version 1909 and KB4557957 if you’ve version 2004.

If you use Avast, you’ll need to update the program to the latest version, which resolves the bug, according to the company.

About The Author

Mayank Parmar

Mayank Parmar is an entrepreneur who founded Windows Latest. He is the Editor-in-Chief and has written on various topics in his seven years of career, but he is mostly known for his well-researched work on Microsoft's Windows. His articles and research works have been referred to by CNN, Business Insiders, Forbes, Fortune, CBS Interactive, Microsoft and many others over the years.

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