Game bar wont open

Hello Pqjs, sorry to hear you're having trouble.

I see you mentioned your drivers, etc are updated. However, can you please double check this Support link https://support.xbox.com/en-US/help/games-apps/... for information on steps to take to try and get the app running.

Which version of Windows are you running please? It seems you need to be running at least W10 22H2 for some services to work. Also it may be a good idea to double check if your PC uses the Windows Key as some don't.

I'm at a loss then.... wiping the primary drive during installation would leave nothing on there at all so that no remnants would be carried over. So there should be no reason why it won't work.

The only thing I can think of is that whatever is causing the issue may be causing issues with the Win 10 ISO.... if possible, I'd try downloading the Win 10 Installation to USB on a different computer, one you know has no issues. I have seen people before who have had issues persist because the USB was done on a problematic machine.

Do you have 2 hard drives by any chance? Maybe try installing Windows on the other drive, even if it's just temporary to test. I doubt the hard drive is a cause but, at this point, I am just grasping at straws coming up with a solution.

If you haven't already, you could always double check your RAM... again, I doubt it's an issue but no harm in doing it, sometimes slightly flaky RAM can cause weird problems (I have seen flaky RAM cause internet connection issues before so anything is possible):

MemTest86

Will need to be run overnight to ensure all the runs are done. I'd also after try removing one of the RAM sticks and see what happens. If the issue persists, swap them out and try again. That combination will show if it is the RAM or not

EDIT: One final thought at this time: What anti-virus program do you run? Is it Windows Defender or is it a 3rd party program like Avast, Kaspersky, Norton and the like? If it's a 3rd party one, then uninstall it. They have been known to cause conflicts, especially if they have a real-time scanner.

Also, do you have gaming software, Razer etc? Those can also cause issues.

Having said those last 2 things, if you tried the Game Bar straight after reinstalling Windows before installing other programs, then they are irrelevant

Sadly, no. But it's all good, I'm using a different program to record my stuff now!

Did you reinstall Windows as I described above? I'd be surprised if the issue still occurred after doing that

Sadly, no. But it's all good, I'm using a different program to record my stuff now!