Windows 10 Cortana issue opening Mail and Calendar in Windows 10

[Ectophile]

After I installed the latest Windows Cumulative Update (KB3124262) to Windows 10 Home (x64) Version 1511 (build 10586.71) today, Cortana will no longer correctly respond to "Open Mail" and "Open Calendar" commands as it had previously done without any issues.

Instead, Cortana now opens my Apple iCloud URL whenever I ask it to Open Mail or Open Calendar. Other Cortana commands still produce correct responses.

Is there a simple workaround to this issue? Is this another case of Microsoft issuing a Cumulative Update that inadvertently creates yet more bugs?

So far, I have tried opening Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Default Programs\Set Default Programs and then making both Microsoft Mail and Calendar my default applications, then restarting Windows, but this has not corrected the problem. Cortana still will open the Apple iCloud URL when I tell it to Open Mail or Open Calendar.

Please help as this is very frustrating. Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Joel

 

[Ectophile]

After I installed the latest Windows Cumulative Update (KB3124262) to Windows 10 Home (x64) Version 1511 (build 10586.71) today, Cortana will no longer correctly respond to "Open Mail" and "Open Calendar" commands as it had previously done without any issues.

Instead, Cortana now opens my Apple iCloud URL whenever I ask it to Open Mail or Open Calendar. Other Cortana commands still produce correct responses.

Is there a simple workaround to this issue? Is this another case of Microsoft issuing a Cumulative Update that inadvertently creates yet more bugs?

So far, I have tried opening Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Default Programs\Set Default Programs and then making both Microsoft Mail and Calendar my default applications, then restarting Windows, but this has not corrected the problem. Cortana still will open the Apple iCloud URL when I tell it to Open Mail or Open Calendar.

Please help as this is very frustrating. Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Joel

I contacted Microsoft Help via online chat. The agent did a remote logon session and also reinstalled Windows 10 files, upgrading it to Windows 10 Professional (x64) Version 1511 (build 10586.71). Unfortunately, this did not resolve the issue.

They also suggested running an "SFC scan" from an administrative prompt and doing a clean boot. I ran the "SFC scan", but no file system errors were found.

Instead of doing a clean boot, I thought that it would be easier to uninstall Apple iCloud first and determine if that made any difference. I completely uninstalled Apple iCloud as well as all iCloud browser extensions, saved bookmarks, and documents.

Without restarting my computer, I then gave Cortana the verbal commands "Open Mail", followed by "Open Calendar". This time both commands were successful. Cortana opened the Windows 10 Mail App and the Windows 10 Calendar App. This issue can therefore be considered solved.

I may test this solution by reinstalling Apple iCloud without the browser extension to see if Cortana is still able to correctly open Windows Mail and Windows Calendar.

I wonder if I am the first to discover this software conflict with Cortana, or if others have also noticed it.

Please comment should you have experienced similar issues.

Cheers,

Joel

 

[Neemobeer]

People can programmatically add voice commands to Cortana, so that may be the case is some program has added a voice command and overrode Open Mail. I don't know if there is a way to tell if there are any custom commands loaded.

 

[Ectophile]

People can programmatically add voice commands to Cortana, so that may be the case is some program has added a voice command and overrode Open Mail. I don't know if there is a way to tell if there are any custom commands loaded.

Thank you Neemobeer for your reply.

I did reinstall the Apple iCloud App to determine if it continues to interfere with Cortana. Once again I repeated the verbal commands to "Open Mail" and "Open Calendar". Again, Cortana failed to respond correctly, and instead opened the iCloud URL in my default browser.

I then again uninstalled Apple iCloud and Cortana was able to correctly open Mail and Calendar, confirming that the software conflict was caused by Apple iCloud.

I did further research, and discovered this article:

Link Removed

>>"iCloud: Making sure that iCloud works with security software in Windows

Security software can interfere with iCloud behavior in Windows, causing issues such as these:

Inability to sign in to your iCloud account in iCloud for Windows
Inability to open iCloud for Windows
iCloud setup issues in iCloud for Windows
Contacts, Calendars, and Tasks not pushing between iCloud and Microsoft Outlook
Bookmarks not pushing between iCloud and a supported web browser
Photo Stream upload and download issues

For iCloud to work properly, your security software must allow the following files to execute. Add each file as an exception in your security software configuration. If you need help, refer to your software documentation.

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Internet Services\iCloud.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Internet Services\iCloudServices.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Internet Services\AppleOutlookDAVConfig.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Internet Services\AppleIEDAV.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Internet Services\ApplePhotoStreams.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Internet Services\ApplePhotoStreamsDownloader.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Internet Services\EReporter.exe
C:\program files\common files\apple\internet services\APSDaemon.exe
C:\program files\common files\apple\internet services\ShellStreamsShortCut.exe
C:\program files\common files\apple\internet services\ApplePhotoStreamsSlideShow.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Apple Application Support\APSDaemon.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Apple Application Support\WebKit2WebProcess.exe"<<

However, instead of trying to add these files as exceptions, I simply disabled my security software, Kaspersky Total Security v.16.0.0.614(d). Cortana still did not function after adding Apple iCloud with my security software turned off. Therefore, it appears that there is more to this conflict with Cortana than is described above.

My conclusion is that it is more important for me to have Cortana fully functional. It is not necessary for me to have the iCloud dashboard installed, as I can access my files stored on iCloud via a secure URL link with any browser.

Therefore, I consider this matter resolved. I would be interested to learn if anyone else has experienced similar issues with Cortana and Apple iCloud.

Thank you again.

Cheers,
Joel

 

[Neemobeer]

Are there any xml files in the apple folder, look through them if so and look for something like VoiceCommand. If you find it try renaming the xml file and reboot and test Cortana

Voice Command Definition (VCD) elements and attributes v1.2 - Windows app development