An Attempt was Made to Reference a Token That Does Not Exist

Fix There was an attempt to reference a nonexistent token.

According to Microsoft officials, Windows 10 is the final version of Windows; however, cumulative updates will be used to update it periodically.

The April update (v1803) was one such update that fixed a number of issues with Windows 11 or Windows 10. However, it also brought a lot of bugs with it for some users. One of them was that they got the following error when they opened File Explorer:

An Attempt was Made to Reference a Token That Does Not Exist

Cause

When the April update (v1803) was made available, it had a few issues that were later fixed. Instead, Microsoft made every effort to delay the update, but was unsuccessful because it had already been delayed significantly.

The error is primarily caused by file corruption, whether it is as a result of a problematic update or another factor like a virus or malware.

the first steps

  1. Windows update: The problem brought on by the April update was later fixed, so if you downloaded the update after it had already been fixed, you wouldn’t have the issue. But simply updating the system once more might not work if the files have become corrupt. Though it doesn’t hurt to try. The steps for updating Windows are listed below.
  2. Completely scan your system for viruses and malware. Malware and viruses may also be to blame for the problem. To assist with the same, we could perform a complete virus and malware scan on the system.

After that, try the following fixes:

Contents

Solution 1: Use Command Prompt to Repair Corrupt Files

  1. Use the Windows search bar to look up Command Prompt. Run as administrator by performing a right-click on the option.
  2. Enter each of the following commands one at a time into the elevated Command Prompt window to carry them out:

While the second command re-registers the DLL files, the first command directs you to the proper location.

Solution 2: Restore Your Computer

  1. Press Windows and R on the keyboard simultaneously to launch Run.
  2. Enter the word “rstrui” into the box.
  3. Next, go back in time on your computer.

Solution 3: SFC Scan the Computer

A SFC scan looks for corrupt files on the system and, if necessary, replaces them. Here, the process for an SFC scan is described.

Solution 4: Reset your Windows

  1. Computer by typing “recovery” into the taskbar search.
  2. Click on Recovery options now.
  3. Select “Reset this PC.”
  4. To keep your files, choose the option to “Keep my files.”
  5. Follow the instructions on the screen to shut down your Windows computer.

Solution 5: Revert Windows to its Previous Iteration

As was previously mentioned, updating Windows alone won’t help because the files are already corrupt. A better solution is to roll back Windows 10 to its prior version (whatever it was prior to the April update v1803) and then update it once more.

  1. Select Start.
  2. Select Power, followed by Restart, while holding down the Shift key.
  3. Your system would then start up in the Advanced recovery options mode.
  4. Click on the option after choosing Troubleshoot. Revert to a previous release of Windows.
  5. After the procedure is finished, see if the issue was solved. Try updating Windows once more if it did.