title: Error "invalid parameter" when launching a converted app
body: <h1>What I did</h1>
  
  <p>I have successfully packaged a desktop app using a command-line like this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>DesktopAppConverter.exe -Installer "_setup.bat" -InstallerArguments "&lt;log_folder&gt;" -Destination "c:\packaged_app" -PackageName "MyPackageName" -Publisher "CN=MyPublisher" -AppId "MyApp" -AppDisplayName "MyApp" -AppDescription "MyApp" -PackageDisplayName "MyApp" -PackagePublisherDisplayName "MyPublisher" -Version 1.2.3.4 -Verbose
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>To test the app locally I have successfully installed the package using the following PowerShell cmdlet as described on <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/porting/desktop-to-uwp-debug" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this MSDN page</a>:</p>
  
  <pre><code>Add-AppxPackage –Register AppxManifest.xml
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Then I tried to launch the app by clicking on its start menu item.</p>
  
  <h1>Error symptoms</h1>
  
  <p>An error dialog pops up that looks like this: </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>C:\packaged_app\MyPackageName\PackageFiles\MyApp\my.exe</p>
    
    <p>Invalid parameter.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>The path shown is correct.</p>
  
  <p>The Windows event log has a corresponding entry:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>%4: Cannot create the process for package %1 because an error was
    encountered while preparing for activation. %5</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Complete XML of the event log entry (EventPayload data omitted):</p>
  
  <pre><code>Log Name:      Microsoft-Windows-AppModel-Runtime/Admin
  Source:        Microsoft-Windows-AppModel-Runtime
  Date:          10/19/2017 3:51:08 PM
  Event ID:      203
  Task Category: None
  Level:         Error
  Keywords:      DesktopAppXProcess
  User:          SYSTEM
  Computer:      DESKTOP-5ODUDQ0
  Description:
  %4: Cannot create the process for package %1 because an error was encountered while preparing for activation. %5
  Event Xml:
  &lt;Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event"&gt;
    &lt;System&gt;
      &lt;Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-AppModel-Runtime" Guid="{f1ef270a-0d32-4352-ba52-dbab41e1d859}" /&gt;
      &lt;EventID&gt;203&lt;/EventID&gt;
      &lt;Version&gt;0&lt;/Version&gt;
      &lt;Level&gt;2&lt;/Level&gt;
      &lt;Task&gt;0&lt;/Task&gt;
      &lt;Opcode&gt;0&lt;/Opcode&gt;
      &lt;Keywords&gt;0x2000000000000004&lt;/Keywords&gt;
      &lt;TimeCreated SystemTime="2017-10-19T13:51:08.634936000Z" /&gt;
      &lt;EventRecordID&gt;874&lt;/EventRecordID&gt;
      &lt;Correlation /&gt;
      &lt;Execution ProcessID="1204" ThreadID="4232" /&gt;
      &lt;Channel&gt;Microsoft-Windows-AppModel-Runtime/Admin&lt;/Channel&gt;
      &lt;Computer&gt;DESKTOP-5ODUDQ0&lt;/Computer&gt;
      &lt;Security UserID="S-1-5-18" /&gt;
    &lt;/System&gt;
    &lt;ProcessingErrorData&gt;
      &lt;ErrorCode&gt;15005&lt;/ErrorCode&gt;
      &lt;DataItemName&gt;PackageName&lt;/DataItemName&gt;
      &lt;EventPayload&gt;&lt;/EventPayload&gt;
    &lt;/ProcessingErrorData&gt;
  &lt;/Event&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <h1>What I tried</h1>
  
  <p>I have added the parameters <code>-Sign -MakeAppX</code> to the DesktopAppConverter command-line. After installing the generated certificate and the .appx package, I have been able to successfully launch the app from its start menu item.</p>
  
  <p>But according to <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/porting/desktop-to-uwp-debug" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this MSDN page</a> this shouldn't be necessary for <em>local testing</em>:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>You can run your app to test it out locally without having to obtain a
    certificate and sign it.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>As the app is fairly large (a few 100 MiB) I would like to avoid having to repackage and resign the application everytime something is changed.</p>
  
  <h1>System Details</h1>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Windows 10 x64 build <strong>15063.674</strong>, running in VirtualBox</li>
  <li>DAC base image: "BaseImage-15063-UPDATE.wim"</li>
  </ul>