SOLVED Windows Store Crashing (following update from Win 7 to Win 10 1903)

[brian_mk]

I have recently updated a laptop from Win 7 to the latest Win 10 1903.
Things appear to be working ok until I attempted to use the Microsoft Store to load the WinDBG app.
When I click on the app icon to download it, the desktop blacks out.
After a second or two, parts of the task bar appear but then the screen goes completely black again.
This continues for several seconds, alternating between a black screen and a black screen plus task bar.
The PC eventually freezes completely.
Task Manager will not run.
The only way out is a hard reset.

Attempts to download other apps from the store result in the same problem.

I've tried resetting the MS Store app, checked for and installed all the latest Win 10 updates.

 

[brian_mk]

A couple of times, following several seconds of the flashing black screen sequence described earlier, the software appeared to recover and the expected 'get app' window is eventually displayed (see attached screen dump).
That suggests it's not the actual download that causes the problem (it happens before the 'get' button is clicked).

 

[Regedit32]

Hi Brian,

It may help to re-register the Microsoft Store app itself.

To do that:

• Type cmd in the search bar
• In the search results right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator
• Click yes if prompted by the UAC
• At the command prompt type or copy & pastethe following command:

PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "& {$manifest = (Get-AppxPackage *WindowsStore*).InstallLocation + '\AppxManifest.xml' ; Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $manifest}"

• Press enter key to execute the command
• Type exit and press enter to close the command prompt
• Restart computer

Regards,

Regedit32

 

[brian_mk]

Hi Brian,

It may help to re-register the Microsoft Store app itself.

To do that:

• Type cmd in the search bar
• In the search results right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator
• Click yes if prompted by the UAC
• At the command prompt type or copy & pastethe following command:

PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "& {$manifest = (Get-AppxPackage *WindowsStore*).InstallLocation + '\AppxManifest.xml' ; Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $manifest}"

• Press enter key to execute the command
• Type exit and press enter to close the command prompt
• Restart computer

Regards,

Regedit32

Thanks for the suggestion but I already tried that.
I also tried running the Microsoft Store troubleshooter.

It works fine on my Win 10 desktop running 1803.

 

[Regedit32]

Have you tried completely uninstalling the Store app, then re-installing it again?

If yes, then the only other suggestion would be to reinstall build 1903, or alternately go back to 1803 and await the next update which may fix the issue.

 

[brian_mk]

Just tried sfc /scannow.
The log indicated it made some changes but was unable to fix some issues.

2019-09-15 15:15:37, Info CSI 00000082 Warning: Overlap: Directory \??\C:\WINDOWS\System32\drivers\en-US\ is owned twice or has its security set twice
Original owner: Microsoft-Windows-Foundation-Default-Security.Resources, version 10.0.18362.1, arch amd64, culture [l:5]'en-US', nonSxS, pkt {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}
New owner: Microsoft-Windows-Foundation-Default-Security.Resources, version 10.0.18362.1, arch amd64, culture [l:5]'en-US', nonSxS, pkt {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}

A forum search suggests the problems reported are because sfc

Have you tried completely uninstalling the Store app, then re-installing it again?

If yes, then the only other suggestion would be to reinstall build 1903, or alternately go back to 1803 and await the next update which may fix the issue.

1803 is the version running on my desktop PC.
The laptop exhibiting the problem was previously running Windows 7, so I can't go back to 1803.
Has anyone else found this problem when running 1903?
If so, that would suggest a possible bug in the latest version of Win 10 rather than an issue with my particular configuration.

 

[brian_mk]

I am unable to do this every time, but I managed to run procexp immediately after the fault.
The Microsoft Store process was stuck using 47% cpu.
The Microsoft Store window on the desktop was blank.

 

[brian_mk]

The stuck process name is WinStore.App.exe

 

[brian_mk]

Some more info...

I found this thread in another forum...

Windows Store Process wsappx.exe Causes High CPU Usage / High Disk Usage – Solved

After March 2018 service update for Windows 10 1709, Windows Store was stuck updating causing permanent high CPU usage around 18% associated with permanent fan activity. Only one administrator account

answers.microsoft.com

The thread talks about a similar problem in Windows 1709.
It suggested running the store app from a new user account.

I created a new local admin user account.
When I tried running the MS Store App from the new account, the problem is improved.
The display still turns black for a couple of seconds but the 'get app' window then appears without the system crashing.
However, the Start menu remains broken (left click on Windows icon does nothing).

I'm begining to think the Windows Store (or MS Store) has some sort of design flaw that stops it working with certain configurations.
All I can do is not use the Store app and hope that one day M$ get around to making it work.

 

[Regedit32]

You've done a lot of research into your problem -- well done on the detective work so far.

The Windows Update Service is tied into the Windows Store app, so it may help to run the troubleshooting tool on the Windows update service as well as the store app. From what I can tell from the generic info supplied to the user when running these troubleshoot tools, it often pays to run the troubleshoot on the same app multiple times, as it appears the troubleshoot often can only handle one issue at a time and needs to be run again to resolve other issues that may have already existed, or now does exist as a direct result of the initial fix.

If the process is crashing that may have something to do with it struggling to verify the current apps on your System, there build numbers and active status. Have you run a check disk scan recently and done any disk clean maintenance recently. Optimizing your disk usage and space might improve things a little.

Also, have you checked there are no issues with your installed RAM? Perhaps a stick of ram is becoming faulty.

Ultimately though, you are probably correct in regards to Microsoft eventually identifying the issue [ if it is something to do with their app code ] and releasing a fix. The problem for Microsoft when fixing bugs is they rely on their partners to accommodate the changes, meaning various hardware makers, computer suppliers, and third party software engineers all need to work in tandem to make any bug path practical.

 

[Regedit32]

Something else that may alleviate issues until you or Microsoft find a permanent solution would be to disable automatic updates in Microsoft Store.

• Open Microsoft Store
• Sign-in if not already signed in
• Click the See More icon ( . . . )
• Select Settings
• Toggle off Automatic updates

 

[brian_mk]

You've done a lot of research into your problem -- well done on the detective work so far.

The Windows Update Service is tied into the Windows Store app, so it may help to run the troubleshooting tool on the Windows update service as well as the store app. From what I can tell from the generic info supplied to the user when running these troubleshoot tools, it often pays to run the troubleshoot on the same app multiple times, as it appears the troubleshoot often can only handle one issue at a time and needs to be run again to resolve other issues that may have already existed, or now does exist as a direct result of the initial fix.

If the process is crashing that may have something to do with it struggling to verify the current apps on your System, there build numbers and active status. Have you run a check disk scan recently and done any disk clean maintenance recently. Optimizing your disk usage and space might improve things a little.

Also, have you checked there are no issues with your installed RAM? Perhaps a stick of ram is becoming faulty.

Ultimately though, you are probably correct in regards to Microsoft eventually identifying the issue [ if it is something to do with their app code ] and releasing a fix. The problem for Microsoft when fixing bugs is they rely on their partners to accommodate the changes, meaning various hardware makers, computer suppliers, and third party software engineers all need to work in tandem to make any bug path practical.

Yup - already tried running Windows Update troubleshooter - it reported no issues.
Faulty RAM is highly unlikely - the laptop had been running Win 7 for years with no problems.
The disk is a new Samsung 500GB 860 evo SSD cloned from the original Win 7 250GB HDD.
If I can't get Win 10 to run reliably, I may have to revert to Win 7 by re-cloning the original HDD back onto the SSD.
I am wondering if it could be an issue with the graphics hardware - the laptop uses the mobile Intel 4 series express chipset which is now obsolete. I've already checked that the latest drivers are installed (8.15.10.1892). Having said that, why the MS Store App would want to use some special unsupported feature within the graphics hardware just to download an app is beyond me. In any case I would have expected the Win 10 installer or troubleshooter to have detected any problems with unsuported grahics hardware or driver software.
I will try chkdsk on the SSD today as I've run out of things to try.

 

[brian_mk]

Something else that may alleviate issues until you or Microsoft find a permanent solution would be to disable automatic updates in Microsoft Store.

• Open Microsoft Store
• Sign-in if not already signed in
• Click the See More icon ( . . . )
• Select Settings
• Toggle off Automatic updates

Yup - already tried that.

 

[brian_mk]

I tried chkdsk c: /f /r. No problems found.
Then DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth (no issues found).
Then sfc /scannow which indicated it fixed some problems.

It made no difference.
Running the Microsoft Store App and clicking on any of the app icons still crashes the entire system!

I also tried the Start Menu Troubleshooter and the Windows Update Troubleshooter.
I have never had success with any Microsoft Troubleshooting software - they are as useful as a chocolate teapot.

Windows 10 1903 sucks. I've spent hours searching forums and tried everything I can think of to fix this issue.
I think it's time to revert back to Windows 7 (or switch to a more reliable OS like linux).

 

[brian_mk]

Microsoft appear to be releasing Windows 10 updates without proper testing.

Have a look at this article about problems with the latest 1903 updates:-

Windows 10 1903: Microsoft's CPU spike fix breaks search on Start menu, desktop

Microsoft is looking into new Windows Desktop Search problems, caused by its latest Windows 10 1903 patch.

www.zdnet.com

It's not surprising I can't get it to work.

 

[brian_mk]

It's taken two days but I've finally managed to fix the problem!

As I suspected earlier, it turned out to be the graphics driver for the intel 4 series express chipset family.
Windows 10 decided that the latest driver was 8.15.10.1892.
Asking Windows to update the driver only confirmed that the best was already installed.

The Intel website was no help as the hardware is now considered obsolete. The only driver information it provides is:-

• Intel® Graphics Driver for Windows XP* 64-Bit (exe)
  • Date: 08/30/2012
  • Version: 14.42.15.64.5420 (Latest)
  • OS: Windows XP 64-bit Edition*
  • Description: Installs graphics driver version 14.42.15.64.5420 (6.14.10.5420) for Intel® HD Graphics.

See:-

Support for Graphics Drivers for Mobile Intel® 4 Series Express...

Support product highlights, featured content, downloads and more for Graphics Drivers for Mobile Intel® 4 Series Express Chipset Family

www.intel.co.uk

After a great deal of searching I discovered there is a later version of the driver (8.15.10.2702).
I found the driver here:-

Drivers Search: mobile intel 4 series express

drivers.softpedia.com

This is shown as being compatible with:-
Windows XP 64 bit, Windows Vista 64 bit, Windows 7 64 bit, Windows 8 64 bit
Windows 10 is not mentioned (I guess it was not around when the driver was created)

After installing the new driver, the Microsoft Store App now works as it should. Problem solved (I hope).