Windows 8.1: Most Metro Apps crash immediately at launch

[Rockhound]

I have basically the same problem. After downloading 8.1, a lot of my apps refuse to open, the front screen comes then crashes back to desktop. So annoying, I have uninstalled and reinstalled but still the same problems. Windows Media Player for example , plays audio but not video. Please, does anyone have any ideas?

I didn't have any problems with Windows Media Player, just the pre-installed Microsoft Windows (or Bing) apps. Sometimes, certain videos require a specific codec. Have you tried obtaining updated codecs?

 

[yeovil50]

I have basically the same problem. After downloading 8.1, a lot of my apps refuse to open, the front screen comes then crashes back to desktop. So annoying, I have uninstalled and reinstalled but still the same problems. Windows Media Player for example , plays audio but not video. Please, does anyone have any ideas?

I didn't have any problems with Windows Media Player, just the pre-installed Microsoft Windows (or Bing) apps. Sometimes, certain videos require a specific codec. Have you tried obtaining updated codecs?

Thanks Rockhoud - just updated the codecs but still the same problem unfortunately. It was working fine in windows 8 - until I updated to 8.1..now nothing!

 

[johnpombrio]

I have basically the same problem. After downloading 8.1, a lot of my apps refuse to open, the front screen comes then crashes back to desktop. So annoying, I have uninstalled and reinstalled but still the same problems. Windows Media Player for example , plays audio but not video. Please, does anyone have any ideas?

Yeovil50, welcome to the Windows 8 forum! I am glad you are finding discussions that are addressing your issues. We usually fix them or find workarounds as this site is filled with really sharp users. While you are here, check out the tutorial section, there is a ton of great stuff there.

This to all the posters. I have successfully uninstalled and reinstalled live Start Menu apps and they still work after sleeping. I might have a common thread between the apps and HOMEGROUP issues. Both require the network, HOMEGROUP for connections and live apps for syncing between accounts.
I want to try an experiment:
When you make ANY changes to either live apps or HOMEGROUP, make sure ALL computers that you have in your home network are up and connected to the network. Make sure that they are all working on the HOMEGROUP properly. When uninstalling and reinstalling live apps in the Start Menu screen, make sure that the other machines are able to communicate between each other so that any changes are immediately registered with the other machines.

Frankly, I am not at all sure if this network connection is necessary for changing the live apps but I just happened to have all machines properly connected when I uninstalled and reloaded my live apps and they are still working.
Try this and see what happens.

 

[Mystere]

We have to admit to ourselves that the resolution of this issue is out of our hands and it's down to Microsoft to provide a patch. The fact that several people have reported this problem in this thread now prove that it's not an individual but a systematic problem affecting probably most if not all Windows 8.1 machines.

Since most people do not seem to have this problem (I didn't, and I upgraded about 10 systems so far), it tells me this was a problem with the upgrade. That tells me it's likely not something that can be "patched", short of rolling back to Windows 8, and applying a new upgrade. In any case, I really really really hate upgrades.

 

[johnpombrio]

[QUOTE Since most people do not seem to have this problem (I didn't, and I upgraded about 10 systems so far), it tells me this was a problem with the upgrade. That tells me it's likely not something that can be "patched", short of rolling back to Windows 8, and applying a new upgrade. In any case, I really really really hate upgrades.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, my friend has no issues with either also, but he had all his computers running on the network when loading the Win8.1 update while mine were all asleep. I donno if that is the issue, but it certainly fixed my HOMEGROUP problem instantly and there is a prominent warning by Microsoft to make sure that all machines are on the network before making changes. It might be a cause and our intrepid newcomers will soon verify my suspicions, I'm sure!

 

[Steve06]

We have to admit to ourselves that the resolution of this issue is out of our hands and it's down to Microsoft to provide a patch. The fact that several people have reported this problem in this thread now prove that it's not an individual but a systematic problem affecting probably most if not all Windows 8.1 machines.

Since most people do not seem to have this problem (I didn't, and I upgraded about 10 systems so far), it tells me this was a problem with the upgrade. That tells me it's likely not something that can be "patched", short of rolling back to Windows 8, and applying a new upgrade. In any case, I really really really hate upgrades.

For clarification, I did not upgrade from 8 to 8.1 but unpartitioned my drive, let Windows create all the necessary partitions, and did a clean install of Windows 8.1. You would think that doing a clean install rather than an upgrade would make your system less prone to such issues, but unfortunately we are all in the same boat. As I understand, you upgraded many machines and they made no trouble.

 

[Mystere]

For clarification, I did not upgrade from 8 to 8.1 but unpartitioned my drive, let Windows create all the necessary partitions, and did a clean install of Windows 8.1. You would think that doing a clean install rather than an upgrade would make your system less prone to such issues, but unfortunately we are all in the same boat. As I understand, you upgraded many machines and they made no trouble.

So you're saying a clean install from an ISO resulted in unstable metro apps? That's even weirder. At that point, I have to look at either the BIOS, the hard disk (maybe bad sectors?), or drivers.

 

[Steve06]

Yes, clean install from ISO. The Windows drive is a brand new Intel 530 Series SSD, it has no bad sector, I can promise. I checked it also with chkdsk.

 

[Rockhound]

So it seems this problem dates back to Windows 8.1 Preview. I wonder if the update is applicable for Windows 8.1.

 

[Steve06]

If you dig through this forum like I did you will see that have been reports of crashing apps since the beginning of Windows 8. That's why MS also offers an app troubleshooting program. I already tried all these tips from last year to no avail. This is a new problem introduced by 8.1.

I've never spent any time on playing with the metro apps, but now that I have had to uninstall and reinstall them repeated times I can tell that the Windows App store in itself is error-prone. Very often the installation of an app fails and needs to be started over again. The Store app can also hang up at this occasion. Microsoft try hard to be like Apple but are failing at the most basic level, i.e., providing a stable OS for the apps one can depend on.

 

[johnpombrio]

Folks, I have had Win8.1 preview since it went up on Technet . I did NOT have any of these issues. The clean install of Win8.1 RTM started the problems a couple of weeks ago. It is when I installed the GA updates that things became serious. I did swap in my SSD from a Ivy Bridge ASUS board to a Haswell ASUS board without reformatting ( I stuck it in and it just worked.)

Definitely something to do with the network port/drivers as I fixed my HOMEGROUP/sleep issue by disabling either the network port or leaving HOMEGROUP. Mind you, I NO LONGER have any issues. Any broken apps I just have to uninstall and reinstall and they work from then on. All my computer sleep fine.

 

[Steve06]

My PC is overall still doing ok on the sleep front, most apps are ok as well, although when I thoroughly check the apps one by one I often catch one that broke again. It has happened with the Bing cooking app today. The news and health & fitness apps have also needed repeated reinstallations since yesterday.

 

[yeovil50]

I have basically the same problem. After downloading 8.1, a lot of my apps refuse to open, the front screen comes then crashes back to desktop. So annoying, I have uninstalled and reinstalled but still the same problems. Windows Media Player for example , plays audio but not video. Please, does anyone have any ideas?

Yeovil50, welcome to the Windows 8 forum! I am glad you are finding discussions that are addressing your issues. We usually fix them or find workarounds as this site is filled with really sharp users. While you are here, check out the tutorial section, there is a ton of great stuff there.

This to all the posters. I have successfully uninstalled and reinstalled live Start Menu apps and they still work after sleeping. I might have a common thread between the apps and HOMEGROUP issues. Both require the network, HOMEGROUP for connections and live apps for syncing between accounts.
I want to try an experiment:
When you make ANY changes to either live apps or HOMEGROUP, make sure ALL computers that you have in your home network are up and connected to the network. Make sure that they are all working on the HOMEGROUP properly. When uninstalling and reinstalling live apps in the Start Menu screen, make sure that the other machines are able to communicate between each other so that any changes are immediately registered with the other machines.

Frankly, I am not at all sure if this network connection is necessary for changing the live apps but I just happened to have all machines properly connected when I uninstalled and reloaded my live apps and they are still working.
Try this and see what happens.

Thanks for the info John..Unfortunately I am not that tech savvy, but I just have one laptop on my network. I noticed also earlier that Bluetooth is also not working now. Really considering to going back to Windows 8 - if that is at all possible. Thanks again for your help and advice.

 

[BRKING]

Is anyone having issues with the Photos app? It opens but it says there are no photos.

 

[Pcinski]

So I tried disabling the homegroup and then reinstalling and installing for both accoounts (reinstalling on both, installing on both), and they worked. For some time...
Then I get errors when I need to reinstall. Something in the store is broken, and they need to fix it.

 

[Pcinski]

Well I now seem to have stirred it, and it recognises when some apps need to repair... Interesting..

 

[Steve06]

@pcinski: this matches my own experience, thanks.

 

[Pcinski]

It has problems with installation when I am logged in concurrently with an another account. When I log off from it it installs nicely.

So some bug in this online identity they have forced on us in windows 8.1. They will repair it I guess.

 

[johnpombrio]

Are you guys logged into your Microsoft Live account while you are doing this? Since I have to log in to reinstall the apps, I figure you must be. Hmmm, I wonder if MS does not like more than one computer logged into the same MS Live account at the same time? Nah, how else could you sync devices?

 

[Mystere]

Microsoft try hard to be like Apple but are failing at the most basic level, i.e., providing a stable OS for the apps one can depend on.

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL....... Oh my... I can't stop laughing...

Apparently you haven't been paying attention to the iOS 7 rollout.

Or maybe you were being sarcastic?

In any event, I gave 3 possible places to look. Fine, the hard disk isn't at fault, but you should seriously consider checking the BIOS and your drivers.

If you understand how software works, you would understand that software doesn't just magically work on one system but not another. If the fault were in the OS, then it would fail for everyone (well, there are some exceptions to that, dealing with specific processor and motherboard architectures). The one thing that's different between computers is drivers, and the BIOS. So whenever a problem like this comes up, and it only affects a small number of people, it's almost always related to a driver and/or bios issue. Especially given the fact that it was a clean install.

Another thought.. are either you or john overclocking? I notice both of you have systems that are designed for overclocking... Please don't say "Yes, i'm overclocking but it worked fine before..." because a new version of an OS will use the CPU and memory differently, and what may have worked before might not. If you are overclocking, try going back to standard speed and see if that solves the problem. Overclocking also refers to running Memory or GPU at higher rates as well, not just the CPU.