Why does Store Broker (wshost.exe) keep killing my CPU?

Anonymous
2014-01-24T23:58:25+00:00

I've got a new Windows 8 machine and, for some reason, the Store Broker keeps pegging my CPU. It seems to pop up every time I do anything with the Windows Store (makes sense) or use some Metro apps (also makes sense). However, for some reason, this process takes up 33% of my CPU and never lets go of it once it starts. This causes the machine to get hot which causes the fan to come on and the combination drastically reduces my battery life (from 11hrs to 3).

Aside from frequently checking for and killing this app, is there anything else I can do about this? Is anyone else having this problem? Is it a misconfiguration on my end? I'm running this on a new Surface Pro 2.

Thanks!

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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Anonymous
2014-03-19T01:17:01+00:00

I SOLVED this. At least for myself. It's been a 3-day journey. Argh!

The upshot is this:

Kill Store and Store Broker from task list.

Rename the Cache folder to CacheOld at:

C:\Users(Your User Account)\AppData\Local\Packages\WinStore_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState

(Your WinStore_gobblygook might be a different bunch of gobbblygook)

Create an empty folder called Cache.

Solved! For me anyway.

Enjoy,

Ron

PS

I have been at this for days. I've read every article and post everywhere. I have updated graphics drivers, set date and time, run wsreset, sfc /scannnow, created new user account (store did work for new account), app troubleshooter, etc, etc, etc...

Today I just started digging around and looking at dates. I don't have log files to back this up but I believe I broke Store with CCleaner. I'm not sure exactly when the Store broke so this is a best guess but it makes some sense since Ccleaner does clean Store cache.

I also recently installed Tor Browser but my gut is that that was totally unrelated.

I might create a sandbox user and try to break Store with Ccleaner to confirm. But honestly I am tired of this little adventure.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-02-28T16:07:24+00:00

    Hi there,

    I am hoping you are still checking in every now and again to see if this issue has been solved and see this post.

    Is your patch working out for you? I have to use this computer for work and for the last 3 days I have been stuck with overheating comp due to store broker problem.

    Any strange things happening to you since you turned off Windows Store? If not then I will do same.

    Thanks for getting back to me.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-02-28T13:28:27+00:00

    Hi,

    In my PC is fixed.

    Now  I can access the store. When I restart the PC WSHost.exe just work for a few seconds and then goes away. So, everything is ok :)

    How it was fixed:

    I downloaded the Enterprise Trial of Windows 8.1 and installed in a partition in the same PC (dual boot).

    I logged in using the SAME Microsoft account that I use.

    I installed all the updates (I don't know if this is necessary).

    Then, when I came back to the original installation, the problem was solved.

    So, I think the problem has to do with corrupted roaming data. The new installation uploaded correct data to my profile that replaced previously corrupted data. Then, when I came back to the original installation Windows downloaded the correct data.

    So, maybe you could try:

    -Login in any other PC with the same account,

    -If that doesn't work, then install the Enterprise Trial Windows 8.1 in a Virtual Machine or in another partition in your PC. Use the SAME account to login in that new installation. Install all the updates.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-02-28T12:40:45+00:00

    Hi DonDuvallXO,

    Thanks for the suggestion. I had high hopes this would finally solve our problem, but unfortunately it didn't for me. In fact, wshost.exe seems to use even more CPU now than before (95%).

    I hope it keeps working for you . . . let us know, OK? Thanks!

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-02-28T12:26:59+00:00

    Yes, thanks for the new lead. Found corrupted files and then this again on boot up!

    Oh joy...

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