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

Anonymous

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!

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Anonymous

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

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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Anonymous

2014-01-30T13:26:45+00:00

Thanks a lot for this - I was beginning to think I might be crazy. My searches haven't picked anything up anything and I have a hard time believing that I'm either the only one or even the first to experience this.

Either that or misery loves company...
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Anonymous

2014-01-31T02:19:45+00:00
It should also be noted that after killing the Store Broker process, it returns shortly thereafter (i.e. 24hrs or so) and pops right back up to 30%. It should further be noted that, aside from stealing my CPU, I don't notice any degraded functionality
- even if I have a Metro app or two running.
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Anonymous

2014-01-31T16:37:10+00:00

Same me, mail, calendar, fb in metro works good, but now i can't even downlaod new app from market or just check list of my apps in the store -> store broker goes to 100% CPU!!!! and after long time i get "X" on the icon in start menu that it can't be downloaded. I have lastest Kaspersky Internet Security , all updates, and i have never that strage situation.
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Anonymous

2014-01-31T20:59:21+00:00

Same here happens to me when I open the store app. Now i cant install update or anything, the CPU goes upto 40-50% looks like its a new bug. Running win8.1 pro wmc
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