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
    2014-02-01T02:48:09+00:00

    This happens for me when I open google chrome.  It pegs the cpu at around 92%.

    I can kill it by hand, but it always shows back up.

    This is the only page that I can find anyone talking about it.

    Dont know what to do?

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-02-01T13:00:41+00:00

    This happens for me when I open google chrome.  It pegs the cpu at around 92%.

    I can kill it by hand, but it always shows back up.

    nvrgrwld, please confirm that it is the Store Broker process that gets pegged when you open Chrome. Also, have you tried a clean boot? The Store Broker gets pegged for me without anything (other than Desktop and Task Manager). Is it the same on your end?

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-02-03T07:16:28+00:00

    Same problem here.  In my case it goes to 100% and uses all the cpu.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-02-04T12:48:45+00:00

    I have the same wshost.exe cpu consuming issue. Whenever I reboot my laptop, "store broker" consumes cpu like %60. While it consume the cpu, I can not open Windows store. I had to close wshost.exe manually (double times). When it closes windows store opens directly, but when I click to update something, it starts to consume cpu again without any network activity. It is not even possible to use my cpu for daily basic fun things like surfing the web. I do not even care about Windows store; since I used it maybe two times(first was while upgrading) after upgrading to Windows 8.1 and the second time as you can see windows punished me. I just wanted to download a game to see how it is, and windows and does not let me use my computer. 

    I had no problems after the upgrade for a month or two, but I did not open Windows store (I do not count opening Windows store while upgrading) at this time period.

    I think below is the windows store version :

    Name              : winstore

    Publisher         : CN=Microsoft Windows, O=Microsoft Corporation, L=Redmond, S=Washington, C=US

    Architecture      : Neutral

    ResourceId        : neutral

    Version           : 1.0.0.0

    PackageFullName   : winstore_1.0.0.0_neutral_neutral_cw5n1h2txyewy

    InstallLocation   : C:\Windows\WinStore

    IsFramework       : False

    PackageFamilyName : winstore_cw5n1h2txyewy

    PublisherId       : cw5n1h2txyewy

    IsResourcePackage : False

    IsBundle          : False

    IsDevelopmentMode : False

    Update: I found a strange workaround. Open Windows Store, press windows key and open task manager(ctrl+alt+delete and select task manager) end process "store broker" then open Windows Store again. It will work to do some basic things. I was able to update some apps one by one but not at all. It is still not a solution to prevent "store broker" consume lots of cpu. You should check task manager intermittently for "store broker" and end it, if you want to use your precious computer.

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