Device Census Stopped Working Problem

Anonymous
2018-06-22T23:16:47+00:00

I have recently noticed when viewing my reliability monitor that every day around the same time 3 am - 4 am, windows shows that a program called "devicecensus.exe" has stopped working and notes it as a "critical event". My question is should I be worried about this and if so what are the potential fixes? Also is this application an integral part of Windows and if I delete it from System32 will it have an effect on my PC in any shape or form?

Thanks in advance for the responses and here are some of the error details if it helps:

Problem signature

Problem Event Name: APPCRASH

Application Name: devicecensus.exe

Application Version: 10.0.17134.1

Application Timestamp: 79a09a4b

Fault Module Name: WaaSAssessment.dll

Fault Module Version: 10.0.17134.1

Fault Module Timestamp: b7ab6594

Exception Code: c0000005

Exception Offset: 0000000000008ee5

OS Version: 10.0.17134.2.0.0.256.48

Locale ID: 1033

Additional Information 1: 91f2

Additional Information 2: 91f294f44a03f9fda838805399465eda

Additional Information 3: ada5

Additional Information 4: ada50e612b0ea4dc151ec1a740a42603

Files that help describe the problem

WERInternalMetadata.xml

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-08-05T10:02:51+00:00

    "I had run Disk Cleanup with the Windows Update Cleanup checkbox selected"

    That feature rather buggy, right? Often, it ends up unresponsive.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-08-04T21:31:28+00:00

    I can't believe it! I seem to have managed to fix this pesky problem on two systems in 23 hours! 😁

    1. On a desktop computer, the problem was gone after stopping the Windows Update service, deleting the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder, and restarting.
    2. On a laptop, I strongly believe the problem was definitely gone after I had run Disk Cleanup with the Windows Update Cleanup checkbox selected and the system was shutdown at least once.

    Someone, please verify this solution.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-08-04T21:03:46+00:00

    Hmm... Well, 7th-gen is definitely supported. So, we should rule out the case of CPU exception or unsupported instruction in the old CPUs.

    Of course, the systems on which the issue is currently absent both run a BIOS/MBR installation of Windows, both have a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip, and neither have Intel Virtualization technology. The troubled system is a UEFI/GPT installation of Windows, does not have a TPM and has Intel Virtualization enabled. Still, the problem once occurred on the laptop, so these differences couldn't be the culprit.

    So, I just performed an experiment:

    1. I stopped the Windows Update service (wuauserv) temporarily
    2. I renamed the C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution folder
    3. I restarted the Windows Update service
    4. While Windows was busy checking for updates, I ran "DeviceCensus.exe" manually.

    The crash did not occur!

    I waited for the check for the search for updates to end. Then I ran "DeviceCensus.exe" again.

    The crash still did not occur!

    I am not going to celebrate just yet. After all, I managed to reproduce the problem on a naked copy of Windows. So... Let's me know if you guys had success.

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-08-04T19:26:30+00:00

    In my case it happens on a 1st-gen i5 M520 and a 7th-gen i5 7300U.

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-08-04T18:46:42+00:00

    On my HP laptop, the problem has disappeared. It is rather newer than my other devices, as it has a 4th-gen Intel Core i5 CPU. Also, on my company system, which is an ancient Core 2 Duo system, the crash does not happen.

    But on my main desktop, which has a 3rd-gen Intel Core i7: I reset Windows 10 twice, and then nuked and reinstalled Windows with Microsoft Media Creator, but even on that naked copy of Windows 10 build 17134.191 (nothing installed, not even drivers), the problem can be reproduced as soon as Windows touches Internet. (It can be indefinitely postponed by disabling Internet connection.) It even occurs in Safe Mode.

    Clearly, the problem is not caused by Windows edition, FODs, apps, third-party drivers or account type (Microsoft vs. local).

    Thanks for the in depth troubleshooting and findings on this; going to test a post results.

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