News and Interests Showing Up and Running In Task Manager

Anonymous
2024-09-25T22:25:15+00:00

Hello,

I was checking my Task Manager today after installing Cumulative Update KB5043131 on my HP OMEN Desktop and my wife's HP Envy laptop and noticed a task called News and Interests running (see image below). We are running Win10 22H2 Build 19045.4957 . I have not noticed this before running in my Task Manager. I have News and Interests turned off in my Task Bar Settings and I do not see it but why is it all of a sudden showing up in my Task Manager. I have tried to use End Task for this but it keeps coming back after I end it. I use FireFox as my default browser and I have no interest in using this News and Interest junk now or ever. Could someone please tell me why it is there now and how I can get rid of this running in my Task Manager? I have also sent in feedback to MS Edge since I see Edge WebView2 and also to MS FeedBack Hub. Thank you.

Respectfully,

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Settings

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lmacri 2,505 Reputation points
2024-10-29T13:18:48+00:00

Hi DonT5:

Microsoft appears to have released a bug fix.

My MS Edge WebView2 Runtime (msedgewebview2.exe) updated to v130.0.2849.56 on 28-Oct-2029 and after a re-boot the News and Interests process no longer appears in my Task Manager. From Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features on my Win 10 Pro v22H2 machine:

Kudos to EricB for reporting this bug fix in their 29-Oct-2024 post # 2713239 in the AskWoody.com topic October Updates Are Out.

Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5011 * Firefox v131.0.3 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24080.9-1.1.24080.9 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.2.0.140-1.0.5073 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Microsoft Edge v130.0.2849.56

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Anonymous
2024-10-29T19:53:55+00:00

Thanks for the information. I'm waiting for the next few days to reinstall the Webviews2 App from the official Microsoft website to see if it installs version v130.0.2849.56 and not v130.0.2849.52.

Last hour: Windows 11 automatically installed the v130.0.2849.56 version of Webviews 2 and now everything is back to normal on Windows 11 23H2 too.

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-11-16T01:24:49+00:00

    Upgrade last hour: the last Webview2 version 131.0.2903.51 not solve the problem. We have to wait a fix from Microsoft (app is not visible in App menù)

    Image

    Same Problem in Windows 11 23H2 after upgrade (KB5046633).

    Also webviews web app is not more in Windows App but still in the software, I tried to install it again with the evergreen installer not still in the app menù. Also the most recent version of webviews2 is 131.0.2903.51, perhaps it is not yet available for Microsoft Edge andmaybe they have suspended it due to some problems

    At the moment I have updated Microsoft Edge to version 131.0.2903.51 hoping that Windows will automatically install the equivalent version of Webviews which solves this problem

    Image

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  2. lmacri 2,505 Reputation points
    2024-11-15T13:55:23+00:00

    I am getting this problem as of this month's update. I have latest edge and webview2 runtime.

    Hi Umbs:

    I made an interesting discovery after reading your 14-Nov-2024 post. The Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime has disappeared from both Control Panel | Programs | Programs and Features and Settings | Apps | Apps and Features on my Win 10 v22H2 machine since my MS Edge browser updated to v131.0.2903.48 yesterday on 14-Nov-2024.

    See my 14-Nov-2024 post # 2717543 in Susan Bradly's 14-Oct-2024 topic Are You Ready for Windows 11 24H2? in the AskWoody forum (I post there as user lmacri) where others are now reporting similar oddities with Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime. There's a long discussion in that topic about the News and Interests process in Task Manager, and at the moment no one knows if this disappearance of Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime is caused by a bug in MS Edge v131.0.2903.48 or if it's a deliberate feature change by Microsoft.

    As I noted in post # 2717624 of that Askwoody topic, I happened to run a winget list --name WebView2 command in an elevated command prompt two weeks ago on 29-Oct-2024 and it detected Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime v130.0.2849.56 ...

    Image

    ... and today that same command returns "No installed package found matching criteria" .

    Image

    Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.5131 * Firefox v132.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24090.11-1.1.24090.11 * Malwarebytes Premium v5.2.1.144-1.0.5088 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Microsoft Edge v131.0.2903.48

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-11-15T11:00:12+00:00

    Hi CarlosUthred:

    Before you reinstalled your OS did you run any DISM or System File Checker (SFC) scans in an elevated command prompt with Administrator rights to see if they could detect and/or repair problems with your component store or system files?

    Of course I did. In-place repair install was the last resort and it worked. This repair process removed the "news and interests" bug triggered by the preview update. Everything works fine now. News and Interests tasks vanished from my task manager and I have Windows 10 22H2 fully updated (build 19045.5131)

    Thanks for your help, Great White North.

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