News and Interests Showing Up and Running In Task Manager

Anonymous

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,

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lmacri 2,505

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

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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Anonymous

2024-11-20T19:44:59+00:00

Hi, sorry for the omission in the screenshot. I had already done the rest of the tests and settings as you suggested some time ago. The problem with the Webviews2 processes disappeared on its own but then returned on its own :D without having updated anything personally. The Search icon is the Windows 11 icon (one letter).

In the image you do not find the news and interests icon like on other users on Windows 10 because as I had already said I eliminated the widgets from windows 22h2 with a powershell command.

I haven't tried to reinstall Windows 11 because I don't want to re-download games and apps again, i hope in a fix from microsoft.

Update December 5, 2024. After 15 days the problem persists. It disappears and returns randomly: it seems to be resolved and then reappears every now and then depending on the micro updates that Microsoft makes to the Experience.
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lmacri 2,505 Reputation points

2024-11-20T14:34:59+00:00

As mentioned, after a few days the problem of Webview2 returned on its own, perhaps it will disappear on its own but here is a problem that has not yet been resolved by Microsoft in Windows 11 23H2

And compared to before it gives me an open application error when I restart or shut down Windows 11

Hi TommyRatto:

The next time you post an image of your Task Manager it would be helpful if you could show the PID (process identifier) and Process Name columns. From my Win 10 machine:

Also, do you know why the icons for some of the .exe executables running under your Search process display a box with an "x" instead of the default program icon, even when they are consuming memory? Are these "missing" icons normal for certain suspended processes in the Win 11 Task Manager?

As I stated before, I have not seen a News and Interests process in Task Manager since the end of October 2024 (see my 29-Oct-2024 post <here> to DonT5) as long as News and Interests is disabled in my taskbar settings. More importantly, I have never seen an instance of msedgewebview2.exe running under my Search process like you've shown in your recent images.

Also note that I have a Win 10 v22H2 OS, I use Firefox as my default browser, and I have configured my MS Edge browser so that it doesn't run in the background at Windows startup or after MS Edge is closed (see the image in my 14-Nov-2024 post <here> to Umbs). This topic by DonT5 was posted in the Windows 10 board of this forum and most of the users posting here have a Win 10 OS so perhaps you're correct that your own problem is unique to Win 11 v23H2 OS.

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Since you now see open application errors when you restart or shut down Windows 11 please read my 14-Nov-2024 post <here> to Umbs for instructions on how to disable the Fast Startup power option, restart your system, and run the DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth and SFC /scannow commands in an elevated command prompt with Administrator rights to see if these diagnostic scans can detect and/or repair problems with your component store or system files. From my Win 10 machine when no problems are detected.

NOTE: If DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth finds a problem you must run DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth to repair your corrupted component store.

If disabling Fast Startup and running those DISM and System File Checker (SFC) scans don't fix your problem then you might want to try the repair install (in-place upgrade) recommended by CarlosUthred in their 14-Nov-2024 post <here>. Instructions for a repair install of Windows 11 are posted in the ElevenForums tutorial at https://www.elevenforum.com/t/repair-install-windows-11-with-an-in-place-upgrade.418/. A repair install should keep your accounts, apps, and personal data, but I've never performed a repair install on a Win 11 OS using Option # 1 in that tutorial (Repair Install Windows 11 via Windows Update) so I have no idea if this option might update you Win 11 v24H2.

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 v5.2.2.154-1.0.5101 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Microsoft Edge v131.0.2903.51
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