BREAKING NEWS
This news blurb was posted last night on NEOWIN
November 20, 2025
Microsoft finally admits almost all major Windows 11 core features are broken
"After provisioning a PC with a Windows 11, version 24H2 monthly cumulative update released on or after July 2025 (KB5062553), various apps such as StartMenuExperiencehost, Search, SystemSettings, Taskbar or Explorer might experience difficulties.
This will occur for the following:
First time user logon after a cumulative update was applied.
All user logons to a non-persistent OS installation such as a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) or equivalent as application packages must be installed each logon in such scenarios."
If you are wondering, provisioning essentially is the way admins configure devices as they deploy various settings and policies on a client PC.
The company further adds that Windows' XAML component and package updates for MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy, Microsoft.UI.Xaml.CBS_8wekyb3d8bbwe, and MicrosoftWindows.Client.Core_cw5n1h2txyewy, are what have been triggering some of the observed problems.
Speaking of observed problems, Microsoft notes that the following dependent Shell components and related services may fail and report an on-screen error or silently fail to execute, such as the following:
Explorer.exe crash
shelhost.exe crash
StartMenuExperienceHost
System Settings silently fails to launch
Application crashes when initializing the XAML views
Explorer running but no taskbar window.
other XAML island views fail to initialize.
ImmersiveShell
Microsoft says that it is working on a fix but, for now, has provided a couple of workarounds to deal with the issue. First, Microsoft says that restarting the Shell Infrastructure host (SIHost.exe) service will help restore the missing Immersive Shell packages. This can be done with the following commands:
Add-AppxPackage -Register -Path 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\appxmanifest.xml' -DisableDevelopmentMode
Add-AppxPackage -Register -Path 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.UI.Xaml.CBS_8wekyb3d8bbwe\appxmanifest.xml' -DisableDevelopmentMode
Add-AppxPackage -Register -Path 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.Core_cw5n1h2txyewy\appxmanifest.xml' -DisableDevelopmentMode
Second, a PowerShell logon script has been shared that essentially blocks Explorer from launching prematurely until the required packages are fully provisioned. The batch script for that is given below:
@Echo off
REM Register MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS
powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "Add-AppxPackage -Register -Path 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\appxmanifest.xml' -DisableDevelopmentMode"
REM Register Microsoft.UI.Xaml.CBS
powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "Add-AppxPackage -Register -Path 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.UI.Xaml.CBS_8wekyb3d8bbwe\appxmanifest.xml' -DisableDevelopmentMode"
REM Register MicrosoftWindows.Client.Core
powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "Add-AppxPackage -Register -Path 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.Core_cw5n1h2txyewy\appxmanifest.xml' -DisableDevelopmentMode"
You can find the support article under KB5072911 on Microsoft's official website.
