Microsoft windows plug and play device install reboot required

Well, i am still in the progress of finding it out, it does not happen often but i noticed something that i thought had nothing to do with it.
And for the good order, the pc does not crash, does not restart out of the blue, is perfectly stable.
No games or programs that hang for no reason. It is just this problem.

Every time my startmenu is not working, i see this critical message in the logs :

(dd-mm-yyyy)
26-11-2017

— System

— Provider

[ Name] Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power
[ Guid] {331C3B3A-2005-44C2-AC5E-77220C37D6B4}
EventID 41
Version 6
Level 1
Task 63
Opcode 0
Keywords 0x8000400000000002
— TimeCreated

[ SystemTime] 2017-11-26T14:01:08.201851100Z
EventRecordID 3894
Correlation
— Execution

[ ProcessID] 4
[ ThreadID] 8
Channel System
Computer DESKTOP
— Security

[ UserID] S-1-5-18

— EventData

BugcheckCode 0
BugcheckParameter1 0x0
BugcheckParameter2 0x0
BugcheckParameter3 0x0
BugcheckParameter4 0x0
SleepInProgress 6
PowerButtonTimestamp 0
BootAppStatus 3221226513
Checkpoint 0
ConnectedStandbyInProgress false
SystemSleepTransitionsToOn 7
CsEntryScenarioInstanceId 0
BugcheckInfoFromEFI true
CheckpointStatus 0

And when i restart windows by making use of the command shell or by using process explorer, i always get the message that windows cannot restart because of taskhost.exe.
I am still trying to figure out which taskhost.exe causes the hang, because it might be a lead to the real problem.

The only strange thing is that the critical kernel event of power loss never happened during the last time i shut down the system.
I always shut down windows correctly and it looks like it shutdowns nicely.

And the strange thing is that the critical kernel event with power loss happened during the power on of the pc and windows still booting. I noticed that i turned the pc on at between 15:00 and 15:01 and the log mentions : 15:01:08.
And the additional event data is all «0».

I noticed already that my power management settings were messed up.
I think more has been corrupted during the botched update.

I thought it had nothing to do with it, but all the criticial errors happened at exact the same time during windows starting and when loggin in, the start menu not working. But it works fine again after a restart.
Strange.
I looked it up :
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2028504/windows-kernel-event-id-41-error-the-system-has-rebooted-without-clean
But this never happened. Because i was looking at the pc and it started just as fast as always and no restarts ever happened in between. Except that the blueish login screen stays a fraction of a second longer before loading my login screen picture.

(dd-mm-yyyy)
12-11-2017

— System

— Provider

[ Name] Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power
[ Guid] {331C3B3A-2005-44C2-AC5E-77220C37D6B4}
EventID 41
Version 6
Level 1
Task 63
Opcode 0
Keywords 0x8000400000000002
— TimeCreated

[ SystemTime] 2017-11-11T23:36:51.059484400Z
EventRecordID 1216
Correlation
— Execution

[ ProcessID] 4
[ ThreadID] 8
Channel System
Computer DESKTOP
— Security

[ UserID] S-1-5-18

— EventData

BugcheckCode 0
BugcheckParameter1 0x0
BugcheckParameter2 0x0
BugcheckParameter3 0x0
BugcheckParameter4 0x0
SleepInProgress 0
PowerButtonTimestamp 0
BootAppStatus 0
Checkpoint 0
ConnectedStandbyInProgress false
SystemSleepTransitionsToOn 0
CsEntryScenarioInstanceId 0
BugcheckInfoFromEFI true
CheckpointStatus 0

(dd-mm-yyyy)
18-11-2017

— System

— Provider

[ Name] Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power
[ Guid] {331C3B3A-2005-44C2-AC5E-77220C37D6B4}
EventID 41
Version 6
Level 1
Task 63
Opcode 0
Keywords 0x8000400000000002
— TimeCreated

[ SystemTime] 2017-11-18T15:20:47.162353500Z
EventRecordID 2477
Correlation
— Execution

[ ProcessID] 4
[ ThreadID] 8
Channel System
Computer DESKTOP
— Security

[ UserID] S-1-5-18

— EventData

BugcheckCode 0
BugcheckParameter1 0x0
BugcheckParameter2 0x0
BugcheckParameter3 0x0
BugcheckParameter4 0x0
SleepInProgress 0
PowerButtonTimestamp 0
BootAppStatus 0
Checkpoint 0
ConnectedStandbyInProgress false
SystemSleepTransitionsToOn 5
CsEntryScenarioInstanceId 0
BugcheckInfoFromEFI true
CheckpointStatus 0

(dd-mm-yyyy)
19-11-2017

— System

— Provider

[ Name] Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power
[ Guid] {331C3B3A-2005-44C2-AC5E-77220C37D6B4}
EventID 41
Version 6
Level 1
Task 63
Opcode 0
Keywords 0x8000400000000002
— TimeCreated

[ SystemTime] 2017-11-19T06:13:23.068670800Z
EventRecordID 3406
Correlation
— Execution

[ ProcessID] 4
[ ThreadID] 8
Channel System
Computer DESKTOP
— Security

[ UserID] S-1-5-18

— EventData

BugcheckCode 0
BugcheckParameter1 0x0
BugcheckParameter2 0x0
BugcheckParameter3 0x0
BugcheckParameter4 0x0
SleepInProgress 6
PowerButtonTimestamp 0
BootAppStatus 3221226513
Checkpoint 0
ConnectedStandbyInProgress false
SystemSleepTransitionsToOn 1
CsEntryScenarioInstanceId 0
BugcheckInfoFromEFI true
CheckpointStatus 0

edit:
removed some translation errors.

Another edit (2 dec 2017):
I changed the title to match the problem.

It took me a while, but i managed to take a picture of what happens when my startmenu, any app(win32 applications work fine) and search fails to work.

I noticed that every time taskhost.exe message pops up with the following text :

Background tasks are stopped through taskhost.
(MicrosoftWIndowsPlug and playDevice install reboot required)

I am not the only one ,

These people have the same issues.
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_wintp-insider_desktop-insiderplat_pc/task-host-window/c47b5fca-cc6d-405e-b563-5ba0a4c82892

It seems some device driver is not loaded properly sometimes.
Finally, a lead.

Apparently Microsoft added a new option in the Accounts section in 1703 (Settings -> Accounts -> Sign-In Options) called «Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up my device after an update or restart.». The dutch website says (according the google
translate) the option doesn’t really work and to turn this option off and it should fix the task bar/start menu issue. I am testing this on my desktop at the moment, shutting off/restarting my Desktop, and haven’t ran into the task bar/start menu issue yet.

This was turned on for me as well.
I will turn it off and see what happens.

edit:
Searching for this, this seems to be a problem a lot of people have when googling for it.

Solved: Left Click Not Working in Windows 10

I tried
sfc /scannow

Beginning system scan. This process will take some time.
Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.
Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

So that is not it.

And i tried using the powershell.
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml”}

Now i have to wait and see.

edit:
I should note that i also disabled fast startup in power management.
What a nonsense feature when one has an SSD.

https://www.howtogeek.com/243901/the-pros-and-cons-of-windows-10s-fast-startup-mode/

Windows 10’s Fast Startup (called Fast Boot in Windows works similarly to the hybrid sleep mode of previous versions of Windows. By saving the operating system state to a hibernation file, it can make your computer boot up even faster, saving valuable seconds every time you turn your machine on.

Fast Startup is enabled by default in a clean Windows installation on most laptops and some desktops, but it doesn’t always work perfectly, and there are some downsides that might convince you to turn it off. Here’s what you need to know.

How Fast Startup Works
Fast Startup combines elements of a cold shutdown and the hibernate feature. When you shut down your computer with Fast Startup enabled, Windows closes all applications and logs off all users, just as in a normal cold shutdown. At this point, Windows is in a state very similar to when it’s freshly booted up: No users have logged in and started programs, but the Windows kernel is loaded and the system session is running. Windows then alerts device drivers that support it to prepare for hibernation, saves the current system state to the hibernation file, and turns off the computer.

When you start the computer again, Windows does not have to reload the kernel, drivers, and system state individually. Instead, it just refreshes your RAM with the loaded image from the hibernation file and delivers you to the login screen. This technique can shave considerable time off your start up.

I read about that Windows Shell Experience Host might also be the problem.
And tested it out.
Funny thing is that when i suspend the process, my startmenu, search and all windows 10 apps stop functioning until i resume the process with process explorer from sysinternals. Just as i have seen before starting windows and logging in.
I do have to note that it is yet another week or so since i have encountered the issue but at least i now know at least one way to create the issue.

edit:
I experimented some more with suspending this service, and the win10 apps will start but it takes time, sometimes 10 seconds or more.

Was just coming here to post about same problem. Was hoping there’d be a fix already.

You can try these options :

If your startmenu is not working:
c:windowssystem32control.exe for control panel

(Settings -> Accounts -> Sign-In Options) called «Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up my device after an update or restart.».
and
open up your power options by hitting Windows+X or right-clicking your Start menu and selecting Power Options. In the Power Options window, click “Choose what the power buttons do.”
If this is the first time you’ve messed with these settings, you’ll need click “Change settings that are currently unavailable” to make the Fast Startup option available for configuration.
Scroll to the bottom of the window and you should see “Turn on fast startup (recommended),” along with other shutdown settings. Just use the check box to disable Fast Startup. Save your changes and shut down your system to test it out.

Try the powershell option:

c:windowssystem32cmd.exe to get a cmd shell.
Type powershell to activate the powershell in the cmd window.
Do a sfc /scannow to test your system files integrity.

If no error, you can try this:
copy paste this text in the cmd window with powershell active :
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml”}
It has been 7 days at least when i tried all these options since the last time i had the startmenu failure and had to restart.
I suspect that sometimes the Windows Shell Experience Host service is suspended and for some reason is not resuming and responding to key input.
But why ?
I really need an windows IT specialist for that answer. I am just a lowly electronic engineer with writing software as a hobby that is pretty good at solving problems but i have also my limits.

You can try killing the service, it will restart automatically and see if that helps.
Process explorer from sysinternals might be a good program.
Another option is process hacker.

The odd thing that worked for me, for now at least, was reading in one of the linked threads about logging out and allowing taskmanager to be closed. Then log back in and the start button works again. Odd.

It might be that something got currupted.
With fast startup, windows does not initialize verything from a fresh start.
When windows shuts down with faststartup enabled it writes a ram image to a hibernation file.
This ram image are all kinds of system files stored in ram.

My theory is that because of fast startup, windows is not initializing the system correctly for some reason because it does not do a cold boot but rather copies the image back.

There should not be a problem with using a hibernation file itself in general.
The principle is good. make a copy from ram and store it on the hdd.
When starting, copy the image back from the hdd.
Especially mechanical hard drives are good at reading in sequential data and reading in an image is a large block of sequential data.
I think that is also the reason why a separate partition is maintained for a hybernation file.
Because then there is a contiguous block of data to be read by the hdd and no fragmenting on the hdd which would tank read and write performance on an hdd.
Because the mechanical arm with heads does not have to move around and seek the data but it can just stay in one position, constantly following the track.
For an ssd with enough free flash blocks, that is not an issue. And a ssd gets trimmed on a regular interval to have contiguous blocks of free flash memory.
I think that with an ssd , fast startup is useless.
The os maintains the hibernation partition , so no problem erasing everything for a new hibernation file. No user data stored there.

Perhaps when updating or getting security fixes, the system need to properly start from scratch and load up every system file so that everything is initialized properly.
But if some variable is not intialized properly and windows after an update or patch expects a different variable or different functionality weird things can happen.
Especially when loading that system image from mass storage like hdd or ssd to ram.
I mean, if windows was bug free, we would need patches and updates.

I think you should really try to disable fast start up to see if that helps to sto pwaiting for the task manager.

After I logged out killing taskmanager, on logging back in checked for updates and had one showing as available from November. Let it install, rebooted, and no issues since.

Well ,that is good.
Seems to solve itself (albeit with some help).

I also had several updates, it may very well be that one of the microsoft updates fixed the startmenu issue i had. Because to be honest, the issue i had did not arise with every restart or cold boot up.
It is either that or one of the things i did.
It is difficult to find out what is exactly the problem when it happens not every time.

Hi, i fillow the steps (disable power saving save me from random freeze, but not starmenu stops)

But the command in Cmd give me that

Add-AppxPackage : Distribuzione non riuscita con HRESULT: 0x80073CF6, Impossibile registrare il pacchetto.
Errore 0x803E0208: errore dell’estensione elementi visivi durante l’elaborazione dell’elemento notifica.
NOTA: per ulteriori informazioni, cercare [ActivityId] 5d7d9be1-8c3e-0000-adda-7e5d3e8cd301 nel registro eventi o
utilizzare Get-AppxLog -ActivityID 5d7d9be1-8c3e-0000-adda-7e5d3e8cd301 dalla riga di comando
In riga:1 car:38
+ … | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.I …
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : WriteError: (C:Program File…ppXManifest.xml:String) [Add-AppxPackage], IOException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : DeploymentError,Microsoft.Windows.Appx.PackageManager.Commands.AddAppxPackageCommand

how i can resolve?

It seems you have a serious issue.
I have no idea to be honest.
You can try this in de command prompt with admin privileges.

Try first :
sfc /scannow
Then:
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth

I encountered a similar situation recently with a fresh install of Win10-64 1607 updated to 1709, and the Start menu stopped working properly after I installed an Alps touchpad driver which evidently wasn’t compatible with Win10. Every time I went to restart or shut down Windows, it would complain that it was waiting on taskhost.exe and wording extremely similar to ‘device install reboot required’.

Uninstalling the driver got rid of the problem.