Ask a new question

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS For the 'Host Process for Windows Tasks' - Taskhostw.exe Stopped Working - Event ID 1000

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS FOR THE 'HOST PROCESS FOR WINDOWS TASKS' CRITICAL EVENT IN RELIABILITY MONITOR

UPDATED - 27 July 2019

(Solution FIVE added, Section d added)

UPDATED - 2 August 2019

(In Conclusion added)

The Faulting Application Path is C:\Windows\System32\taskhostw.exe
The Application Name is taskhostw.exe
The Fault Module Name is unbcl.dll

Event ID 1000

Windows 10 - Version 1903


.oOo.

This has been partly taken from the Thread 'Host Process For Windows Taskhostw.exe Stopped Working: Event ID 1000' found here that DonT5 began on June 19 2019.

It appears that a great many individuals are experiencing the same repeated errors in Reliability Monitor but, as of yet, Microsoft have not provided a solution to my knowledge. This is an attempt to collate all the solutions that appear to have worked for people over the course of our discussions and bring them in to one place for ease of access, a 'digest' of solutions.

Some of these have worked for individuals and not for others - perhaps, sometimes, it's a few errors that need resolving and so the multitude of fixes is required. A couple of these may be putting right problems that are not related to the 'Host' error.

I am not overly technically minded so these instructions may seem simplistic but I have attempted to collate everything that we - and others - have tried, some of which are claimed to have worked (and which seem fairly safe to give a go).

It would be best if you read each solution first before attempting it to make sure you're happy with what you will be doing to your computer.

ONE

1. In the Search Window, type 'Powershell' until you get 'Windows Powershell'. Then right click on 'Windows Powershell' and left click on 'Run as Administrator'. When you get the command line, paste in or type the command (pay attention to the space):

sfc /scannow

The system is scanned. Once it completes, the new error we got was that there were problems that could not be resolved. It gives you a Windows path to a log (CBS.log) where it's been recorded. Go there and open the log file. At the very bottom of the text and scrolling up, you should see numerous errors relating to Windows Defender, stating that the back up image was also corrupt and could not over-write the problem files.

If that's the problem, then proceed with the following.

2. In the Serach Window, type 'Command Prompt' until you get 'Command Prompt'. Then right click on 'Command Prompt' and left click on 'Run as Administrator'. When you get the command line, paste in or type each of the commands, one by one, and let each one run to completion before beginning the next (again, pay attention to the spaces). Some of the processes seem to 'hang' after 100% is reached but be patient and wait:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

This is telling the computer to use the online resources to clean up the system image that Powershell/scannow has just tried to use.

It take a few seconds for the percentage counter to begin. When it ends at 100%, WAIT. It looks like it's frozen but it will take a few minutes before it tells you that the process has been completed and a new command prompt appears (like it was in the beginning).

Close the window when completed.

3. WAIT a few minutes (some posters stated that they had to wait before the next would work. I have no idea why).

4. Now repeat point 1, EXCEPT that, at the end of the process, you should get a statement that the files were repaired/over-written.

5. Reboot the computer.

6. Run scannow once more and, this time, there should be nothing found.

This seems a strange way to resolve the original problem but it will resolve the problem with the Windows Defender files and scannow function. We observed this problem around a week after the original Host errors began.

Advice from Microsoft was to run with the error until a system update was released (which, at the time of writing, looks like it's still awaiting release). We never found that advice until after we'd fixed it!

TWO

Go to Event Viewer (Windows Key + X) then Windows Logs (on the left) and Application. Scroll down (in the middle) and see if you're getting ESENT errors (red circle, white x) with the ID Code 455.

If you are, go and find out the very first Host error you got and then go and see if the first ESENT error you got was within 12-24 hours prior to that time and date. There should be no Host errors prior to the first ESENT error.

I also looked at what .dlls taskhostw.exe accesses and one of them is the ESENT.dll - that's what made the connection with us at first. So, the solution to rectify the ESENT errors (and, hopefully, the Host errors, too):

Go to Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\
Create the folder TileDataLayer then inside that folder create Database folder.
In effect, you've just made the directory (pay attention to the capitalisation):
C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\TileDataLayer\Database

The ESENT errors should stop immediately. A person who found the Windows Defender solution had worked, noted that the files were already present at the time of the scannow run *but* that the system modified one of the folders as part of that resolution. We thought that this could be why the solution worked for him but not for us.

THREE

A few people are suggesting that the problem is with .Net Framework (which is stated as being unable to be uninstalled in Windows 10. This isn't quite true as .Net Framework 3.5 can be while the current version as I type this is 4.8 and that cannot). Some have found this to be a solution, though.

In the search window, begin to type 'Turn Windows Features On or Off' and then select it.
Uncheck .Net framework 4.8 Advanced Services and allow the computer to make the changes.
Reboot. Recheck the item.

It's just a switch off and on again but - what the heck? - it's worth a go.

I tried something a bit different (and I doubt if it worked) - and it was also a tad dangerous. But, when you get to the check box as specified above, there is also a box for 3.5.

1. I accessed this Microsoft site and downloaded the Windows 7 utility that repairs .NET Framework. I expect that this repairs .Net Framework 3.5 but I wouldn't recommend using it - I am just recording the fact that I used it.

2. So, after repairing it, I uninstalled it - pretty stupid but that's exactly what I did.
In "Turn Windows features on or off" which is located in 'Programs and Features', untick both .Net Frameworks, then reboot. This uninstalls 3.5 but just switches 4.8 off.
I would have left it like this but something (undisclosed) needed 3.5 to run so I gave permission for it to be reinstalled. I left 4.8 unticked, though
(from here).

Again, there was no evidence that this worked in my own experience - but problems with .Net Framework have been suggested as being the cause and a couple of users elsewhere stated that this worked.

FOUR

One day (in a far away galaxy), I went back again to work out what I was doing when the Host error occurred. My Google History showed me that I'd just accessed an article to read 6 minutes prior - I had started to scroll through the first few paragraphs reading when the wife called me in to look at an error she was getting on her regular data back ups (more on that in a minute).

Five minutes after that, my Screen Saver kicked in and that's when the Host error took place. Now, my Screen Saver accesses a file in the Windows Directory that needs permission to copy in or delete from.

My wife's error, on the other hand, was just plain weird - it was the very same directory that my Screen Saver accesses (but on her computer, not mine) and it was the first time that that source of photos had been written to or deleted from for a fair few weeks - since before the Host errors had started occurring.

She got no sensible error message from the program but I copied the files manually to resolve the issue and the back up worked (albeit with no changes). It was only when I saw my error message at the time my Screensaver kicked in that I realised that the same folder could be responsible (access to a folder that has administrative permissions needed).

So, I stopped the Screensaver from starting up and made the computer switch the screen off after 5 minutes instead, going to Sleep after 15 minutes.

But I got another Host error two days later after 5 minutes when the screen switched off so I altered it to never switch off and kept it going to Sleep after 15.

Updated 27 July 2019 - This wasn't the final solution for me and may have been related to the solution under 'Five' below. It certainly was a solution of sorts as I was able to make the Host error occur even when my email client wasn't logging on to an Internet Server to retrieve email.

FIVE

One of the other events I noticed in Event Viewer was again related to bringing the computers out of Sleep.

I took note of when the errors were occurring in Windows Logs/Application to the exact second and then went to the Security events and scrolled down to find the exact date and time of the error to see if there was a logon there.

Each time there was (when the error in Application stood alone), there was a two line record - a 'Logon' and a 'Special Logon' with the same time.

Double-clicking on the 'Logon' line brought up more detail but the interesting line for me was:

Logon Process: Advapi

If I understand it right, Advapi Logon has to do with a connection being made on the Internet from the Computer - and, although it could have been guilt by association, that there was a logon being attempted when the Host error was occuring - and at the same time as bringing the computer out of sleep/logging on - I hunted around for anything that was programmed to do this (as you will need to do).

I have an offline email client that retrieves email at preset times. When that period of time has elapsed while the computer is asleep, it will go online immediately the computer wakes up - and before I've logged on.

So, I switched off the automatic email retrieval and started to perform it manually. But, two days later, the errors were back but, again, there were logons that occurred at the exact time the Host errors were popping up, suggesting that a logon associated with a website was responsible. From here, I jumped straight to the method used in 'In Conclusion'.

.oOo.

Other remedial action taken at some point in time during the above but I can't remember when:


a. Broken links to .dlls in the Registry can also throw up errors so I used a Registry Cleaner (Cache Cleaner) to rid myself of broken paths to files and programs that didn't exist. There were no references to the .dll file in the Registry - and there weren't any in the lines of code that were removed by Cache Cleaner.

b. Each and every time my wife's computer came out of hibernation one evening (after we had performed solution four above), the same Host error was popping up. It didn't seem to be associated with anything else so I changed the power plan not to include a Hibernation Option and the error messages stopped occurring that evening. These Host errors had occurred after having removed 'Turn On Fast Start Up' in the Power Settings (this was a different problem she was having with her battery life). The Host errors also popped up when waking from Sleep the following morning but seem to have been resolved when I turned 'Turn On Fast Start Up' back on. Some people have observed that having this 'On' is a cause of problems but I found it was being 'Off' that wasn't beneficial.

c. I noticed that, on my own computer, the NVIDIA and Intel Display drivers were way out of date and had not been automatically updated by the manufacturer's update program for a long time. The old ones were uninstalled and the new ones installed, not over-written. It has been suggested that out of date drivers could be the source of the Host errors.

d. One user noticed that a Host error was prompted when Maintenance was run manually. This is located in the old Control Panel under 'Security and Maintenance'. You need to open the Maintenance section and click on 'Start Maintenance'. I did this a couple of times and, although I did get a Host error, it was always as a result of a .NET Runtime (.NET Framework) error, occuring at the same time. When Maintenance next ran automatically, it didn't throw up any Host - or .NET Runtime - error but I had attempted some further remedial work on .Net Framework (a variation of what's been recorded above) prior to that run.


.oOo.

It appears that either there are various solutions to the problem that people have been getting, various problems that need resolving or it could be that a solution has been assumed when one of the remedial actions has been tried (and either the trigger has not been pulled afterwards or something else minor was done that has actually sorted out the problem).

I have not seen anything recorded from Microsoft to acknowledge that there's a problem - even though there are a great many posts in different places outlining this error in reliability Monitor.

IN CONCLUSION


Although some of the above processes have worked for users, I admitted defeat! It could've gone on forever. 

In the end, I took the advice of a fellow user (Bouwplaats who's posted below) who had run the Media Creation Tool, using the 'Create Windows 10 installation media' option and clicking on the 'Download Tool Now' button.

The option to choose is 'Install Windows 10 Pro' (Pro is the version I use, yours will specify whichever version you run) and accept both 'Install Windows 10 Pro' and 'Keep personal files and apps' (which are both ticked by default).

I was rather cynical when he told me that the process changed nothing except the Operating System so I put aside a full day to set up the computer from scratch, having backed everything up. But, like he said, it did only sort the OS out and touched nothing else.

As I type this, the computer has been free from Host errors for 5 days and the wife's has had no Host errors for 2 days.

The ESENT folders still had to be remade (TWO above) - and the Windows Defender errors also came back with the first run of scannow (ONE above). The update also left my desktop devoid of Wallpaper but that was easily rectified.

If you want the ultimate solution to this problem, it makes most sense to use the MCT, after having backed *everything* up and put aside the time needed in case it goes very badly wrong. The use of the Media Creation Tool also sorted out some additional errors I was getting that sfc /scannow had been unable to identify and put right.


Lee

6 people found this helpful

Was this discussion helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this discussion?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this discussion?

Thanks for your feedback.

Hello Lee,

Thanks for your effort in trying to solve this problem. I actually followed you here from tenforums while browsing the internet to solve this.

As I'm Dutch I hope you'll be able to understand my bad English.

I'm using a desktop with W10pro V1903, build 18362.239. All drivers up-to-date both checking in Windows and manufactorers.

Turned off absolutely everything in powersettings.

None of the mentioned solutions worked for me, except for the ESENT errors in the logs. It did give me 3 VSS errors, but they didn't return.

I would like to let you know that I've also taken own of the taskhostw and gave full control to all groups and system. I also have sucesfully reregisterd the certificate for the unbcl.dll, but nothing has worked out for me yet.

You don't have to wait 2-3 days: In security&maintenance you can manually start maintenance. This will trigger the error.

Best regards,

Martin.

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Hi, Martin,

Thanks for your post. I am pretty sure that the Power problems I mentioned in my first post did trigger some of the errors - cos I was logging off/on, sleep, hibernation and they were popping up as I did it.

However, I got more Host errors this afternoon - so that wasn't a final solution for me.

I have noticed, however, that there are Advapi (web logons) at the exact time that the Host errors take place in Windows Logs/Security. So I'm looking in to that at the moment. The logons occur more frequently than the Host errors but one is always associated with an error on my computer.

I'm intrigues by running 'Maintenance' (which I've just started as I types the reply here). If that's triggering it, what exactly does Maintenance do?

Lee

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Here's some information about  automatic maintenance
I guess the taskhost does more applications however.

Whenever I manually start maintenance and open windows logs(applications) after a few sec, I see 2 errors.

In security logs notting special. All user account manager &  logon/special logon wich are most likely caused by approving as admin I guess.

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Here's some information about  automatic maintenance

Thanks - I shall read that tomorrow.

I noticed that the other error (which occurs one second later) refers to .Net Runtime and cites the same taskhostw.exe. These errors confuse me - Framework Version 4.0.30319 ?!!!

I have 3.5 and 4.8 but where does 4.0 come from ?!!

Anyway, I must go a cut some zeds...

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Yes very strange. In the link I posted earlier somehow the tasksheduler got my attention.

Opening tasksheduler & dropdown library > microsoft > windows is where I found the same .net frameworkversion you mentioned. So I deleted all tasks in the center screen and after that I deleted the entire folder in the left part of the taskshedulerscreen.

After a restart & manual maintenance I only get 1 error.

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

It seems to me that, by running Maintenance manually (I've just read your link), we are forcing the computer in to an error that's somehow associated with .NET Framework and taskhostw.exe.

I have no idea where the fault lies but that taskhostw.exe raises its head again makes me suspicious. It doesn't appear along with a Logon/Special Logon line

This doesn't seem to be the same reason for the other errors, though, as they don't usually pop up alongside a. NET Runtime error.

I'm tempted to think that these are two separately generated errors.

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

Well, I Always make a system copy, so I'm not holding back on experimenting.

At this point I really think that maintenance triggers all tasks in tasksheduler.

No matter what I tried the errors kept on coming back.

I was ready to give up and just let it be, but instead of returning to the systemcopy I tried a semi-clean install by using the media creation tool. Wow: this one has much improved. It automaticly checks the reservation of files & settings and after installing it was like nothing had changed. Even Bitdefender, live mail & other apps worked like nothing had happened.

All the errors stay away. Even the ESENT errors stay away, while the folder I created for this problem is no longer there. The strange .net-version is back in taskhedular, but it didn't bring up any errors so far.

Great! (?) 

Was this reply helpful?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback.

 
 

Discussion Info

Last updated April 18, 2025 Views 2,530 Applies to: