Issue with game pass installs when migrating drives

markff(2) · Nov 25, 2020

Hey, I'm posting here because I can't seem to find anywhere to submit a bug report for Game Pass.

I recently migrated to a larger SSD:

- I cloned my existing D: drive onto a new one (assigned E via USB, using Macrium Reflect

- Swapped out the SATA connections

- Reassigned the new SSD as D:

This included cloning the WindowsApps install folder for Game Pass, however, it left all my installs in a weird state.

- Games that had been installed on the old drive would no longer launch, and had to be reinstalled.

- Age of Empires II + Enhanced Graphics Pack would not uninstall, so I couldn't fix it
or recover the install space.

I'm not really a fan of this mystery-box permission-gated install folder where I have no visibility on what files are in there, but hey-ho I can't imagine that's going to change that any time soon.

:)

Obsessive Power

The only way to check how much apps are using in Windows is to do so via
Settings > Apps and finding your game in the list. I don't believe third party applications can give you this information as they won't be allowed permission to read the contents of the WindowsApps folders.

Now I can understand why they did this for Windows Store Apps as it's a protection system. It sandboxes them. This prevents a rogue app from taking control of the PC. Being that Windows is biggest OS in the world, Microsoft would be very keen to avoid rogue
apps. But sandboxing everything, even from the big developers/publishers is a very strange way to go about it.

markff(2)

Thanks for the reply. Is there any way to identify how much space the folder is even taking up? I guess I'd just like to make sure that it actually uninstalled AoE II without having to delete everything in the process!

markff(2)

To provide a little more info, some games do nothing when I click play in the game pass app, or try the desktop shortcut.

Others will begin to open or show a launcher and then display this error popup:

{GAME NAME} can’t open because it is offline. The storage device might be missing or disconnected.

Obsessive Power

Hi,

It's not a bug.

As terrible as it is, it is how it is meant to function. An awful design choice. Basically the 'WindowsApps' folders no matter what drive they're on can not be moved, copied or cloned. They're encrypted and moving them somehow breaks this encryption.

This is for all Windows Apps, not just GamePass. PC GamePass app is just a portal anyway, all games are installed via the Windows Store.

GreenJeans1

None of the above solve the issue. Games currently Installed on the external drive work. Unless they need an update. They can not be updated. New games can not be installed to external drives in the xpack enclosure. Apps seem install with no issue. Games
can not be migrated to or from the external drive as well. Apps migrate with no issue. The issue seems to be related to the xpack external enclosure. It seems to have stopped working after the Feb update. Prior to this games installed updated and transfered
with no issues using the xpack enclosure.

Issue with game pass installs when migrating drives