New version breaks installing the OS on an SSD

Hi Tom

yes i have tried to change the default storage device and that didn't work i have 4 drives:

Main HDD (C

HDD 2 (A

SSD 1 (D

SSD 2 (B

All the games that are installed on the Main HDD which has the OS installed and I'm trying to install the new games on HDD 2 and its not working but other games are on there okay and i did what you suggested and it still did not work, the only drive I have space on is the (A drive. My windows version is 22H2 (OS Build 19045.3324)

Windows Version 22H2 (OS build 19045.3448)



Hardware changes:

Changed from Intel to AMD. Everything is new except for SSD with WINDOWS in it(Did a windows reset ).

Microsoft went the route of encrypted folders for the games, this is encrypted to that one install of the OS, if you re-install the OS then this breaks the encryption and all games must be downloaded again. steam allows you to access the games folders, Microsoft does not, this is Microsoft version of DRM.

Just a quick update. I re-imaged the laptop and installed an SSD drive in it and got the OS updated. I noticed the Xbox app is now a new version - 11.12.9011.00000. However the 40 second problem persists. Another issue that just got added is most of
the time, the keyboard shortcuts don't work, default or custom.

Well, I seem to have solved this issue for myself. I actually tried to get MS support but they bounced me around different departments 4-5 times and then after a 30 minute hold, I was disconnected.

Posting here to for anyone who finds it useful in the future.

The only commonality that I found between my two computers with this issue is that they use a SSD for game installs that is not the same as the one that the OS and xbox app run on.

After updating to Windows 11, something about this caused issues for the xbox app. I had some suspicions about this given the text of the error. When I looked into it, Windows/xbox app were now set up to use the SSD that the OS is not (not my gaming SSD) for game and app installs. The games had previously been installed on the gaming SSD. I tried changing back to the gaming SSD but it did not solve the issue (in Settings > System > Storage > Advanced Storage > "Where new content is saved").

Despite being set up to use the OS SSD, the xbox app didn't seem to be writing to it or was unable to connect to it. I could even see that it files in the xbox games folder in the gaming SSD were still being updated somehow based on the file timestamps.

It was as if no matter what I changed, the xbox app was trying to work with the old gaming SSD. So I formatted the old gaming SSD. In the time while it was formatting, the error in the xbox app went away. And as soon as the format was done and the drive was back online, the error came back. Also, the xbox app immediately starting making folders in the SSD that I had just formatted. So regardless of what I changed, it was always trying to use the gaming SSD.

Next I turned off the PC and physically unplugged the gaming SSD. Again, with that SSD gone, the error went away. I plugged it back in and the error came back. Even when it was unplugged and the error was gone, it would not allow me to download games on the OS SSD (it would just put downloads into Pending). During this time I reinstalled the xbox app, gaming services, etc to try to break its obsession with the old gaming SSD. I found an article that pointed me toward registry entries to see where Windows was set up to install apps and games and it said the OS SSD but it would never write there.

So finally I reinstalled the OS on the OS SSD without the Gaming SSD plugged in. From there I was able to use the xbox app without the error and download games to the OS SSD. I plugged in the gaming SSD, formatted it and now I'll use it for Steam, Battle.net, etc but for whatever reason I can not use it with the xbox app without getting the error.

To summarize:

• The issue for me related to games being installed on a different drive from Windows/xbox.
  
• Removing the gaming SSD cleared the error but I still couldn't download games to any drive.
  
• The only way I could get windows to switch to a different drive was an OS reinstall.
  
• I dare not try to use a separate SSD for xbox app games again.