Xbox Game Bar stopped working (hangs) and even a Windows upgrade can't fix that

Question

Xbox Game Bar used to work some (hmm... long) time ago, and it won't start anymore. It hangs according to the event viewer. That condition started maybe 2 years ago... long time anyway. It "survived" in place upgrade (to the same version) and I guess 2 upgrades to a new version of Windows 10. Those upgrades are supposed to make Windows pretty much clean, but obviously weren't able to fix the Game Bar hang.

The event viewer data is as follows:

The program GameBar.exe version 5.823.3261.0 stopped interacting with Windows and was closed. To see if more information about the problem is available, check the problem history in the Security and Maintenance control panel.

Process ID: 6300

Start Time: 01d97f0afbd1172a

Termination Time: 4294967295

Application Path: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay_5.823.3261.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\GameBar.exe

Report Id: 7263091c-7c48-4b6c-9acc-9de9f61424f8

Faulting package full name: Microsoft.XboxGamingOverlay_5.823.3261.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

Faulting package-relative application ID: App

Hang type: Navigation

Windows version is 10 Pro 22H2.

How can I fix that Game Bar hang issue?

Answer 1

Hello there,

Have you made any recent updates that you are aware of on this device? If so try uninstalling them and check if this sorts out the issue

You can make a registry tweak and see if that helps and make sure you made an restore points.

Browse to the path below:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/GameDVR

Then, right-click the AppCaptureEnabled DWORD and select Modify.

If the DWORD’s value is 0, enter 1 in the Value data text box.

Now, navigate to GameConfigStore.

Right-click the GameDVR_Enabled DWORD and select Modify from the context menu to open the window below.

Enter 1 in the Value data text box if its current value is 0.

Restart Windows and press the Game bar hotkey.

Hope this resolves your Query !!

--If the reply is helpful, please Upvote and Accept it as an answer–

Answer 2

Hi. As I've said, this happened a long time ago, so I don't have any circumstances surrounding the time that Game Bar stopped working.

Anyway, there was no DWORD (or any other) value named AppCaptureEnabled under GameDVR key, so I've created one with a value of 1. You didn't specify the path to GameConfigStore key so I've found it under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\System. It already had DWORD value GameDVR_Enabled set to 1.

Well, that didn't fix the issue. I'm already running the system in almost clean state trying to troubleshoot a game pausing issue, so almost all non-Microsoft services are disabled and most background programs prevented from starting. I thought that the Game Bar issue may be related, so I've posted the question here.