Many persistent errors in Event Viewer after Windows 11 build 22598.ni_release.220408-1503: "Autopilot.dll wil error was reported"

Question

I used to be part of the the Windows 11 Insider Beta channel. After updating to build 22598.ni_release.220408-1503 I began to see the same error in Event Viewer extremely frequently:

The errors are all the same and read as follows:

Autopilot.dll WIL error was reported.

HRESULT: 0x80070491

File: onecoreuap\admin\moderndeployment\autopilot\dll\dllmain.cpp, line 128

Message: NULL

I have never used any program called Autopilot or Modern Deployment. After seeing this problem I immediately left the insider program and am now queued for enrollment. However no new Windows update has happened and these errors persist. How do I prevent these errors?

Answer 1

Boot windows in to safe mode and delete the following file

dllmain.cpp

from *onecoreuap\admin\moderndeployment\autopilot\dll* folder

Restart windows.

Answer 2

In which parent directory is onecoreuap located? I can't find it on my C drive under Windows, Program Files, Program Files (x86), etc. I also checked for a hidden folders but came up empty. Please specify full path to the file we need to delete. Thanks.

Answer 3

In my case, I have traced the error to the service Microsoft Account Sign-in Assistant. In the Event Viewer, if you open the Details tab and expand System, you will see the PID associated with the event. Then look for that PID in Task Manager, Services tab. The service is manually triggered and stops after a brief period of time, so you have to search for the PID shortly after the event is logged or the service stops and the PID disappears. If you manually Start the service when it is Stopped, you can spawn the event and a new PID logged by the event will associate with the service.

So far, the only service I have seen associated with the event is the Microsoft Account Sign-in Assistant, so it seems to be the exclusive cause of the error. I have not been able to determine the Why? The PID keeps changing each time the service is restarted.

The service executable path is C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs -p

The folders in the file path shown in the event log are not found within the file system on the machine. I believe the Null error in the event log is just identifying the instance where the service is making a call to a file path that does not exist. Why the service is making that call is likely a coding error that a user can't fix.

Answer 4

Disabling the Microsoft Account Sign-in Assistant does indeed stop the Autopilot DLL error completely, but if you are using the Outlook Calendar widget or Phone Link app those apps will no be able to connect to your account. It appears that the Assistant performs an important authentication step that allows those apps to function.

Since I do find these apps convenient on my Windows 11 desktop system, I'll plan to keep the service on manual rather than worrying about the error in Event Viewer. Hopefully, Microsoft will solve the root cause of the error in an upcoming release.