Solved: Several Windows 8 Apps do not start

Yesterday, I was trying out some of the new apps that became available after the official Windows 8 launch last week. The 2 apps that I was looking for was Lync and Skype. So, off to the Windows 8 store, a small search and a few seconds later I had the apps.

Only there was one small problem. Not one of the apps was able to start correctly. After clicking (no touch on my corp machine) on the Lync and Skype tiles, the application started, but after 1 or 2 seconds, I was returned to my start screen. When I looked at the event log, I found the following traces:

Faulting application name: LyncMX.exe, version: 15.0.4420.1019, time stamp: 0x5081db0b
Faulting module name: MSVCR110.dll, version: 11.0.50727.1, time stamp: 0x5011a017
Exception code: 0xc0000409
Fault offset: 0x0000000000073904
Faulting process id: 0x1074
Faulting application start time: 0x01cdb42470d7214f
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.LyncMX_15.0.4420.1019_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\LyncMX.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.VCLibs.110.00_11.0.50727.1_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\MSVCR110.dll
Report Id: af695463-2017-11e2-b328-ec55f9dcecbb
Faulting package full name: Microsoft.LyncMX_15.0.4420.1019_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Faulting package-relative application ID: Microsoft.LyncMX

And also (caused because the app was in a ‘lost’ state)

App Microsoft.LyncMX_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.LyncMX did not launch within its allotted time.

That’s quite annoying, but I found the solution. The main reason that several apps don’t work is the fact that I’m actually running Windows 8 N (Enterprise). Let me quote from the Microsoft website what this ‘N’ is all about:

Windows 8 N editions have been designed to give you most of the features of Windows 8—with the addition of choice. There are three Windows 8 N editions: Windows 8 N, Windows 8 Pro N, and Windows 8 Pro Pack N. The N editions of Windows 8 allow you to choose your own media player and software required to manage and play CDs, DVDs, and other digital media files. If you choose to use Windows Media Player 12, downloading it, along with related software, is free. Windows 8 N editions are available for customers who live in countries that are part of the European Economic Area, Croatia, and Switzerland.

For one reason or another, the 2 apps that I tried do need some media features that are not there with Windows 8 N. So all I had to do was download the required media things. Microsoft actually provides a ‘Media Features Pack For Windows 8 N‘. You can download the installer here. After installing this package (and a reboot!) my apps were just running fine.

Have fun with Windows 8! Thanks for reading.

Note: I don’t have any experience with Windows 8 development, but perhaps, developers, could you please add a check on the App launch to find out if the required components are available on the system? Would be awesome!