14 DAY TRIAL // A number of users running Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (version 1709) and installing the Spotify app from the Microsoft Store are complaining that they’re hitting a pretty odd error on their systems, as the app appears to break down Windows Restore.
Posts published on Microsoft’s Community forums indicate that the problem was first experienced in November last year, though it’s not yet clear if the timing coincides with the release of a Spotify update or a specific Windows 10 cumulative update leading to such issues.
“System Restore did not complete successfully. Your computer’s system files and settings were not changed,” the error message reads, in addition to an error code that points to the Spotify app as the culprit.
No workaround at this point
Microsoft engineers have already joined the discussion and recommended various workarounds, including restoring the system from Safe Mode, but this doesn’t appear to make any difference. Instead, System Restore is completely broken, and the only solution is probably to completely remove the Spotify app installed from the Microsoft Store.
While Spotify is also available from the web, this problem experienced with the Microsoft Store raises questions as to how much trouble a UWP app can cause on a Windows 10 system.
Centennial apps, which are ported from Win32 to the Microsoft Store, include code that previously provided them with access to areas of the operating systems that native Store apps wouldn’t actually require, and this could be one of the reasons such issues are more likely.
Microsoft is still working on a fix at the time of writing this article, and a future cumulative update could address the problem, though right now not much can be done except for removing the Spotify app completely. And without a doubt, this isn’t exactly Microsoft’s cup of tea given how hard the company is working to push users to Microsoft Store apps.