Several Windows 10 and 11 users report that Microsoft applications like Photos or Paint 3D no longer work on their PC by displaying the error message File system error (-2147219196).
A new problem affects some Windows 10 and 11 users. This time, it is not recent updates of the operating system that are to blame, but those of several basic Windows applications, such as Photos or Paint 3D, which makes them unusable on computers with older components. In a long thread on the Microsoft help forums, several users report that some of the software built into Windows by default, such as Photos or Paint 3D, have suddenly stopped working. The offending applications either no longer launch at all, or crash a few seconds after starting, returning the following error message: File system error (-2147219196)
Initially, recent updates to Microsoft’s operating system were suspected to be the cause of the problem. But the various solutions offered to users affected by the problem, such as uninstalling updates or reinstalling a clean system from the Media Creation Tools tool, did not restore the functioning of the affected applications.
File system error (-2147219196): a library involved
Ultimately, the cause of the malfunction was identified on the side of the applications themselves. The latest versions of these software seem to use certain instructions and functions from the vclibs software library that are not supported by the hardware components of older computers: “The Visual C++ team identified the issue as a regression in the vclibs framework package that the Photos app and other applications depend on. The issue affects computers with older hardware (that do not support SSE 4.2 instructions)“Microsoft explains in a response.
This type of malfunction, called regressions, frequently occurs when updating certain programs, libraries or applications, especially in ecosystems with a wide variety of hardware configurations, such as Windows or Linux (even if MacOS is far from being spared by the phenomenon).
To improve performance, stability or offer new possibilities, applications regularly rely on new software functions as they are updated. These functions can be written directly in the application code or be found in libraries, a sort of shared toolbox from which programs on the same computer can draw software resources to carry out processing and produce a particular result.
Software libraries, like applications exposed directly to users, receive updates to offer new features, and some of these new features become incompatible with older devices. This is one of the factors of software obsolescence that we all know and which causes computers, phones or tablets, in perfect physical condition, to become almost useless because applications stop working on them at will. updates. In this case, these are probably unforeseen and unwanted regressions on the part of Microsoft. The Visual C++ development team also announces that the company is currently working to resolve the problem with a view to publishing a patch to restore the proper functioning of the applications.
If you are using a somewhat old computer with Windows 10 or 11, and you are faced with this problem, you will unfortunately have to be patient while waiting for Microsoft to correct the malfunction via application updates, which should be ‘perform automatically and without action on your part, in the case of applications integrated into Windows. In the meantime, if you really need to use certain tools from faulty Windows applications, you will have to turn to third-party software to replace them, such as VLC instead of Movies and TV or Gimp instead of Paint 3D, hoping that they do not use vclib library functions that are not compatible with your device.