Mixed Reality Link starts briefly and crashes immediately after Windows 11 Debloater

[TobiH0]

Problem:

After using a Windows 11 Debloater, Mixed Reality Link starts briefly but crashes immediately. As a result, it is not possible to connect to the VR headset. Before running the debloater, the program worked fine.

Expected Behavior:

Mixed Reality Link should start normally and allow a connection to the VR headset.

Actual Behavior:

Mixed Reality Link starts for a few seconds.
The program closes without any error message.
No connection to the VR headset is possible.

Steps to Reproduce:

Run a Windows 11 Debloater (e.g., a script from GitHub or a debloat tool).
Start Mixed Reality Link.
The program briefly opens and then crashes immediately.

Possible Causes:

Essential Windows services or components may have been removed or disabled.
Missing registry entries or permissions.
Unexpected changes to Mixed Reality Portal, OpenXR drivers, or other VR-related services.

Troubleshooting Attempts:

Restarted the system → Issue persists.
Reinstalled Mixed Reality Portal from the Microsoft Store → No improvement.
Reinstalled Virtual Reality Link from the Store → Issue persists.
Reinstalled VR headset drivers → No change.
Ran Windows updates → Issue still exists.

System Information:

OS: Windows 11 (with debloat modifications)
Mixed Reality Portal Version: (2000.21051.1282.0)
VR Headset: (Meta Quest 3)
GPU & Driver Version: (NVIDIA RTX 2070S, Driver 572.60)

Question:

Which Windows services or components might be causing the crash? Is there a way to restore compatibility with Mixed Reality Link without a full Windows reinstallation?

Logs or Crash Reports:

Name of the faulty application: MixedRealityLink.exe, Version: 25.2502.28003.0, Timestamp: 0x93d61780
Name of the faulty module: MixedRealityLink.exe, Version: 25.2502.28003.0, Timestamp: 0x93d61780
Exception code: 0xc0000409
Fault offset: 0x00000000000af655
ID of the faulty process: 0x5C54
Start time of the faulty application: 0x1DB90E76E78845C
Path of the faulty application: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.MixedRealityLink_25.2.28003.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\DeviceDiscovery\MixedRealityLink.exe
Path of the faulty module: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.MixedRealityLink_25.2.28003.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\DeviceDiscovery\MixedRealityLink.exe
Report ID: 9959f1a3-2dab-4c25-a157-3880ea1ab18c
Full name of the faulty package: Microsoft.MixedRealityLink_25.2.28003.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Application ID relative to the faulty package: App

EDIT:

XML-CODE:

`-

• 1001 0 4 0 0 0x8000000000000000 27392 Application OSINT
• 1710506721725354208 5 MoBEX Nicht verfügbar 0 Microsoft.MixedRealityLink_25.2.28003.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe praid:App 25.2502.28003.0 93d61780 MixedRealityLink.exe 25.2502.28003.0 93d61780 00000000000af655 c0000409 0000000000000007 \\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.b2fb7a36-8102-4092-9875-848413ab5b91.tmp.dmp \\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.fbf68104-2274-424a-9a57-2d0830afe36d.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml \\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.b8e63d73-0c74-4ea4-9c78-d0a708873c76.tmp.csv \\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.ff8470e4-968a-4ed9-9673-459ed1093a70.tmp.txt \\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER.72e9972d-528b-4d60-8383-79c3db31aa8b.tmp.xml \\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_Microsoft.MixedR_4a4c2d95dfc9624c118f9c3b9793faab33bc5bc3_97bcd6ce_4f455a36-4b80-48e7-8997-b3a6a8706569 0 f31aef05-54d0-4962-97bc-f63328539958 268435456 c9d6c2d0c7b18db557bcf0ccfe5b90e0 0 `

[Raphire]

Heya,

I don't have experience with this specific app. And I don't have a VR headset to replicate the issue, but the app seems to launch just fine on my machine where I've used Win11Debloat many times for testing.

What settings did you select when executing Win11Debloat?

There's not really any setting that the script changes that would/should impact this app. Maybe the Mixer Reality Link app requires some framework that was removed by the script, but that would require you to manually select them.

I do see you've already attempted the common troubleshooting steps. The only other thing I can think of is resetting the app via the Settings app. For this, open Settings. Then navigate to Apps > Installed apps > Mixed Reality Link and hit Reset.

[TobiH0]

Hey Raphire,

Thanks a lot for your tip and the quick response! I really appreciate your help.

Unfortunately, resetting and repairing the app didn’t resolve the issue. Mixed Reality Link is still behaving the same way as before.

Do you have any other suggestions on what I could try or any logs that might help diagnose the problem? A full Windows 11 reinstallation is unfortunately not an option at the moment.

Thanks again for your time!

[Raphire]

@TobiH0 do you remember what settings you selected when executing Win11Debloat? That might help point us in a direction.

Only other thing I can think of right now is running sfc /scannow in powershell to check for any corrupted/missing Windows components.

[AshleighTheCutie]

Note that WMR (which mixed Reality Portal is a part of regardless of the headset) has been killed by Microsoft very recently, and is no longer supported. In a few updates from now, the underlying systems it uses will be stripped out. I had a problem with my WMR headset on Windows 10 and the only fix was to revert the last update and then disable updates.