Error 0x8007042b and cannot add new user accounts in settings (WinINETCache)

[sabihoshi]

Information

Windows 10 Pro x64 v2004 Build 19041.329

Steps used in order:

1. Disable Telemetry/Tasks
2. Remove Bloatware Regkeys
3. Remove Bloatware with customized blacklist (I actually had no customized list, so it used the default. Nothing this just if it makes a difference.)

Story

This is an issue that I'm not aware of what the entire cause of it, but I will try to describe the things that I did in order to figure out and fix my issues.

This error code appears whenever you try to add a mail account on Google: https://superuser.com/questions/951270/how-to-solve-error-0x8007042b-while-connecting-a-google-account-on-windows-10

I only noticed it because after using the tool, (I used the GUI), the default debloat option includes microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps which is the Mail & Calendar app. I reinstalled the application through the MS store, but I got this error when I tried to add a new google account.

The window to create a new user, add a family account, or any window that resembled the taskhostw.exe that opens whenever you open these sort of windows wouldn't work. It would open with a blank window, then close. I still could create an account through the old windows control panel by running control userpasswords2

Investigation

Some people had said with these issues that creating a new user account fixed the issue for them, but it didn't for me. I didn't want to mess with permissions yet, so I created an account, and I still had that issue. It seems like it's a different cause. I had no choice but to reset windows through the reset option in settings (choosing to keep files, local)

Initially, it did seem to work, and my issue was fixed, but after a restart, it seemed to break again. I did another reset, and made sure to keep checking here on what caused the issue, and it turns out it's from me disabling the WinINETCache/WinInetCacheServer.

WinINETCache

This cache is found at %localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows\WebCache\WebCacheV01.dat. You can view the items in here by going to %localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows\History and then "Today" and then "This PC". In there you will see the files, folders, even settings locations you have visited for that day. (what is it used for? It can get up to ~150+ mb)

I noticed this when I tried import my IE history into chrome, since I tried out Edgium for a bit, and wanted to transfer my history back to chrome now that I was finished using it. I had about ~500 files/folder links linking to my folders in my system, instead of what I expected links. It turns out it's from this webcache that IE stores.

If you inspect it with a tool like Browsing History View then inspect "Internet Explorer 11" history, you will see some weird history items such as "C:\Users..." etc. Basically they're locations in your folder, even though you've never used IE11/Edge. These items come from Windows Explorer, and they appear in this history despite them being folders, not links.

Deleting "Browsing History" from "Internet Options" does not actually delete this from the webcache, the size doesn't shrink. It doesn't appear in the browsing history, but you can still use a tool like the one mentioned earlier to inspect this file and see the things are still in there.

Disabling the WebCache

There are two steps to disabling it:

1. Go to the Task Scheduler Microsoft > Windows > Wininet and then disabling the "CacheTask"
2. Go to registry and look for the GUID containing {3eb3c877-1f16-487c-9050-104dbcd66683}. Delete this by changing permissions and assigning yourself as the owner, and setting the correct permissions. (I just renamed mine, which works as well)

The specific location in the registry is HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppID\{3eb3c877-1f16-487c-9050-104dbcd66683}, I simply appended _disabled at the end of the folder to disable it, and it disabled windows caching.

After doing that and restarting you'll find that you can now delete the forsaken WebCacheV01.dat, since it's not being used anymore, this file is really stubborn, you cannot even copy it while it's being used. And now, you'll see %localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows\History is broken, with nothing in it.

Realization

On my 3rd reset, I was about used to doing my startup tasks, but this time I did the registry edit first, renaming the folder to {3eb3c877-1f16-487c-9050-104dbcd66683}_disabled and without running the debloater tool, I found that I got this error! It turns out that disabling the WinINETCache breaks the service responsible for adding emails, or creating new local accounts as well.

Renaming it back by just removing the "_disabled" and instantly, without any restarts, it worked again. It seems like whatever debloater did + disabling WinINETCache broke this. Prior to using the tool, these options worked perfectly even if I disabled the cache service.

Conclusion

There seems to be something that was removed by the debloater tool that made disabling WinINETCache break the option to create new users, or adding a google account through Accounts > Email & Accounts > Add an account.

This used to work before, even if I had the cache disabled. Something that debloater did, and I am unsure what it is, paired along with disabling the wininetcache, causes this issue.

[sabihoshi]

I'm not sure anymore if debloater is the cause of this issue, I've tested it more times, and concluded it isn't, but purely just because of disabling the webcache.