wsl: WSL installation seems to be corrupted (error code: Wsl/CallMsi/Install/REGDB_E_CLASSNOTREG).

[llzzzzoo]

Windows Version

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26100.3194]

WSL Version

0.0.0.0

Are you using WSL 1 or WSL 2?

• WSL 2
• WSL 1

Kernel Version

No response

Distro Version

No response

Other Software

No response

Repro Steps

1. Environment

I have downloaded wsl in the Microsoft Store. Here are the files in C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\MicrosoftCorporationII.WindowsSubsystemForLinux_2.4.11.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe

Here is my registry.

I don't have these.

• 计算机\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Drive\shell\WSL

• 计算机\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\shell\WSL

And I refer to DS's advice and proceed as follows

1. Modify the registry

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\Background\shell\WSL]
@="Open WSL Here"
"Icon"="C:\\Windows\\System32\\wsl.exe"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\Background\shell\WSL\command]
@="wsl.exe --cd \"%V\""

2. The following commands were entered in PowerShell

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart
sfc /scannow
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

And restart my PC

3. I have cleaned up %windir%\System32\lxss folder manually and removed WSL-related packages (e.g. CanonicalGroupLimited.Ubuntu*) from %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Packages.

Expected Behavior

After inputting wsl in PowerShell, it won't appear as below.

Actual Behavior

Three attempts

1. In PowerShell
   After inputting wsl in PowerShell, it appears as below.

2. In msi

3. Reference to an issue

Diagnostic Logs

This log shows me typing wsl into powershell 7.0 until I get the result shown in the image below.

WslLogs-2025-02-23_14-08-28.zip

[llzzzzoo]

It's been a week and I still can't solve this problem, programming is a long way off!

[github-actions]

Diagnostic information

.wslconfig found
Detected appx version: 2.4.11.0

[llzzzzoo]

Anyone else have the same problem?

[shaojunjie0912]

same

[devpresleycobb]

I was able to fix this with the following commands:

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart
dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart
wsl --set-default-version 2

reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-manual

[llzzzzoo]

I was able to fix this with the following commands:

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux /all /norestart dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart wsl --set-default-version 2

reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-manual

In the registry, I find my wsl version is 2.

I tried this method, but it can't work.

[shaojunjie0912]

This is really a terrible issue. It appeared out of nowhere, with no warning, and it's really frustrating. I just ran wsl --update, and I didn't do anything else.

[OneBlue]

Based out the output it's looking like the installer can't write the registry to configure WSL. Do you have any security program / AV running that could block WSL ?

Also let's try to look at the MSI log. Can you download the latest MSI and then run as elevated:

msiexec /i /path/to/msi /l*vx C:\wsllogs.txt

And share the content of C:\wsllogs.txt ?

[llzzzzoo]

I have Windows Defender and Kaspersky. After I closed Kaspersky, it still cannot work.
wsllogs.txt

[OneBlue]

Interesting. Looking through the logs, this appears to be the root cause:

MSI (s) (30:1C) [18:37:08:751]: Note: 1: 1401 2: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\Background\shell\WSL 3: 5 
MSI (s) (30:1C) [18:37:08:751]: Note: 1: 2205 2:  3: Error 
MSI (s) (30:1C) [18:37:08:752]: Note: 1: 2228 2:  3: Error 4: SELECT `Message` FROM `Error` WHERE `Error` = 1406 
MSI (c) (E4:C8) [18:37:08:760]: Font created.  Charset: Req=1, Ret=134, Font: Req=, Ret=宋体

Can you check if HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Directory\Background\shell exists, and if so what its permissions are ? Based on the error code, it looks like the permissions are the issue

[llzzzzoo]

1. Exist.

2. Its permission is SYSTEM

[llzzzzoo]

Anything else I can do?