Windows 10: Store error “Something went wrong”

Some Windows 10 users are facing a strong problem: They are not able to buy apps, because Windows Store reports an error "Give it another try. Something went wrong" whenever a user try to install anything. Here's a possible cure for that error.


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I was informed about that issue from a German user, but I stumbled also upon this error in several forum posts (here or here). Each attempt to buy apps, music or other content from Windows store ends with the error message "Give it another try. Something went wrong" – as shown in the screenshot below.

 

Normally I would say, it's misconfigured proxy settings or third party firewall/AV products that prevents store from purchase transactions. But there is another reason, caused be Microsoft's (lousy) Windows store implementation in Windows 10, why purchases are (probably) failing.

And the winner is? Internet options blocks purchases in Windows store

Ok, let's go to the annoying part of this story. It seems that a lousy implementation of Windows store in Windows 10 clients is the root cause for this error. To handle purchases, all Store data exchanged will be encrypted (which is a good and mandatory thing). But it seems also, that the store implementation on Windows 10 clients tries to store some data on a local disk (this is not a good idea). Because of a lousy implementation, all the user get, is a thumb notification "Something went wrong …" shown above.

Ok, what's the beef? For security reasons it's possible to block saving encrypted pages to disk in Internet options. If that option is set, Windows store fails to transact purchases, because transaction data can't be saved. If "Something went wrong …" is shown, try to use the following steps to check the Internet options.


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1. Fire up Internet Explorer, go to Settings and select Internet options (as shown above).

2. Select Advanced tab and check the option Do not save encrypted pages to disk. If that option is checked, uncheck the check box and use the OK button.

After unchecking Do not save encrypted pages to disk, try to purchase an App. The Windows store should be able to handle App purchases or other content.

The screenshot shown above asks now for a way to pay – everything is fine. What drives me nuts: It seems that "generation Facebook" is no more able to code or design in a proper way. Either they messed up the API design, so no further error details about the root cause for a store transaction error is available. Or they did a lousy implementation within the Windows store client. Dropping a message like "Give it another try. Something went wrong" is just stupid!


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20 Responses to Windows 10: Store error “Something went wrong”

  1. Jack Mullins says:

    Am I in any danger now that encrypted data can be saved to my disk? Should I only turn it off when I need to make a store purchase?

    Thank you for posting this fix. I was pulling my hair out over it.

    Best,
    J

    • guenni says:

      I don't think you are in danger. It's only a "good policy" to avoid saving encrypted data (because data not stored can't be stolen/hacked).

  2. Günter Born says:

    Update: Ok, I got a clue what went wrong. Microsoft uses COM service to handle purchases – and it seems that this service fails to write encrypted data. But the odd thing: Obviously there isn't a mechanism to return detailled error description to the caller, so the "something happended" message is shown.

  3. Rob Brown says:

    Thank you ! This has been driving me nuts for weeks as all other "fixes" failed

  4. cheryl campbell says:

    Thank you!! This worked for me

  5. CJ says:

    Mine was already unchecked :(

    Maybe there are other settings that could be causing problems?

  6. Shahzad Ansari says:

    Worked like a Charm…Thanks

    I am surprised that MS app store doesn't have detailed error message and suggestion on how to resolve it. since this is a default option in MS Edge (at least I don't remember changing it).

    One other thing… there is no option (that I could see) to get any sort of help from MS. I had to go searching for this on MS Community where I saw your blog mentioned. I would've given up after first 10 tries and gotten the game from steam if it was available there.

    • guenni says:

      I guess it has something to to with the fact, that some things are provided as a service in Windows. If the service fails, the store can't acquire a detailled error description. But: It's a wrong architecture design at all …

  7. Larry Cunningham says:

    Nope. That option was already unchecked, and at least in my case has nothing to do with my being unable to use the Microsoft Store.

  8. carlmacek says:

    For me this option was not checked, I tried enabling it and disabling it again, and same message

    Give it another try

    Something went wrong.
    zwSKseBxU02wHU4n.25.2
    2016/03/10 – 09:37:21 UTC

  9. Mary says:

    Thanks a lot! I've been tryin to fix this problem for weeks and now its gone.

  10. Muthu Kumar says:

    You are a Genius

  11. zoppy says:

    Yeah, you are really a genius! Thank you very, very much!!!

  12. Thanks says:

    This worked for me Thanks.

  13. Bob says:

    THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

    WORKS FOR ME!!!!

  14. Amith Mathilakath says:

    wooohoooo..Thanks man. worked here!!!!

  15. Jessica Parkyn says:

    I really like the basic calendar, but I want to upgrade and cannot do it. I have done exactly what was stated and it did not work. I just don't know what else to do. I have a fairly new computer with windows 10. Is there anything else I could try?

    • guenni says:

      There are to many reasons, why it fails – without a detailled analysis, it's probably not possible to find the reason. Try to ask your issue within Microsoft Answers Forum.

  16. L.P. Baron says:

    Most likely you could not log into your MS acct.
    Please double check IF your "Microsoft Account Sign-in Assistant" service is NOT disable. (Under "Computer Management/Services" ).
    That will fix the problem.
    Kind regards,
    Luis Paul

  17. Ahmad Jafar says:

    Great advice. It is working wonderfully.
    However, I actually checked "do not save encrypted …" to have it working. So the point is to not let windows save encrypted pages to disk.

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