Windows error 14031 (ERROR_SXS_XML_E

Status / error code:		Category:

Constant name:
Source:		Operating System:
Description: Manifest Parse Error : Incorrect syntax was used in a comment.

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ERROR_SXS_XML_E_MISSINGQUOTE	ERROR_SXS_XML_E_BADSTARTNAMECHAR

ERROR_SXS_XML_E_COMMENTSYNTAX

ERROR_SXS_XML_E_COMMENTSYNTAX (0x000036CF) is a Windows Side-by-Side XML parser status for application, assembly, policy, or configuration manifest processing.

The comment delimiters may exist yet the comment body can still be illegal. XML comments open with , and the text between them must not contain the sequence --.

Parser boundary

This differs from ERROR_SXS_XML_E_UNCLOSEDCOMMENT: an unclosed comment is missing its terminator, while comment-syntax failure can be caused by forbidden double hyphens inside a comment that eventually closes.

What to inspect

Inspect the complete comment body around the reported location for --, including separators automatically emitted by a template.
Do not nest XML comments; remove or rewrite generated comment delimiters that appear inside an existing comment.
Regenerate the manifest from the responsible build step after fixing the template so packaging does not restore the invalid comment.

An sxstrace capture identifies which application, assembly, or policy manifest contains the malformed comment and prevents unrelated WinSxS files from being edited.

References

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