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WCM_E_STORECORRUPTED
WCM_E_STORECORRUPTED is the failure HRESULT 0x80220016 (signed decimal -2145255402, unsigned decimal 2149711894). Its severity bit is 1, facility is 34 (FACILITY_STATE_MANAGEMENT), and the facility-specific code field is 0x0016.
AllStat records the Windows SDK description as “State store is in corrupted state.”
Interpretation without overreach
The SMI state store is corrupted. The operation reached loading, opening, or using the schema/state store after structural integrity checks fail. The first branch to test is whether an interrupted servicing transaction left the hive incomplete; keep that separate from the possibility that the schema hive was modified directly outside supported SMI/servicing paths.
SMI object or metadata boundary
At this boundary, capture GetStoreStatus result and store/hive locations, then correlate it with servicing stack and deployment logs around the first failure. Assign ownership only after checking file hashes, timestamps, and storage-health evidence.
Common origins
- an interrupted servicing transaction left the hive incomplete
- the schema hive was modified directly outside supported SMI/servicing paths
- an offline store was copied while still mounted or in use
- storage corruption or rollback mixed files and registry data from different versions
Useful artifacts
- GetStoreStatus result and store/hive locations
- servicing stack and deployment logs around the first failure
- file hashes, timestamps, and storage-health evidence
- whether the store is online or attached to a custom target
- a known-good image with the same component baseline
How to isolate the defect
- stop write activity and preserve the damaged artifacts for diagnosis
- unload custom stores cleanly before copying or replacing them
- repair the image through supported servicing or restore a known-good store
- do not hand-edit schema hive internals
- validate namespaces after repair before applying settings
When another attempt is justified
Repeated access can produce further misleading failures. Recover the store or image first, then recreate the engine and retry from a clean state.
Related result codes
WCM_E_INVALIDSTREAM concerns one input stream. STORECORRUPTED says the persistent SMI store itself is inconsistent.
Example from an offline image
An offline schema hive is copied while mounted and later loaded into another tool. Integrity checks fail before any particular namespace can be opened.
Developer and administrator notes
For operational telemetry, retain file hashes, timestamps, and storage-health evidence; also record whether the store is online or attached to a custom target. Preserve a redacted summary of a known-good image with the same component baseline; use a cryptographic hash when that evidence is a file, stream, or generated artifact.
Official Microsoft references.
- Microsoft: SMI error and success constants.
- Microsoft: Settings Management Infrastructure API.
- Microsoft: SMI interfaces.
- Microsoft: ISettingsEngine::LoadStore.
- Microsoft: ISettingsEngine::UnloadStore.
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