What does NTSTATUS 0xC0000145 (STATUS_APP_INIT_FAILURE) mean?

STATUS_APP_INIT_FAILURE

Application initialization failed before normal startup

Windows returns STATUS_APP_INIT_FAILURE from application packaging, registration, cache, or activation handling. Windows reached application initialization but the process could not complete the loader, runtime, or framework startup path. The hexadecimal argument in the original error is often more specific than this wrapper status.

Preserve the original exception or inner status, inspect Application and package deployment logs, and compare the failing user profile with a clean profile before reinstalling anything.

The useful cause is usually earlier than this final status. Follow the same process and activity identifier backward to the first loader, runtime, dependency, or package error rather than treating the generic initialization result as the root cause.

References

• Microsoft: package and deploy Windows apps
• Microsoft: troubleshoot app package deployment
• Microsoft: package identity overview