Installing any distro fails with "WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x80070002 Error: 0x80070002 The system cannot find the file specified."
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Description
Hi,
After installing Windows 10 on my desktop, I installed the Debian distribution. Right after installation, it loaded and worked fine, however after closing the shell and re-opening it, it got stuck while loading and my CPU usage increased to 100% - in the services I could see around 8 processed called "init" that were running and using up all cpu resources.
I wasn't able to kill the processes, only a reboot helped. As the processes came back every time I opened the Debian shell, I eventually deinstalled the disto.
Now, when I try to install any distro, I always end up with the same error:
Installing, this may take a few minutes...
WslRegisterDistribution failed with error: 0x80070002
Error: 0x80070002 The system cannot find the file specified.
Press any key to continue...
I tried all possible combinations of deinstalling, reboot, etc.
wsllist never shows any of the Distros, even if they show up in the installed programs.
wsl --list --all
Windows Subsystem for Linux has no installed distributions.
Distributions can be installed by visiting the Microsoft Store:
https://aka.ms/wslstore
Attached you can find my logs - I was collecting them while I tried to install the Ubuntu distribution.
Windows version: Win 10 Pro, Version 1909 Build 18363.657.
Please let me know if you require anything else!
Thank you,
Kerstin
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by reviewing logs.zip and the reported Windows 10 version, then reproduce the failure using the listed installation steps and wsl --list --all. Compare the registration failure with the earlier Debian startup and init processes. Done means identifying a reproducible cause and documenting or implementing a verified fix for distro registration.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Domain
- operating-systems
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100