Windows 8.1 Store Broker (wshost.exe): High CPU Usage

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OS: Windows 8.1
System: Microsoft Surface Pro 2

Issue:

“Store Broker” starts up by itself without accessing the Microsoft Store and uses 35% of the CPU.

Solution

  1. Open Task Manager and end the “Store” and “Store Broker” tasks.
  2. Open File Explorer and go to the C:\Users\{User}\AppData\Local\Packages\winstore_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState directory, where {User} is the name of the user account you’re logged in as. The characters after “winstore_” may be different.
  3. Rename the “Cache” directory/folder to “Cache.old”
  4. Create a new “Cache” folder/directory