VS Code insiders not starting with vscode-policy-watcher failure

[benedikt-mayer]

Hi! Since today, I've had two issues: First, VS Code Insiders reported an issue with the ffmpeg.dll. Unfortunately I don't have a screenshot. Secondly, after a computer restart, it doesn't start the UI at all. If I try to start it regularly nothing happens except that some processes appear in Task Manager: If I try to start it with code-insiders -s --verbose --disable-extensions in the terminal, it prints:

Loading "vscode-policy-watcher" failed
Error: error: 87\\?\C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\node_modules.asar.unpacked\vscode-policy-watcher\build\Release\vscode-policy-watcher.node
    at process.func [as dlopen] (node:electron/js2c/asar_bundle:5:1812)
    at Object.Module._extensions..node (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1246:18)
    at Object.func [as .node] (node:electron/js2c/asar_bundle:5:2039)
    at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1035:32)
    at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:876:12)
    at Function.c._load (node:electron/js2c/asar_bundle:5:13343)
    at Module.require (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1059:19)
    at p (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:4:699)
    at bindings (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\node_modules.asar\bindings\bindings.js:112:48)
    at Object.<anonymous> (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\node_modules.asar\vscode-policy-watcher\index.js:6:44)
    at Module.u._compile (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:4:1313)
    at Object.Module._extensions..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1216:10)
    at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1035:32)
    at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:876:12)
    at Function.c._load (node:electron/js2c/asar_bundle:5:13343)
    at Module.require (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1059:19)
    at require (node:internal/modules/cjs/helpers:102:18)
    at r (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:5:101)
    at e.load (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:4:1720)
    at e.load (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:3:11005)
    at a (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:5:10302)
    at Object.errorback (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:5:10423)
    at e.triggerErrorback (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:3:11369)
    at C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:3:11075
    at e.load (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:4:1737)
    at e.load (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:3:11005)
    at a (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:5:10302)
    at o._loadModule (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:5:10432)
    at o._resolve (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:6:452)
    at o.defineModule (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:5:6144)
    at y (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:6:1825)
    at h (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:4:2554)
    at Object.<anonymous> (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\code\electron-main\main.js:79:1458)
    at Object.<anonymous> (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\code\electron-main\main.js:80:1895)
    at e._createAndEvalScript (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:4:2598)
    at C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:4:2237
    at p (C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:4:4189)
    at C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\resources\app\out\vs\loader.js:4:4262
    at FSReqCallback.readFileAfterClose [as oncomplete] (node:internal/fs/read_file_context:68:3) {
  code: 'ERR_DLOPEN_FAILED',
  phase: 'loading',
  moduleId: 'vscode-policy-watcher',
  neededBy: [ 'vs/platform/policy/node/nativePolicyService' ]
}
Here are the modules that depend on it:
[ 'vs/platform/policy/node/nativePolicyService' ]

I've tried reinstalling a couple of times, to no avail, even removing the files from appdata/local and appdata/roaming first. The version is:

1.70.0-insider
1259bfe0090ac90afbf5d53335c43761de6bb19f
x64

on Windows 10 Version 20H2 (Build 19042.1826).

[benedikt-mayer]

The ffmpeg error is back now after an uninstall - install:

C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\ffmpeg.dll ist entweder nicht für die Ausführung unter Windows vorgesehen oder enthält einen Fehler. Installieren Sie das Programm mit den Originalinstallationsmedien erneut, oder wenden Sie sich an den Systemadministrator oder Softwarelieferanten, um Unterstützung zu erhalten. Fehlerstatus 0xc0000045.

Sorry for the German in the screenshot. It translates to:

C:\Users\nq10028133\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code Insiders\ffmpeg.dll is either not designed to run on Windows or contains an error. Reinstall the program using the original installation media, or contact the system administrator or software vendor for assistance. Error status 0xc0000045.

[benedikt-mayer]

After more restarts and reinstalls, this is not reproducable anymore.

[benedikt-mayer]

After a vs code insiders update, the ffmpeg.dll error is back.

[benedikt-mayer]

After more vs code updates and restarts, now I'm back to the original problem, where VS Code doesn't start in the foreground at all @bpasero please reopen

[joaomoreno]

This is very odd and seems very specific to your system, since no other user has reported anything similar. Do every other applications just work on your system? What about Code stable?

[VSCodeTriageBot]

This issue has been closed automatically because it needs more information and has not had recent activity. See also our issue reporting guidelines.

Happy Coding!