MSI Center Inconsistency

[matt0040]

First, let's get this out of the way. Yes, I terminated the process. I made anti-virus exceptions. I reinstalled and even went so far as to do a system restore. There is no rhyme or reason to the people who have extreme inconsistency with MSI Center. I am no professional, but I think this is the reason; an error in the permissions. Not on my end, I'll get to that. Yes I ran everything possible as administrator, which is hard especially when it's a Windows App. Within task manager I went to Details and then properties. These processes are *not* given "run as administrator" prompts because a .bat file procs them. By setting MSI Center's individual modules as "Run as administrator" in the properties, then restarting the computer, slight process was made.

MSI Companion is broken. Entirely. MSI Companion in the Xbox Game Bar loops forever; a problem that has persisted since I got this device. Currently, it's 100% broken however. Setting MSI Companion's .bat and .exe files to run as administer *independent of the user* allowed the MSI Companion widget to momentarily work, before failing because it was incapable of connecting to MSI Center itself. Keep in mind you cannot access these files conventionally, "run as administrator" does not apply here. I can't emphasize enough that this is not user error, it's a software bug.

Edit: Inevitebly someone will ask for my computer specs. I don't think they'll help. I firmly think this is from the newest MSI Center software update. Here they are though:

 

[SumGuy]

I agree that MSI Center is awful, lol. And you're right, at least with MSI Companion. It definitely has permission issues...

Have you tried tweaking Windows' Privacy Settings? IDK if the settings locations are the same for Win 11, but on Win 10, I finally got it working by going to "Windows Settings > Privacy > App Diagnostics" and "Windows Settings > Privacy > File System", and just enable "Allow apps to access..." those settings. I don't think any of the individual MSI Center apps even show up in the sub-settings. Merely enabling the main settings there let MSI Companion work. Might have to reinstall Companion after enabling it all (can't remember). It's a little sketchy IMO, but it works after that.

Here's another thread where someone pointed it out-
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/msi-companion-not-working.381286/post-2187716

 

[matt0040]

I agree that MSI Center is awful, lol. And you're right, at least with MSI Companion. It definitely has permission issues...

Have you tried tweaking Windows' Privacy Settings? IDK if the settings locations are the same for Win 11, but on Win 10, I finally got it working by going to "Windows Settings > Privacy > App Diagnostics" and "Windows Settings > Privacy > File System", and just enable "Allow apps to access..." those settings. I don't think any of the individual MSI Center apps even show up in the sub-settings. Merely enabling the main settings there let MSI Companion work. Might have to reinstall Companion after enabling it all (can't remember). It's a little sketchy IMO, but it works after that.

Here's another thread where someone pointed it out-
https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/msi-companion-not-working.381286/post-2187716

It's been a long time since I read this, and believe it or not I had already read that post. I'd looked *everywhere* and tried a lot. I think I've got some more; but I'm not technical enough to really know. [I'd made sure the same Microsoft account was working, made sure I had Full Control and Owner status, no amount of tech support could really help.]
If you go to the MSI files C:\Program Files (x86)\MSI you will see MSI Center and MSI Companion as different folders.
However, MSI Companion is an Xbox Gamebar app.(Edit: Technically MSI Gamebar, but they're seemingly one in the same) You can even find the MSI Companion folder via task manager, but it's a hidden folder. Going into that folder is actually how I got Companion "working" for a second. In the MSI Companion program files folder, you can find .bat files by installing the MSI Gamebar app instead of MSI Center. It does not fix anything, but there's clearly something there. I've attached a screenshot to show the folder. When it half works, it has control of my audio, and maybe my mouse sensitivity, but that one I'm not sure about. But it 100% has control of my audio. Like the last time, it activates in flashes, has zero control of Scenario and Color.

Forgot to mention: Every other MSI Center module's folder is located inside MSI Center's folder, whether or not you get MSI Companion from the Windows Store or via MSI Center.


There's a blank file at the bottom of this folder that I cut off, it's simply User_(user) and the file is completely blank.
Edits: corrected some errors, clarifications,regular reasons you edit posts

 

[matt0040]

This is how the MSI Companion folder looks after a fresh install, run.bat's text reads:

taskkill /IM "MSI_GamebarTool.exe" /F
taskkill /IM "MSI_TraceFPS.exe" /F
taskkill /IM "Gamebar_Connect.exe" /F
rmdir /s /q "C:\Program Files (x86)\MSI\MSI Companion\"
start Gamebar_Connect.exe -create

Seemingly this is just to prevent conflicts, however, MSI Center's folder also contains those .exe files that this .bat file kills. I really have no questions, but maybe someone can glean info from it.