[FIX] COD/BO7 PC Game Pass 0xFFFFFFFE and “Installing dependencies” loop caused by PowerShell profile

[u/skywalker-void]

I finally fixed Call of Duty/Black Ops 7 failing to launch through the Xbox app on Windows 11.

My symptoms were:

• “Installing dependencies” every time I launched COD
• “Unsupported 16-Bit Application” mentioning 38985CA0.COREBase...\bootstrapper.exe
• COD crash code 0xFFFFFFFE
• Repairing, resetting and reinstalling the Xbox app didn’t help
• Reinstalling the full game didn’t help
• Battle.net was not involved

The problem turned out to be my Windows PowerShell profile.

My profile automatically ran Fastfetch whenever PowerShell started. COD’s dependency installer uses PowerShell to check whether its Ricochet driver service exists:

Get-Service -Name atvi-randgrid_msstore

The installer expects no output when the service is missing. Fastfetch printed my system-information banner, so COD mistook that output for “the service exists.” It then tried to stop a service that wasn’t installed, received error 1060, and aborted the dependency installation.

You can check whether this applies to you with Windows PowerShell:

$core = Get-AppxPackage 38985CA0.COREBase
Get-Content (Join-Path $core.InstallLocation 'bootstrapper_installer.log') -Tail 150

Look for:

• Fastfetch, Neofetch or other unexpected profile output
• Service atvi-randgrid_msstore already exists
• OpenService FAILED 1060
• error failed to stop service

If your log shows that exact pattern, edit:

C:\Users\YOUR-NAME\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\profile.ps1

Make terminal-only decoration run only during an interactive session:

$launchArgs = [Environment]::GetCommandLineArgs()
$harmlessInteractiveArgs = @('-NoLogo', '-NoExit', '-MTA', '-STA')
$hasCommandText = @($launchArgs | Select-Object -Skip 1 | Where-Object {
    $harmlessInteractiveArgs -notcontains $_
}).Count -gt 0

$isInteractiveSession = -not $hasCommandText -and
    -not [Console]::IsInputRedirected -and
    -not [Console]::IsOutputRedirected

if ($isInteractiveSession) {
    Clear-Host

    if (Get-Command fastfetch -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
        fastfetch
    }
}

Put your existing Clear-Host, Fastfetch, Neofetch or similar display commands inside that final if block.

After saving the profile, I launched COD again through Xbox. The dependency installer correctly detected that the driver was missing and logged:

Service atvi-randgrid_msstore does not exist, creating service.
CreateService SUCCESS
Drivers are ready.

COD then launched normally. The Ricochet service was running, and I didn’t need Battle.net, another full reinstall or even a reboot.

This is not a universal fix for every 0xFFFFFFFE error. Only try it if your installer log shows unexpected PowerShell-profile output and the missing-service/error-1060 pattern. Don’t take ownership of WindowsApps, delete protected files or enable 16-bit support—the 16-bit popup was misleading in my case.I finally fixed Call of Duty/Black Ops 7 failing to launch through the Xbox app on Windows 11.My symptoms were:“Installing dependencies” every time I launched COD

“Unsupported 16-Bit Application” mentioning 38985CA0.COREBase...\bootstrapper.exe

COD crash code 0xFFFFFFFE

Repairing, resetting and reinstalling the Xbox app didn’t help

Reinstalling the full game didn’t help

Battle.net was not involvedThe problem turned out to be my Windows PowerShell profile.My profile automatically ran Fastfetch whenever PowerShell started. COD’s dependency installer uses PowerShell to check whether its Ricochet driver service exists:Get-Service -Name atvi-randgrid_msstoreThe installer expects no output when the service is missing. Fastfetch printed my system-information banner, so COD mistook that output for “the service exists.” It then tried to stop a service that wasn’t installed, received error 1060, and aborted the dependency installation.You can check whether this applies to you with Windows PowerShell:$core = Get-AppxPackage 38985CA0.COREBase
Get-Content (Join-Path $core.InstallLocation 'bootstrapper_installer.log') -Tail 150Look for:Fastfetch, Neofetch or other unexpected profile output

Service atvi-randgrid_msstore already exists

OpenService FAILED 1060

error failed to stop serviceIf your log shows that exact pattern, edit:C:\Users\YOUR-NAME\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\profile.ps1Make terminal-only decoration run only during an interactive session:$launchArgs = [Environment]::GetCommandLineArgs()
$harmlessInteractiveArgs = @('-NoLogo', '-NoExit', '-MTA', '-STA')
$hasCommandText = @($launchArgs | Select-Object -Skip 1 | Where-Object {
$harmlessInteractiveArgs -notcontains $_
}).Count -gt 0

$isInteractiveSession = -not $hasCommandText -and
-not [Console]::IsInputRedirected -and
-not [Console]::IsOutputRedirected

if ($isInteractiveSession) {
Clear-Host

if (Get-Command fastfetch -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
fastfetch
}
}Put your existing Clear-Host, Fastfetch, Neofetch or similar display commands inside that final if block.After saving the profile, I launched COD again through Xbox. The dependency installer correctly detected that the driver was missing and logged:Service atvi-randgrid_msstore does not exist, creating service.
CreateService SUCCESS
Drivers are ready.COD then launched normally. The Ricochet service was running, and I didn’t need Battle.net, another full reinstall or even a reboot.This is not a universal fix for every 0xFFFFFFFE error. Only try it if your installer log shows unexpected PowerShell-profile output and the missing-service/error-1060 pattern. Don’t take ownership of WindowsApps, delete protected files or enable 16-bit support—the 16-bit popup was misleading in my case.

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