Fix STATUS_GENERIC_COMMAND_FAILED (0XC0150026) Now

The Quick Fix

If you're staring at STATUS_GENERIC_COMMAND_FAILED (0XC0150026), you're probably in the middle of something that just died. I've seen this exact error on Windows 10 and 11, usually when something like a script or a command prompt tool fails unexpectedly. The fix is straightforward.

Step 1: Clear the Windows App Cache

Open an elevated Command Prompt (right-click Start, choose Command Prompt (Admin) or Windows Terminal (Admin)). Run this command:

del /f /s /q %localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows\WER\*

That clears the Windows Error Reporting cache, which often holds corrupt data that triggers this error. I had a client last month whose entire script suite stopped working because this cache was bloated with half-written crash logs.

Step 2: Restart the Windows Error Reporting Service

In the same admin terminal, run:

net stop WerSvc && net start WerSvc

This stops and restarts the Windows Error Reporting service. It’s usually the culprit — the service hangs or fails to process a command, and the error bubbles up as 0XC0150026.

Step 3: Re-register all Windows Runtime Components (if still failing)

If steps 1 and 2 don't fix it, run these three commands one after the other:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
sfc /scannow
for /f %i in ('dir /b %windir%\system32\*.dll') do regsvr32 /s %i

The last command re-registers every DLL in System32. It’s heavy, but it works when the error is tied to a corrupted COM component. I’ve used this on three machines that had the exact same error pop up during printer script calls.

Why This Works

Error 0XC0150026 is a generic failure from a command executable — could be a PowerShell script, a batch file, or a scheduled task that runs a tool. The Windows Error Reporting subsystem logs these failures, and if that cache gets corrupted, the service itself can’t process new commands. Clearing the cache and restarting the service forces a clean slate. If that’s not enough, re-registering DLLs fixes broken COM dependencies that cause the generic command to bomb out.

In my experience, this error almost never means a hardware problem — it’s nearly always software-side. The WER cache especially gets messy on machines that crash often or have aggressive update cycles. One client’s machine threw this error every time their backup script ran; after clearing that cache, it worked for six months straight.

Less Common Variations

When it happens with PowerShell scripts only

If you only see this error when running powershell.exe -Command ..., the issue might be the PowerShell execution policy blocking the script while WER tries to report it. Fix: run Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser in an admin PowerShell window.

When it happens with scheduled tasks

If a scheduled task triggers 0XC0150026, check the task’s “Run whether user is logged on or not” setting. When that’s selected and the task runs as SYSTEM, the command can fail if it expects a user profile. Change it to run only when the user is logged on.

When it happens after a Windows update

After a feature update (like going from 22H2 to 23H2), some old command files get left behind. Run sfc /scannow then DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth — I’ve seen this fix the error on two machines after the 23H2 update.

Prevention

Stop this from coming back by doing three things:

1. Keep Windows updated — but wait two weeks after a feature update before installing it. Let others find the bugs first.
2. Run cleanmgr once a month to clear temp files, including WER logs. Make sure you check the “System error memory dump files” box.
3. If you run custom scripts, wrap them in error handling so they report specific failures instead of triggering this generic error.

That’s it. This error is annoying but shallow — the cache is almost always the culprit. Clear it, restart the service, and get back to work.