WPF RichTextBox SpellCheck ComException

I've got an exception while trying to enable spell checking on some Windows 8.1 machines (both have latest updates, OS language is russian and .NET framework 4.7 is russian) saying:

System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation. ---> System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException: Invalid value for registry (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80040153 (REGDB_E_INVALIDVALUE)) at System.StubHelpers.StubHelpers.GetWinRTFactoryObject(IntPtr pCPCMD) at Windows.Data.Text.WordsSegmenter..ctor(String language) --- End of inner exception stack trace --- at System.RuntimeMethodHandle.InvokeMethod(Object target, Object[] arguments, Signature sig, Boolean constructor) at System.Reflection.RuntimeConstructorInfo.Invoke(BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture) at MS.Internal.WindowsRuntime.ReflectionHelper.ReflectionNew[TArg1](Type type, TArg1 arg1) at MS.Internal.WindowsRuntime.Windows.Data.Text.WordsSegmenter..ctor(String language) at MS.Internal.WindowsRuntime.Windows.Data.Text.WordsSegmenter.Create(String language, Boolean shouldPreferNeutralSegmenter) at System.Windows.Documents.WinRTSpellerInterop.EnsureWordBreakerAndSpellCheckerForCulture(CultureInfo culture, Boolean throwOnError) at System.Windows.Documents.WinRTSpellerInterop..ctor() at System.Windows.Documents.SpellerInteropBase.CreateInstance() at System.Windows.Documents.Speller.EnsureInitialized() at System.Windows.Documents.Speller.SetCustomDictionaries(CustomDictionarySources dictionaryLocations, Boolean add) at System.Windows.Documents.TextEditor.SetCustomDictionaries(Boolean add) at System.Windows.Controls.SpellCheck.OnIsEnabledChanged(DependencyObject d, DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e) at System.Windows.DependencyObject.OnPropertyChanged(DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e) at System.Windows.FrameworkElement.OnPropertyChanged(DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs e) at System.Windows.DependencyObject.NotifyPropertyChange(DependencyPropertyChangedEventArgs args) at System.Windows.DependencyObject.UpdateEffectiveValue(EntryIndex entryIndex, DependencyProperty dp, PropertyMetadata metadata, EffectiveValueEntry oldEntry, EffectiveValueEntry& newEntry, Boolean coerceWithDeferredReference, Boolean coerceWithCurrentValue, OperationType operationType) at System.Windows.DependencyObject.SetValueCommon(DependencyProperty dp, Object value, PropertyMetadata metadata, Boolean coerceWithDeferredReference, Boolean coerceWithCurrentValue, OperationType operationType, Boolean isInternal) at System.Windows.DependencyObject.SetValue(DependencyProperty dp, Object value)

This code can be used to reproduce the issue:

var richTextBox = new RichTextBox();
InputLanguageManager.SetInputLanguage(richTextBox,CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo("en-US"));
richTextBox.SetValue(SpellCheck.IsEnabledProperty, true);

While investigation this issue I found that exception is thrown from s_WinRTType.ReflectionNew<string>(language); where s_WinRTType describes type "Windows.Data.Text.WordsSegmenter, Windows, ContentType=WindowsRuntime. WordsSegmenter seems to be WinRT component so I can't see what's going on inside it. I want to know why does it throw REGDB_E_INVALIDVALUE / which value it looks for and how should it look like? Thank you!

Update 1. I also saw this component's key exists in registry: So probably this component throws exception by itself

You need to install the language features which is different from a language pack via control panel or using DISM. For me this required .Net 4.7 and is working for windows 10 build 1709 (fall creators update). I don't know if this is possible on Windows 8.

If you have proper access to windows update (not behind WSUS) you could try to install it

Dism /Online /Add-Capability /CapabilityName:Language.Basic~~~en-US~0.0.1.0

To check the installed features this shows all installed options:

dism /online /get-capabilities /limitaccess

Background info:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/add-language-packs-to-windows

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/dism-capabilities-package-servicing-command-line-options

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/mniehaus/2015/08/31/adding-features-including-net-3-5-to-windows-10/

This last link explaines there is another version 2 of features on demand. For me it solved an issue.

Using the feature-on-demand isos (downloaded them from your msdn subscription):

for windows 10 (don't know if this is available on windows 8): en_windows_10_features_on_demand_part_1_version_1709_updated_sept_2017_x64_dvd_100090755 en_windows_10_features_on_demand_part_2_version_1709_updated_sept_2017_x64_dvd_100090754

extract them and install:

dism /online /add-package /packagepath:d:\features\Microsoft-Windows-LanguageFeatures-Basic-en-us-Package.cab

PS: did you Google for REGDB_E_INVALIDVALUE: VSHost crash, REGDB_E_INVALIDVALUE loading Specific Project

EXAMPLE:

You can create a wpf test application with the following code: This reads the AvailableInputLanguages that can be used. (for me it doesn't show the 4 languages from .Net 4 only the ones I install with Dism.

<Grid>
    <Grid.RowDefinitions>
        <RowDefinition Height="Auto" />
        <RowDefinition Height="*" />
    </Grid.RowDefinitions>
    <ComboBox 
          ItemsSource="{Binding AvailableLanguages}"
          SelectionChanged="OnLanguageSelectionChanged"
          DisplayMemberPath="NativeName"/>
    <TextBox x:Name="textBox" Grid.Row="1"
         AcceptsReturn="True"
         AcceptsTab="True"
         SpellCheck.IsEnabled="True"
         Text="Hello world"/>
</Grid>

public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
    public MainWindow()
    {
        InitializeComponent();

        AvailableLanguages = new ObservableCollection<CultureInfo>();

        foreach (CultureInfo culterInfo in InputLanguageManager.Current.AvailableInputLanguages)
        {
            AvailableLanguages.Add(culterInfo);
        }

        DataContext = this;
    }

    public ObservableCollection<CultureInfo> AvailableLanguages
    {
        get { return (ObservableCollection<CultureInfo>)GetValue(AvailableLanguagesProperty); }
        set { SetValue(AvailableLanguagesProperty, value); }
    }

    public static readonly DependencyProperty AvailableLanguagesProperty = DependencyProperty.Register("AvailableLanguages", typeof(ObservableCollection<CultureInfo>), typeof(MainWindow));


    private void OnLanguageSelectionChanged(object sender, SelectionChangedEventArgs e)
    {
        CultureInfo xmlLanguage = e.AddedItems[0] as CultureInfo;
        textBox.Language = XmlLanguage.GetLanguage(xmlLanguage.Name);
    }
}