HP Image Assistant - Failed to launch HP Image Assistant, error code = 0xB/11

[Integraxp]

I just tried running image assistant using the following command line

c:\temp\hpia\HPImageAssistant.exe /Operation:Analyze /Action:List /Uwp:No /Silent /SelectSSMComp /ReportFilePath:C:\temp\HPIAOutput\report

and, despite being run with /silent, it opened a modal window displaying 

Failed to launch HP Image Assistant, error code = 0xB/11

This is a new error for me, though support assistant hardly ever works, its generally a mysterious 'exception'

anyone seen this seemingly undocumented error?

[Kuroi_Kenshi]

Hi @Integraxp,

Welcome to the HP Support Community!

Thanks for reaching out!

We're thrilled to have the opportunity to assist you and provide a solution.

I understand you’re encountering the 0xB/11 error when trying to run HP Image Assistant (HPIA) via command line, and the tool fails to launch despite using the /Silent switch. Let’s go through a few steps to check what could be causing this.

Run as Administrator
– Make sure the command prompt or PowerShell session is running with administrative privileges.
– HPIA requires elevated permissions to access system components and generate reports.

Check file paths and permissions
– Verify that the folders C:\temp\hpia and C:\temp\HPIAOutput exist and are writable.
– Create the folders manually if they don’t exist and ensure your user account has full control.

Verify HPIA installation integrity
– Re-download the latest version of HP Image Assistant from HP’s official site.
– Extract to a clean folder to avoid corrupted files causing launch errors.

Disable UWP/Conflicting settings
– Although you have /Uwp:No, sometimes leftover UWP settings interfere.
– Ensure that no previous HP Support Assistant or HPIA processes are running before launching.

Check for dependency issues
– HPIA relies on certain Windows components (.NET, Visual C++ libraries).
– Ensure Windows is up-to-date and that .NET Framework 4.8+ is installed.

Run a basic test without extra switches
– Try running HPImageAssistant.exe /Operation:Analyze /ReportFilePath:C:\temp\HPIAOutput\report
– This can help isolate whether a specific switch (like /SelectSSMComp) is triggering the error.

Check Event Viewer logs
– Open Event Viewer → Windows Logs → Application.
– Look for entries related to HPImageAssistant.exe around the time of the error.
– These logs can provide more context for the 0xB/11 code.

I hope this helps.

I'm glad I could help! 😊 If this resolved your issue, please mark it as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" on "Was this reply helpful?" Your feedback not only keeps us going but also helps others find the solution faster! 👍✨

Take care and have an amazing day ahead! 🚀

Best regards,

[Integraxp]

The error message is not dependent on the command line parameters. If I just launch HPImageAssistant.exe from an elevated command shell, it displays the same error message.

[Integraxp]

I've also tried updating the PC with the latest December updates. HPIA still displays the same error.

[Kuroi_Kenshi]

Hi @Integraxp,

I understand that even after installing the latest December Windows updates, HP Image Assistant still fails to launch with error code 0xB/11. Let’s go through a few additional checks that commonly resolve this specific behavior.

Confirm supported OS and execution context
HPIA is intended for business-class HP systems and may fail on unsupported editions.
– Verify the system is running a supported Windows version (Windows 10/11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education).
– If this is a Home edition, HPIA may fail at launch with undocumented errors.

Extract and run from a local, simple path
Long or protected paths can cause HPIA initialization failures.
– Extract HPIA directly to a simple path like C:\HPIA.
– Avoid running it from temp folders, network paths, or synced folders (OneDrive).

Run without /Silent to validate initialization
The error appearing in a modal window indicates HPIA is failing before CLI mode fully initializes.
– Run HPImageAssistant.exe with no switches once.
– If it fails at the same point, this confirms a core initialization issue rather than a command-line parameter problem.

Disable Smart App Control / Application Control
Windows security features can silently block HPIA components.
– Temporarily disable Smart App Control, Application Control, or third-party endpoint protection.
– Re-test HPIA launch immediately after disabling.

Verify required runtime components
HPIA depends on multiple Windows components that may not error clearly when missing.
– Confirm .NET Framework 4.8 is enabled in Windows Features.
– Ensure Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 Redistributables (x86 and x64) are installed.

I hope this helps.

I'm glad I could help! 😊 If this resolved your issue, please mark it as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" on "Was this reply helpful?" Your feedback not only keeps us going but also helps others find the solution faster! 👍✨

Take care and have an amazing day ahead! 🚀

Best regards,

[Integraxp]

Apologies, I missed your last response. I just found it while cleaning up the weeks mail.

>– Verify the system is running a supported Windows version (Windows 10/11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education).

– If this is a Home edition, HPIA may fail at launch with undocumented errors.

Of course. All systems are running Pro or Enterprise.

This should really be handled cleanly by HPIA. If its not supported, it should display a clear error message stating 'This operating system is not supported by HPIA' or 'This model is not supported by HPIA' and not some anonymous error code. Just my opinion but I don't think its unreasonable.

>Extract and run from a local, simple path
>Long or protected paths can cause HPIA initialization failures.
>– Extract HPIA directly to a simple path like C:\HPIA.

– Avoid running it from temp folders, network paths, or synced folders (OneDrive).

I'm doing this via script and it unpacks to c:\temp\HPIA

>Run without /Silent to validate initialization
>The error appearing in a modal window indicates HPIA is failing before CLI mode fully initializes.

The error appearing in a modal window indicates that the developer doesn't understand the meaning of the word 'silent'. If something is wrong, it should write the reason to the output log or to stderr.

>– Run HPImageAssistant.exe with no switches once.
>– If it fails at the same point, this confirms a core initialization issue rather than a command-line parameter problem.

It also fails with no switches.

If you open hpimageassistant.exe it immediately displays the text 'Failed to launch HP Image Assistant, error code = 0XB/11'

>Disable Smart App Control / Application Control
>Windows security features can silently block HPIA components.
>– Temporarily disable Smart App Control, Application Control, or third-party endpoint protection.

hmm, the possibility to disable it exists but once disabled it cannot be reenabled and it indicates that reinstallation of windows would be required. Beta versions of windows will apparently allow switching to an eval mode, but the ones I've looked at so far all only have an option to disable with the warning that it cannot be reenabled.

So thats not really an option.

Third party endpoint protection could be the cause, but we're seeing the same behaviour with several different AV products installed and also on machines which don't have any AV, so it seems unrelated.

On a machine running sophos, which failed with  "An exception occurred while trying to download the HP reference file: System.Exception", I tried disabling sophos and rerunning the exe, but it failed again with the same error.

>– Re-test HPIA launch immediately after disabling.

>Verify required runtime components
>HPIA depends on multiple Windows components that may not error clearly when missing.
>– Confirm .NET Framework 4.8 is enabled in Windows Features.
>– Ensure Microsoft Visual C++ 2015–2022 Redistributables (x86 and x64) are installed.

Shouldn't this be checked on startup? 

I can confirm .net framework 4.8 runtime is installed and c++ 2015-2022 redist, version 14.42.34433.0 are installed on the machines I tested this on.

On some machines, when running a scan, it produces a .json file in the output folder which contains an error

   "LastOperationStatusDesc": "An exception occurred while trying to download the HP reference file: System.Exception"

which is great. It doesn't log the actual exception message, just that there was an exception. It doesn't log the url it was attempting to download either, so no chance to analyze why it failed.

[Kuroi_Kenshi]

Hi @Integraxp,

Welcome to the HP Support Community! 

We're here to help you tackle that malfunction! Don't worry, we've got your back! 

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We're looking forward to helping you resolve this issue! 

Stay tuned, and thanks for your patience! 

Best regards,