I have a components (small letters) file date modified 14/6/2015 14.52 52,992kb which I have compressed and put in dropbox.
I have 3 other COMPONENTS folders in C:\Windows\System32\config\. They are log files and very small so I assume they are not relevant although one has the same date/time as the one above but is only 256kb.
Here is the one I think you want.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fo5r9odi1l...nents.zip?dl=0
The original Update Agent appears to be still installed - neither versions 256 or 320 have been installed, and neither have the recent updates.
In the circumstances, the only solution I know of is to do a repair install.
See here for instructions...
Repair Install
Thanks for that. However life is never simple. Windows 7 came pre installed on my Dell computer when I bought it and as such Microsoft do not accept the product key even though it is genuine so I cannot download the necessary files. Microsoft say they passed windows 7 to Dell who made whatever changes they wanted to make it "theirs" and because of this Microsoft don't support it. The say it is a one install one activation piece of software. Does this make sense? Any suggestions? I do have a DVD from Dell which says it is a reinstallation disc for windows 7 home premium 64 bit although I do not think it has SP1 on it as that came out later. My computer has been updated to include SP1. Can I use that disc? What about SP1 and all the files/data/software I have on my laptop? Would all that get erased on a reinstall?
The Dell backup disk which may have been supplied with the machine will also work for this purpose? I'm not sure about any that may be created from their recovery system.
The MS stance is 'One License, One Install' - by which they mean you can have one installation on one computer - but it can be installed as often as you like providing all previous installs are totally disabled. They will apply progressively more stringent checks on your ownership of the license as the number of activations increases, but so long as it doesn't get silly, or obviously artificial, they will allow reactivation.
Your current installation is at the SP1 level.
Your machine may have shipped with the original pre-SP1 media if it was produced before around Dec 2010 - what is the BIOS date?
BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. A06, 07/12/2009
- in that case it did ship with RTM - and you'll have to see if you can beg or borrow a copy of Windows 7 with SP1 embedded, if you want to try a repair install. Otherwise, you are going to be limited to a clean install.
Managed to get hold of a suitable widows 7 with SP1 source and applied it choosing upgrade. It worked, although it took hours and I only lost a couple of minor things. Then had to install about 200 windows updates which again took forever but they all worked so it seems problem solved. Thanks very much for your help.
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