Windows Update has disappeared from my system and is causing issues

[Kiernan]

I built my computer myself its running Windows 7 Home Premium SP 1 64-bit
Windows update is no where to be found on my system when I go into control panel and try try open it by clicking on it nothing happens.
I've checked services.msc and it is not listed in there, I've tried running the Windows fix it program and a bunch of others that are meant to fix Windows update but none of these have done anything, I think because it doesn't exist.
I've tried re-registering the needed .dll files for Windows update which some are missing so that didn't do anything either.
I tried to repair windows by booting from the disk but i get the error saying "This version of System Recovery Options is not compatible with the version windows you are trying to repair. Try using a recovery disk that is compatible with this version of windows" even though I am using the exact disk I used to install windows from, I had an old HHD in my computer that had windows on it from an old computer that I thought might be causing that but I removed it and the error is still there.
Another issue that I think maybe linked to this is that Microsoft .NET Framework 4 is missing so windows doesn't let me install or run lots of programs, and when I try to install that it fails giving this in the log
Exe (C:\f038ec82815eda34fa\Windows6.1-KB958488-v6001-x64.msu) failed with 0x80080005 - Server execution failed .
Final Result: Installation failed with error code: (0x80080005), "Server execution failed " (Elapsed time: 0 00:02:23).
Please help I am completely clueless as to what is going on and what to do, thanks in advance.

 

[marsmimar]

Hello Kiernan and welcome to Seven Forums.

Did Windows Update ever work on your computer? If yes, it's possible that something (like malware) might have damaged or corrupted system files. Have you run a full scan with your installed AV program? Another free product that is highly recommended is Malwarebytes.

If this is a brand new build it's possible that your Windows 7 installation disc had a glitch or two during the OS install process. You could try running a System File Checker scan from an elevated command prompt (option two, this tutorial.) If problems are found run the scan at least 3 more times and immediately reboot the computer after each scan. (See the "note in Option Two, Step 4.)

If the SFC scan doesn't help you could try a Repair Install. If successful, it should preserve your user accounts, data, programs, system drivers, etc. There's also a link in the "note" in Step 4 to an official download site if you want to create a new installation disc (just in case your original disc was damaged or corrupt.)

If still no joy you may want to consider doing another Clean Install following the steps in this tutorial.

 

[Kiernan]

Hello Kiernan and welcome to Seven Forums.

Did Windows Update ever work on your computer? If yes, it's possible that something (like malware) might have damaged or corrupted system files. Have you run a full scan with your installed AV program? Another free product that is highly recommended is Malwarebytes.

If this is a brand new build it's possible that your Windows 7 installation disc had a glitch or two during the OS install process. You could try running a System File Checker scan from an elevated command prompt (option two, this tutorial.) If problems are found run the scan at least 3 more times and immediately reboot the computer after each scan. (See the "note in Option Two, Step 4.)

If the SFC scan doesn't help you could try a Repair Install. If successful, it should preserve your user accounts, data, programs, system drivers, etc. There's also a link in the "note" in Step 4 to an official download site if you want to create a new installation disc (just in case your original disc was damaged or corrupt.)

If still no joy you may want to consider doing another Clean Install following the steps in this tutorial.

I'm pretty certain Windows Update worked originally.
I'd ran Malwarebytes before and came up with nothing but I ran it again just after you said this and it came up with a few malicious files which I have now removed but that didn't help any of the issues.
I also ran the SFC a few times and it couldn't fix the windows update files "...Cannot repair member file [l:22{11}]"wuaueng.dll" of Microsoft-Windows-WindowsUpdateClient-Core.....Cannot repair member file [l:22{11}]"wucltux.dll" of Microsoft-Windows-WindowsUpdateClient-UI.....Cannot repair member file [l:22{11}]"wucltux.dll" of Microsoft-Windows-WindowsUpdateClient-UI...." which it showed in the log which I will attach.
I'm trying to replace those files that are corrupted with ones I have extracted from the windows install disk but it doesn't seem to be replacing them or doing anything.

 

[Golden]

Those unrepairable files are all intrinsic to Windows Update, which explains the problems you have.

It sounds as if the malware has damaged those beyond repair. At this stage, I would recommend a Repair Install.

 

[Kiernan]

Those unrepairable files are all intrinsic to Windows Update, which explains the problems you have.

It sounds as if the malware has damaged those beyond repair. At this stage, I would recommend a Repair Install.

It seems then that it will probably be easiest to just backup all of my data and just format the drive and re-install windows clean

 

[Golden]

Agree. Give us a shout if you need more help with that.