Solved Unable to update Win 7

[revpete]

I'am unable to update win7 No updates are shown installed even though SP1 is installed this only shows in basic system information. Also I think my file store is corrupted as I cannot run SFC from elevated C prompt or repair console Cannot also do a repair install from disc even though I have disc with SP1 included.
I do not want to format / new install and lose some valuable programs etc etc.
Can any-body help with suggestions to solve these problems?
Thanks
Pete.
ps this seems to of occured after having deleted AVG and Avast
I lost my restore points at that time. Ms essentials still updates ok
Up date Error code is 080073712

 

[NoelDP]

You appear to have had major problems for at least 11 months!
The error in CheckSUR is not a good one -
(f) CSI Unable to Query Store Version 0x00000002

The CBS logs are filled with the following errors...

2013-01-12 18:56:32, Error                 CSI    [EMAIL="000000ad@2013/1/12:17:56:32.382"][U][COLOR=#0066cc]000000ad@2013/1/12:17:56:32.382[/COLOR][/U][/EMAIL] (F) d:\win7sp1_gdr\base\wcp\componentstore\storelayout.cpp(6636): Error STATUS_SXS_COMPONENT_STORE_CORRUPT originated in function ComponentStore::CRawStoreLayout::OpenCanonicalDataKey expression: (null)
[gle=0x80004005]
2013-01-12 18:56:32, Info                  CBS    Failed to get CSI store. [HRESULT = 0x80073712 - ERROR_SXS_COMPONENT_STORE_CORRUPT]
2013-01-12 18:56:32, Error                 CBS    Failed to initialize store parameters with boot drive:  and windows directory:  [HRESULT = 0x80073712 - ERROR_SXS_COMPONENT_STORE_CORRUPT]
2013-01-12 18:56:32, Info                  CSI    000000ae No store version format found; DLL store format 0.0.0.6

I suspect that your only recovery is going to be a clean install.

 

[revpete]

Thanks Noel, I was afraid this would be the only answer.
Could I ask would if it would be possible to do a Clean install on another partition on the same disc, then transfer my installed program files from C registry to the new registry on the clean installation. If this was possible could I then change and use the new partition a normal. As you gather I have a lot of programs that I cannot now find the install discs for.
revpete.

 

[NoelDP]

It's likely that at least part of your problem is registry corruption - so I would definitely recommend against attempting that!

 

[tom982]

Hello revpete,

I will happily have a look at this for you, though I can't promise anything with this scale of problems. It could be something as simple as one small bit of corruption making a whole key unreadable, but there's only one way to find out If the corruption is bad, then I will do my best to get your computer into a state where at least a repair install can go through - that way you can keep your software.

I have been informed that the Dropbox upload instructions that I use are now slightly outdated (I will update them as soon as possible), so don't be worried if things aren't exactly how I describe them here. You should be able to work it out, but if you have any questions then feel free to ask!

Upload a file to Dropbox

Note: If you prefer, the same techniques can be applied to your Skydrive however these instructions may not necessarily work for Skydrive.

1. If you haven't already created a Dropbox account, please do so Here
2. Although this procedure can be done directly through the website, it is much easier to do so via the Windows client which can be downloaded from the Dropbox website:
   
   https://www.dropbox.com/install
   
   
3. After you have downloaded and installed that, you should now see Dropbox in your Favourites box in Windows Explorer. This is the folder that will be synchronised with the Dropbox servers, anything that you wish to back up online can be put in here, but today we will be using it to transfer files.
   
   
   
4. To access your Dropbox folder, just click on the link in the top left hand corner of Windows Explorer (accessible from any location - Documents etc.). Alternatively, you can double click on the icon
   
   found in your system tray (next to the time). If you are still having issues locating this folder, unless otherwise specified, it can be found under this location: C:\Users\{Your username}\Dropbox
5. Copy all of the following files to the Public folder in your Dropbox:
   • C:\Windows\system32\config\COMPONENTS (it has no file extension)
6. Select all files by pressing Ctrl+A then right-click and select Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder
7. This will create a .zip
   
   file in your Public folder.
8. Right-click on this file and select Dropbox > Copy Public Link then Paste (Ctrl + V) this link into your next post for me please

Tom

 

[NoelDP]

Thanks for coming in, Tom!

 

[tom982]

Thanks for coming in, Tom!

No problem I'm more curious what's causing those errors than anything else!

 

[revpete]

Hello Tom,
Sorry about the delay in replying to you Tom and thanks for your offer of help. I have been away from the computer.
The link you have asked for is:-

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z652cbdv3qjjfo6/C sys32 Config Components.zip

I do not understand this level of the operating system but if as you say you could help me to get my computer to a state that will allow a repair install, that would be great.
As you will no doubt see, I have tried various internet based suggestions before I became a Forum member, all of which, have failed!

Thanks
Revpete.

 

[tom982]

Hi Revpete,

No problem, I completely understand that people have lives outside of this forum!

Thanks for uploading the file, but I'm afraid I have some pretty bad news for you, your COMPONENTS registry hive is damaged beyond repair. In fact, all of the contents have been overwritten with nothing, the binary has changed to straight 0s rather than the data it should be. When I load the registry hive in regedit, it has no subkeys at all, there should be thousands. The file size was a bit of a give away as your hive is 256KB whereas mine is about 40MB!

I won't accept defeat yet though! It might be possible to extract an older copy of this hive from your restore points though, then we should be able to go ahead with the repair install How long have you been experiencing this problem for?

Tom

 

[revpete]

Hi Tom,
Thanks for your reply. I think that it may be about 11 months re: my check sur file (see NoelDP's post above) and enclosed Log zip. My restore points only go back a few days, I used to have a fair allocation of restore points under "show all" but these have gone since these problems began. I think my trouble started when I had a confliction when un-installing Avast and Avg. I'am only using MS essentials, Zone Alarm also Malwarebytes and Spybot. After running these a week or so ago on all my drives (C + 4 external usb drives) There were only minor items, which I deleted.
As you can see I have found a .reg file from 12.02.2012 I hope this may be helpful! Also I have included my current (today's) backup .reg file for comparison etc etc.

[removed by admin]

I have used dropbox to make it easier for up/downloading.
Hope this is all useful, I do not want to waste your time but I appreciate your help.

Thanks,

Pete. (revpete)

 

[tom982]

Hi Pete,

I will get back to you as soon as possible but I just wanted to let you know that I have had the links removed from your post for your safety. You should never post a registry export of your SOFTWARE hive (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE) as it contains a wealth of information that could potentially be stolen - your Windows product key, your Office product key and any other product keys It shouldn't be an issue here because they haven't been up for long and I'm not going to do anything with them!

Tom

 

[tom982]

Hi Pete,

Unfortunately for you, a feature of Windows 7 is how the COMPONENTS registry hive is handled and it is no longer loaded by default, so your full registry export doesn't include the data that we need to perform this repair I'm afraid.

From here there are two options really:

1. Do a clean install:
   
   http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html
2. Use a COMPONENTS hive from another system in yours.
   
   I would highly advise against doing this as, although it may fix problems now it will almost definitely cause problems in the long run. Unless you have extenuating circumstances why you can't, or don't want to, do a clean install then we shouldn't really consider this option.

Hope this is all useful, I do not want to waste your time but I appreciate your help.

I really enjoy these problems, and helping people even more so, so my time is never wasted here

Tom

 

[revpete]

The only answer was a Clean Install
revpete