[sithpigeon]

Hello again everyone,

First some basic info:
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium (Upgraded from XP)
CPU: AMD Athlon II
Partitions:
C: (Windows) ~ 25GB
D: (Gaming) ~ 78GB
E: (Media) ~ 130GB


And my problem:
For a few months now Windows Update has been trying to install the same updates non-stop. After noticing this problem I started digging around and found out some other things weren't right. When I open up the "Installed Updates" window in Control Panel > Programs and features, there isn't anything there and when I try to run "SFC /scannow" from an administrator command prompt I get the error "Windows Resource Protection could not start the repair service." It seems to me that these could all be somehow related.

I've tried various tutorials, microsoft fixes and contacted support to try and remedy the problem but I've made no real progress so far.

I have also tried to do a repair install, the upgrade install option on the windows 7 disc while logged in, but I don't have enough space on my windows partition to do so... I think though that if I could get the System File Check run this would be able to fix the problem, maybe. My other idea was to re-install windows update but I haven't found any good instructions on how to do so that have worked.

Any ideas on how to fix Windows update so I can get the new updates would be great! I've been trying to figure this out for months...

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25GB is pretty small for a Windows 7 boot partition. How much free space do you have on the C: drive?

[Ztruker]

25GB is pretty small for a Windows 7 boot partition. How much free space do you have on the C: drive?

[sithpigeon]

25GB is pretty small for a Windows 7 boot partition. How much free space do you have on the C: drive?

Not a lot actually. It's one of the mistakes I made but didn't realize I'd made until after I was all setup on the computer. Currently I have 2.5GB free but if necessary I can free up more by uninstalling some of the larger programs I installed on the drive before I started installing on the other larger drive E:/.

[Ztruker]

10% is cutting it pretty slim. I believe the recommend minimum is 15%.

Do you have a good system backup? If not you should do that first.

Then download GPartEd(Gnome Partition Editor). Create the bootable CD from the iso using your burning software. I use ImgBurn(free) for messing with iso files and always burn at 4X speed.

Reduce the front end of the D: drive by 20GB, then expand the back end of the C: drive to fill the space you freed up. Even 10GB will help.

You could take the space from the E: front end, expand D: to fill it then take the space from D: and give it to C:, keeping D: the same size. Up to you.

I don't know if this will fix your problem or not but it's worth doing.

[sithpigeon]

Thanks, that's not a bad idea actually... can't believe I didn't think of that earlier. I will back up what I can and do that.

Should I then try running the Upgrade Install via the Windows 7 DVD if I have space? That's what MS recommended and I can see that fixing things if it's a corrupted system file.

[sithpigeon]

Alright, I repartitioned so that I now have:

C:/ (Windows) ~35GB
D:/ (Games) ~80GB
E:/ (Media) ~120GB

I should now be able to do a repair install with my windows 7 disc if necessary, but before I attempt that I'd rather see if I can fix the setup using SFC or by reinstalling Windows Update because this is only a small problem on my system and the rest works fine and dandy (don't want to break something else in the process). SFC still gives me the error that it couldn't start as I posted above if anyone knows how to troubleshoot this?

Edited by sithpigeon, 20 July 2011 - 03:32 PM.

[sithpigeon]

Update:

I found this article about why SFC isn't running:

http://www.intowindo...r-in-windows-7/

This makes me believe that the problem here is the Windows Module Installer service isn't on my system or for some reason isn't available. I checked my services window and found that not only was it not enabled, it doesn't exist in my list:



So what I need help with then is installing this service or fixing the service, which I have no idea how to do... but I'll be digging in the meantime.

[Ztruker]

Open a Command Prompt.

Do a dir \Windows\TrustedInstaller.exe /s

See what directories TrustedInstaller.exe is found in. There should be one in C:\Windows\servicing. If not, copy it from one of the other locations it's in.

On my Win 7 Pro X64 system. it's in

C:\Windows\servicing

C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-trustedinstaller_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7600.16385_none_ed02252b66d7bca2

C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-Trustedinstaller_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.17514_none_ef3338f363c6403c

Reboot, then start Services and see if the Windows Module Installer is listed. If yes, set it to Automatic and Start it.

[sithpigeon]

I did the search and found as you suspected that TrustedInstaller.exe wasn't in the C:/Windows/servicing directory. After hassling around with the permissions on the file I was able to copy it over and upon restart it is in the services dialogue! I will update you as soon as I have a chance to retry the updates and fiddle around with the rest of that.

Thanks!

[Ztruker]

I found that suggestion here: Missing Service in Windows 7 Home Premium.

I should have provided the link for proper attribution before.

Sure hope it helps.

[sithpigeon]

Thanks for the help! I retried the updates and they all successfully installed now. The missing windows module installer seems to have been the problem. In addition I can now run the sfc /scannow. Much appreciated research.

[Ztruker]

Great, glad that fixed it.

Thanks for letting me know.