[othersteve]

Hey a_to_z,

Yep, actually, I think a repair install is the only truly sane and time-effective solution. There are too many update failures listed in the logs for practically every update out there. I'm not sure what causes this but I certainly haven't seen it in the past; usually one or a few updates are referenced and that's the end of it. I think in your case it'd be an excellent choice to consider a repair install and then update everything again from there (it won't take that long ).

You may want to ensure you're backed up before you start the repair, of course, because you never know what you may run into post-disinfection. Worst-case, if everything were to go horribly wrong, you can always recover your personal documents and files by slaving the drive to another system or booting to an emergency boot CD and copying them to some sort of removable storage.

I think everything will end up working after a repair, however. Please do keep me updated as it will be useful in the future in case anyone else runs into this issue!

Thanks, and sorry for the eventual blanket recommendation,

Edit: Oh! And if you need help with the repair install, please check this out. I hope you do not have an OEM DVD or this is actually not an option.

If any other techs here have suggestions as to what might be a good next step, please do feel free to chime in. This one's honestly got me stumped.

~os

Edited by othersteve, 19 November 2009 - 04:48 PM.

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Use the System File Checker tool (SFC.exe) to determine which file is causing the issue, and then replace the file. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
sfc /scannow
The sfc /scannow command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.

[happyrock]

Use the System File Checker tool (SFC.exe) to determine which file is causing the issue, and then replace the file. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
sfc /scannow
The sfc /scannow command scans all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.

[othersteve]

Oh! Great idea happyrock. I completely forgot we hadn't attempted this yet.

a_to_z, I hope this all is resolved for you soon.

~os

Edited by othersteve, 19 November 2009 - 05:15 PM.

[a_to_z]

Well, I'm not sure what I'll do. This PC came with Vista installed and I'm pretty sure there is no repair DVD. I'll have to look around and see if I can find the literature that came with the PC. Even if I find a DVD I might just leave it alone. Doing one of those repair installs terrifies me. As I stated earlier, I'm really not having any serious problems with functionality, this issue was just bugging me. While I want things to work the way they're supposed to, I may choose to just live with it.

I'm curious as to why this just started happening in September. We've had the PC for almost 2 years now. I wonder if I can talk my hubby into getting me a new PC for Christmas?

Sorry to throw you a situation as perplexing as this one. Even though the outcome wasn't the best, I really do appreciate your efforts.

Thanks!

[a_to_z]

I didn't see happyrock's reply before I posted last. I'll give it a try.

Edited by a_to_z, 19 November 2009 - 05:44 PM.

[othersteve]

Yes, definitely give his idea a shot. The sfc is a very powerful tool and it just may provide the answer here... you never know.

Edit: It's also risk-free. I should have recommended it to you pages ago honestly. Guess nobody's perfect

~os

Edited by othersteve, 19 November 2009 - 05:24 PM.

[a_to_z]

Well.
"Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations." The scan took about 2 seconds although it said it would take some time. Is it possible it didn't run properly?

Edited by a_to_z, 19 November 2009 - 05:45 PM.

[othersteve]

Just for kicks, get your Vista install CD ready and try:

1. Start > All Programs > Accessories > Right-click on Command Prompt, choose Run as Administrator
2. Type sfc /purgecache and press ENTER
3. Type sfc /scannow and press ENTER

Just to see if anything changes...

Also, in response to your earlier post, I'm glad to try and help--it's no problem at all. I'm just sorry we haven't found a solution to the problem.

~os

Edited by othersteve, 19 November 2009 - 05:47 PM.

[a_to_z]

I don't have an install CD---this PC came with Vista already installed. Still do the steps in the previous post?

[othersteve]

No; it won't help if you don't have a CD from which the system files can be restored.

Darn. I will keep thinking about this, but I just don't know if I have a rational, effective solution at my disposal.

~os

[happyrock]

not sure this will help but go here and get Windows Vista Recovery Disc ...its from microsoft and being hosted at neosmart...
my only complaint is you have to get it thru a torrent...you can burn it to a cd..its only a 200MB file...
if you don't have a burning program that will burn .ISO files go here and get burncdcc ..a small FAST no frills iso
burning program...

NOTE...do not put a blank cd in until burncdcc opens the tray for you
1. Start by clicking on BurnCDCC.exe
2. Browse to the ISO file you want to burn on cd/dvd ....
3. Select the ISO file
4. click on Start

make sure in the bios the cd drive is the first boot device....put the cd in the cd drive..boot your computer....select command prompt...type in chkdsk /r...press enter
NOTE THE SINGLE SPACE BEFORE THE /
While chkdsk is running you will see a light blue window with a dark blue band at the top and bottom. or a black dos box depending on on which cd you use... a Chkdsk will display the specific stage it is checking as well as the percentage of completion of the stage....
there are 5 stages...it may appear to hang at a certain % for a hour or more...it even will sometimes go back over a area...this is normal...
DO NOT SHUT DOWN THE COMPUTER OR YOU CAN HAVE SERIOUS PROBLEMS...it can take a long time depending on how large the drive is...
You cannot do anything else on your computer while chkdsk is running. When chkdsk is finished, it will automatically reboot your computer....try getting ONLY one update...
nojoy...
reboot from the cd again...command prompt and try sfc /scannow again

[a_to_z]

happyrock,

I created the disk, but excuse my ignorance--I know nothing about bios--how do I check the boot setting? I am planning on letting this run while I'm at work tomorrow--is there much risk of any problems resulting in loss of data while I'm gone? Also-do I need to run cmd as an administrator?

Thanks

[othersteve]

Hey a_to_z,

You may not need to change any settings at all if the message "press any key to boot from CD..." appears on its own upon booting.

But if it doesn't, enter your BIOS as stated ("Press whatever key to enter Setup") and then look for a boot device order option. Essentially, you want to place the CD/DVD-ROM device above the hard drive and then save the settings and reboot. This will prompt the system to check the CD drive before the hard drive for bootable media.

I hope this helps,

~os

[a_to_z]

Hi, I'm trying to start the scan but I get this message:
Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts?

What do I do?

[othersteve]

a_to_z,

If I am correct, I believe you must be trying to run the chkdsk command from within Windows.

Instead, follow these instructions to run it from the recovery command prompt:

1. Insert the Vista recovery CD you just burned and reboot.
2. If prompted, press any key to start Windows from the installation disc.
3. Choose your language settings, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. Select the operating system you want to repair, and then click Next.
6. On the System Recovery Options menu, click Command Prompt.
7. Once you reach the command prompt, type chkdsk /r to scan your disk for errors and repair them. This step will take a while.
8. Once the chkdsk command completes, type sfc /purgecache and press ENTER.
9. Then type sfc /scannow and let the system file checker run to completion per happyrock's instructions.

Cross your fingers.

~os

Edited by othersteve, 20 November 2009 - 10:05 AM.