Author Topic: Missing Windows Servicing Packages files & update problems (Read 154788 times)

Boggin · « **Reply #25 on:** April 18, 2015, 06:51:31 am »

There was one thing that I learned in that article and that was that if SP1 came preinstalled then you won't be able to uninstall it, which is why you can't find it.

While there are a number of Google links for that error, I'm just going through the CBS log to see if this article is of any help http://beerpla.net/2011/05/06/how-to-fix-error_not_found-0x80070490-during-windows-7-sp1-installation/ but twice when I've accessed it, I got an error that IE had stopped responding - don't know if it's that web page but the forum web page was refreshed and I had to restart this post each time.

Anyway, I've identified similar lines in your CBS log to those in the article so perhaps you can follow those steps to see if SP1 will then install - but again, create a restore point before making any changes.

There's also this article which I came across by clicking an a sub link in the article. http://blogs.technet.com/b/asiasupp/archive/2011/06/20/the-error-0x80070490-element-not-found-when-you-are-installing-a-service-pack-or-update.aspx

If it doesn't install, you can decide if you want to back up your personal stuff and factory reset or for me to send you those install disks.

The offboot sfc /scannow could negate the need for either a factory reset or repair install.

Tone111 · « **Reply #26 on:** April 18, 2015, 12:45:39 pm »

Thanks for the info Boggin - SP1 wasn't pre-installed though - the machine was newly installed with W7 in 12/09 and SP1 was installed on the Updates list in 04/12 - so it IS on the list (Installed Updates, not Programs & Features) and I can find it, it just doesn't give an option to uninstall - does this mean that it can be installed if it came through Windows Updates or not if there's no option on the Control Panel WU page?

I'll have a read through the articles anyway and see if I can find what you're referring to and what actions I can take...

Boggin · « **Reply #27 on:** April 18, 2015, 01:24:35 pm »

To uninstall a Windows Update you just usually click on it and use the Uninstall option or right clicking on it will give the same.

This article could be of some help but to determine if the SP1 back up files have been removed, run Disk Cleanup as an admin and check to see if the back up files are listed as having any MBs. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/uninstall-sp1

They aren't default checked to be removed.

You would only get a prompt for SP1 through Windows Update if it was no longer installed.

Tone111 · « **Reply #28 on:** April 18, 2015, 01:46:31 pm »

Well that's what I thought - all the other updates (which I looked at, I haven't checked every one!) have an option to uninstall, but this option disappears when I select SP1!

Ok, ran disk cleanup as admin and found no bytes for Service Pack Backup files - I think they may have been deleted at some point when my HD got too full - is that a problem?

I'm still reading the articles you linked, not sure what to make of the entries in my CBS log really, it's been a long day....

Boggin · « **Reply #29 on:** April 18, 2015, 01:57:23 pm »

I got your PM okay but have inadvertently replied through my gmail account's notification, so check your e-mails.

Edit - have you tried that command prompt method to see if that will uninstall it ?

Tone111 · « **Reply #30 on:** April 18, 2015, 02:21:24 pm »

Checked my emails and there's nothing there other than the Tweaking.com notifications. I did get one PM from you and replied to it but I don't know if you got my reply or not?

Yes, just tried the elevated command prompt method to uninstall SP1 and it gives the same error message (Element not found 80070490) as when trying to install!!

so I can't install it Or uninstall it, jeez, back to the articles....

Boggin · « **Reply #31 on:** April 18, 2015, 02:32:59 pm »

PM sent.

So it looks like the back up has to be there to uninstall and to reinstate, a repair install or factory reset when applicable, is required.

Tone111 · « **Reply #32 on:** April 18, 2015, 03:06:07 pm »

Argh, nooooo!

Well after looking at the Dell website the factory reset is Definitely the last resort as this would mean losing everything on the PC and having to re-install it all from scratch again, programs, settings, etc etc..! Not to mention a huge backup job which also hasn't been done for ages..

So I guess I'll have to wait for the disks and try the offline SFC and then repair install if that's what you recommend..?

Tone111 · « **Reply #33 on:** April 18, 2015, 03:26:18 pm »

Or just a thought - could I get these SP backup files from the HP laptop with W7 SP1 x64 which i have access to? If pasted them into the correct location do you think this might allow the KB to either install or uninstall?

Boggin · « **Reply #34 on:** April 18, 2015, 03:36:24 pm »

I don't know if the SP1 download has a Save option where you could try downloading it onto the HP and then copying it across to run its .exe if it has one.

I think if that was possible, MS would have suggested that (or not), as that is what they suggest to run their Fixits when the affected computer is unable to connect to the Internet.

Tone111 · « **Reply #35 on:** April 18, 2015, 04:31:28 pm »

Ah well, it was just a thought!

Well none of the MS Fixits/troubleshooters or SURT have worked so far so if a repair install is the next option then it has to be worth a try, unless there's anything else out there that might effect a repair...

Boggin · « **Reply #36 on:** April 19, 2015, 12:49:14 am »

Shane may have some thoughts on it when he gets back on Monday - work commitments permitting, but it's a puzzle why after working okay that SP1 should be causing problems now - unless it isn't SP1.

Tone111 · « **Reply #37 on:** April 19, 2015, 05:04:43 am »

Well it's actually been giving me problems for almost 18 months now, on and off - the machine first went tits up big style in Dec '13 and I've been trying to get it back to full working order ever since! I've had successes along the way and WU has worked intermittently in that time, but never for long, and installing or configuring updates always seems to be the sticking point and the thing that causes WU to stop working again, so whether SP1 is the root cause of the problems, or just a symptom of something else that's happened at some point while trying to update or remove malware or any other issue I don't know.

I tried resolving via this forum now as I've used the All in One Repair several times over this period, and because the new version which updated recently now does the pre-scan, which throws up several things that I haven't seen previously, and thought that Shane or some other forum wiz might be able to get to the bottom of

All I know is the machine doesn't like installing anything from Microsoft, whether it be updates or Windows Live, although Office 365 went on fine earlier this year, and I can get the occasional update on via PortUp, but none using WU, and 3rd party software is usually ok...

I've perused the article you linked on fixing SP1 using the pnputil for 80070490, but my CBS log doesn't contain any references to "Failed uninstalling driver updates"; it contains plenty with the "0x80070490 – ERROR_NOT_FOUND" though, so I've pasted all these into the attached text file if this gives you anything to go on. I also couldn't find anything in the setupapi.dev.log containing "Failed to find driver update" or "FAILURE(0x00000490)" so a missing driver update doesn't seem to be the culprit as this article suggests, thanks for finding it anyway, I'm willing to try anything that might be of help until the install disks arrive...

Boggin · « **Reply #38 on:** April 19, 2015, 09:13:13 am »

That should make it easier for Shane to make some sense of but for the most part they seem to refer to your recent attempts to install SP1.

But - when I see something like those, I tend to go into major repair mode such as a factory reset

Shane · « **Reply #39 on:** April 20, 2015, 01:33:52 pm »

I am going to do a test in vmware on windows 7 with sp1 and see what happens.

All the files in the packages folders are listed (Or they should be) here
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing\Packages

I had a user who couldnt install an update and even after replacing the corrupt files in the packages folder it wouldnt install, so I removed the registry keys for that file and the update installed.

So the test I am going to do is see what happens when I remove some keys out of there, I am also curious if you might have some things not listed in there, causing windows to think you need SP1 installed when you dont, and so when you try it errors out because it is already installed. If that is the case we can put back any missing registry keys there. But first let me see what happens when I purposely go screw up that registry location and see how windows handles it

Shane

Tone111 · « **Reply #40 on:** April 21, 2015, 08:23:10 am »

Ok, sounds interesting Shane - look forward to seeing how that goes then and whether anything similar can be done with mine....

Boggin · « **Reply #41 on:** April 21, 2015, 08:51:55 am »

Did you run Disk Cleanup as an admin to see if the SP1 back up files are still there showing as more than 0MB ?

BTW - I've seen your PM.

Tone111 · « **Reply #42 on:** April 21, 2015, 08:58:58 am »

Think I answered this one at the weekend, but yes I did check and found 0Mb for the SP backup files - I seem to recall deleting them way back when I was cleaning my HD up as I read they wouldn't be required again (little did I know!

)

That's when I suggested copying the backup files from the HP W7 SP1 laptop I have access to, if you know where they are on the HD, but you didn't seem to think it was possible, unless we've misunderstood each other on this?

Boggin · « **Reply #43 on:** April 21, 2015, 09:21:07 am »

From what I read, if they were missing then you wouldn't be able to uninstall SP1 but if Shane can do anything with the registry to fool Windows into thinking they aren't there, then the SP1 install could succeed.

Shane · « **Reply #44 on:** April 21, 2015, 11:55:37 am »

Well I learned a lot on this after spending most of my day yesterday ripping apart Windows lol

There are 4 locations that have to do with the updates, C:\Windows\Winsxs, HKLM\Components (Which only loads when you check for updates and such), HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing and C:\Windows\servicing

I did all kinds of different things to see how windows updates would respond. And it comes down to this, if there is a single error in any of them the updates fail. There is no rebuild option and we are talking about 50,000+ files and 80,000+ registry keys.

I realized that the error numbers given when an update fails or the errors that are in the cbs.log file are not meant for the user, but instead meant only for the MS techs who make the updates. This is why they are always so cryptic and give no proper info on why or what is failing.

Basically if a virus went in any of those registry locations and simply removed them updates will never work again without a reinstall.

Right now my pre-scan uses the registry location to know what files to look for, but if those registry keys are gone the program wont know if any files are missing since they wont be listed. And since what keys and files are there depend on what updates are installed, there is no easy way to simply import over what we need from another system, and that is because of the insane amount of files and registry keys!

No down to a point though there is a middle ground. The system readiness tool knows how to handle all this and put things back, BUT only if it has the manifest, cat and mum files.

As you will see here you can add the files for the system readiness tool to look at and use, BUT you have to manually go and download each update of the missing files you need.
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee619779%28v=ws.10%29.aspx

So I am thinking of making a tool that will grab the files from a huge file repository I am making, it will download any needed files (If I have it) and then put it in the folders the system readiness tools looks at, then the user will run the ms tool and let it do the work.

I have no clue how long that will take me to make, but is worth a shot. Their tool is great for replacing missing and bad files, but it is lacking big time on the files it has. So let me see if I can make up on that slack and make it better

Shane

Boggin · « **Reply #45 on:** April 22, 2015, 01:26:41 am »

@ Shane - I've sent Tony a couple of Win 7 x64 SP1 universal install disks with which he's initially going to run an offboot sfc /scannow at the weekend.

Will this be sufficient to replace any of the relevant missing/corrupt registry files ?

Tone111 · « **Reply #46 on:** April 22, 2015, 03:34:00 am »

Ok, I hear what you're saying Shane - sounds pretty open ended and could possibly take quite a while...

Meanwhile I have the install disks - many thanks to our great forum member Boggin!

- I could potentially run the offline SFC any time if that's worth a shot, as it doesn't take too much time, but I'm not sure how to run it though as I've never used an install disk; I won't have time to do a backup and repair install (if that's what you recommend) until the weekend or maybe even later, depending how things go and how long it takes..

Boggin · « **Reply #47 on:** April 22, 2015, 03:59:22 am »

The offboot sfc /scannow is pretty easy to do http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/139810-sfc-scannow-run-command-prompt-boot.html

When you first switch the computer on, at the bottom of the screen it will prompt to press F2 for setup which is the BIOS or F12 to change the boot order, but these keys may differ with different makes of computer.

Tapping the key to change the boot order as you switch on will give you a small window where you use the cursor keys to select ODD (Optical Disk Drive) - insert the disk and press enter.

This is a one off boot order change.

After pressing any key to boot from CD/DVD as prompted, you may get a black screen with an option to press F8 rather than it taking you straight to the splash screen as in the tutorial.

Press F8 then select Safe Mode with Command Prompt which will take you to the splash screen where you can then follow the steps in the tutorial for Method One.

BTW - you got those disks pretty quick

Tone111 · « **Reply #48 on:** April 22, 2015, 04:41:21 am »

Yeah I thought so too - came first thing this morning, but unfortunately they were in 64 bits!!

Ha, excuse the crap pun - no they were fine, wasn't expecting them so soon though - the marvels of our British postal service at it's (occasional) best!

Ok I'll give that a go then - I have done an offline SFC before but only from my own system repair disk, which I presume has the same files on that came from my own HD rather than the original installation files, so I'll see what difference that makes and whether it repairs anything that the 'normal' SFC can't.

Will get back as and when - may have to be from W8.1 laptop if anything goes amiss with my desktop during the operation....

fingers crossed!

Tone111 · « **Reply #49 on:** April 22, 2015, 05:30:21 am »

Right, well that went, well I'm not really sure!

I booted into the installation disk no problem and got to the recovery screen options and selected DOS prompt, as I have with my own repair disk previously. When typing the drive for the offline SFC scan I used F: (as per the instructions) which is the DVD ROM, but it said Windows Resource Protection couldn't start the service! So I tried changing it to C:, which is the RECOVERY partition - same message, and finally managed to get it to run from D:, which is the OS!

So as expected, the scan returned the usual "found errors but was unable to fix them all", which is bound to happen as it's looking at the files on my HD isn't it, which is the same as doing a scan from within Windows itself!?

Have I done something wrong here? It seems to me that all I've done is the same thing I've done using my own system repair disk, which is pulling the info and files from the HD, so I'm not sure what we were hoping to see...