Windows Repair 4.4.1

[jpmackay]

Good day to members here in this forum and Happy New Year to everyone too!

I am wondering if this updated version of Windows Repair 4.4.1 guarantee the fix of Windows Defender not like the previous version. I did not see any new information from Shane but he uploaded the latest version without any information.

Thank you,

John

[Boggin]

Happy New Year to you too - I'll ask.

[taneal1]

I am wondering if this updated version of Windows Repair 4.4.1 guarantee the fix of Windows Defender not like the previous version. I did not see any new information from Shane but he uploaded the latest version without any information.

My Windows 10 Update Service will not start. I ran 4.4.0 and it did not fix the issue. 4.4.1 appeared and I tried that. It shutdown my BITS (it did restart), Update still does not work, and now Windows Defender won't start. Also, when I try to open Services I get "an Admin has blocked this" despite the fact that I am the Admin with full permissions.


Tom

[Boggin]

I was getting mmc.exe was blocked by an admin in 4.4.0 when trying to access Services but found running the program again resolved that, but try your restore points first.

I've asked Shane if 4.4.1 resolves hanging onto Safe Mode and awaiting an answer.

I haven't test run 4.4.1 yet but 4.4.0 released Safe Mode for me which was the cause of WD being prevented from starting.

My Norton Security worked fine after the reboot, so I knew it had booted back to normal mode as it should.

[taneal1]

Restore cannot be accessed due to Admin blocking. I am the Admin with FULL privileges.

I reran 4.4.1 and now I have MORE issues than before.

Tom

[ComputerJunkie]

When I just got the 1809 update the other day, it was what messed up Windows Defender. I had LOTS of issues with WD after the update to the point it would not start, lag, freeze, not load and all kinds of weird things.

I also had a LOT of other issues with the computer, i.e., the time zone, date/time format, brightness icon removed from the battery, certain missing files, other changed options, Admin permissions being blocked when trying to move files... that had me in a fit!

I had not used WR anywhere near this update.

I tried to use WR AFTER the update and could not get the Safe Mode w/networking to work.

Instead, I had saved everything to an external HDD and reinstalled ver. 1809 a total of 3 times and it finally worked itself out, except for the Admin rights-very strange, but I think I have gotten past it (I hope?).

I am interested in trying the new 4.4.1 version, now that I have Win 1809 working but I am still reinstalling a few other programs that I need first.

So far, the computer is working great, now...almost better. lol

On the other hand, I helped another friend around the same time, over the phone, get their installation going and they also have an older machine and their 1809 update went on without a hitch-go figure! My guess? They probably don't change much to their computer so MS knew what to do, so to speak.

[Boggin]

Restore cannot be accessed due to Admin blocking. I am the Admin with FULL privileges.

I reran 4.4.1 and now I have MORE issues than before.

Tom

I have a laptop which is in the process of updating to 1809 so it could be some time before I will be able to test run 4.4.1 on it.

What other problems do you have ?

The repair program auto creates a registry back up before it runs the repairs.

Can you see if you can boot into the advanced options and then Safe Mode with Networking by pressing and holding SHIFT throughout a restart ?

I'm not sure if you will be able to access your restore points then but you can use the repair program via Backup Tools to use the Registry Restore option to see if that will get you back if your restore points still don't work.

Use the dropdown to select the backup before you ran 4.4.0

[Boggin]

When I just got the 1809 update the other day, it was what messed up Windows Defender. I had LOTS of issues with WD after the update to the point it would not start, lag, freeze, not load and all kinds of weird things.

I also had a LOT of other issues with the computer, i.e., the time zone, date/time format, brightness icon removed from the battery, certain missing files, other changed options, Admin permissions being blocked when trying to move files... that had me in a fit!

I had not used WR anywhere near this update.

I tried to use WR AFTER the update and could not get the Safe Mode w/networking to work.

Instead, I had saved everything to an external HDD and reinstalled ver. 1809 a total of 3 times and it finally worked itself out, except for the Admin rights-very strange, but I think I have gotten past it (I hope?).

I am interested in trying the new 4.4.1 version, now that I have Win 1809 working but I am still reinstalling a few other programs that I need first.

So far, the computer is working great, now...almost better. lol

On the other hand, I helped another friend around the same time, over the phone, get their installation going and they also have an older machine and their 1809 update went on without a hitch-go figure! My guess? They probably don't change much to their computer so MS knew what to do, so to speak.

Leave 4.4.1 for now unless you create a system image first.

If the machine is running fine then there's no need to run the repair program.

When you say you have/had admin problems - what were they ?

[ComputerJunkie]

For some reason, when I was trying to transfer folders/files (personal data) from my external hard drive to my computer there were some files that the message popped up saying I needed Admin rights and I didn't even get the Continue button, skip button or anything.

The status window had no other options on it at all. Only choice was to click the X at the top of it.

Granted I did not need these files, but you know when you make webpages and such, there will be both Mac and Win files in the folder, it would not allow the DS_store files (I think that is what they are called?) and encrypted files/folders to come over. I had to transfer anything encrypted as unencrypted.

I have never had those problems in the past so it got quite frustrating. I finally pinned it down to the exact place it was happening and deleted those files so I could move forward.

There was something else I was trying to do...I will have to try to remember what it was, it was on the computer itself, and it also told me I didn't have Admin rights. But, when I went to the user account all the green checks were on for the different permissions...

Oh! Another weird thing, I forgot. Granted I did not have to put the Win license Key back in, but the nickname of my computer was changed. It used to be PCAdd and now it changed to Compu - again not a big deal, but it still happened. And the timezone issue I mentioned on the other thread.

Oh! And one more thing, when doing this update, when it walks you through the setup, it forced me to choose a PIN, which didn't happen before. There was no option to do it later, say no thanks or nothing.

[taneal1]

What other problems do you have ?

I uninstalled 4.4.1, reinstalled and ran 4.4.0. I have now returned to the following issues:

1. Windows Update Service will NOT start due to a DLL Routine failure (error 1114). Prior to running 4.4.0 for the first time, Win Update Service would begin to start and then fail without any error code or information.

2. Win Defender will NOT start.

Windows Build is 10.0.17134 which I believe is Version 1803

[Boggin]

@ ComputerJunkie - So they are all related to the 1809 update ?

Have you used the Feedback to report that to MS ?

The update to 1809 completed late last night on my other Win 10 laptop but it won't be until later today that I will have a chance to see if anything has changed.

I did get one notification that Homegroup had been removed and I would have to use another method to transfer files but I've never used that anyway.

[Boggin]

@ taneal1 - For clarification are you now saying you had problems with Windows Update before you ran the repair program ?

I was rather hoping that you did as I'd asked in trying your restore points in Safe Mode or the program's Registry Restore before uninstalling/reinstalling the repair program.

You will have lost the program's registry backup so now you would be reliant on your restore points working in Safe Mode.

Windows Update and Windows Defender are isolated in Safe Mode so it looks like the program may have not released you from that mode.

Shane had built in an additional method to release from that mode, but has proven unsuccessful for a couple, but give it a try if your restore points don't do it for you.

Open Windows Explorer - Windows C: - Program Files (x86) - Tweaking.com - Windows Repair (All in One) - Files - regfiles and double click on remove_stuck_safemode.reg

Follow the prompts then reboot to see if Windows Defender will now work.

[taneal1]

@ taneal1 - For clarification are you now saying you had problems with Windows Update before you ran the repair program ?

Yes. That was my original reason for running Windows Repair.

Windows Update and Windows Defender are isolated in Safe Mode so it looks like the program may have not released you from that mode.

By "isolated" are you saying neither will run in Safe Mode or is there more to it than just this?

double click on remove_stuck_safemode.reg

Done. Win Defender and Update fail with the same error messages as before this action.

I don't think it matters at this point but should the Services for WD & Update be left in auto, manual, or something else? Whenever I reopen Services; Update is "disabled."

What is the best way to determine whether Windows is "stuck" in Safe Mode?

[Boggin]

Safe Mode only loads essential services which does not include Windows Update or Windows Defender which is why in that mode, they will not work.

It's obvious that 4.4.1 needs more work so I will pass this onto Shane.

I'm still in the process of checking out my other machine which I've recently updated to 1809 and when I've done that, I'll create a Macrium system image and test run 4.4.1.

However, I did run 4.4.0 on it when I had 1809 on it before without any adverse effects, but I need to see what 4.4.1 makes of it.

Have you tried booting into the advanced boot options to use the restore points to see if that gets you back to how things should be with Windows Defender ?

When you boot into Safe Mode normally, you will see Safe Mode on all four corners of the screen, but while the machine seems to have appeared to rebooted to normal mode after running the repair program, files haven't been deleted to get you fully back to normal mode and is why some services are still blocked from starting.

[taneal1]

Have you tried booting into the advanced boot options to use the restore points to see if that gets you back to how things should be with Windows Defender?

I believe I have exhausted all the boot options without success.

Before running 4.4.0 I could get into System Restore but none of the Restore Points were showing. Do they exist somewhere and I just can't access them? I doubt it. I did a quick check for the files on my Windows installation and they seem to have vanished. My focus had been on fixing Update.

At the moment, I can't get into System Restore via menus. I haven't tried accessing it via a Command Prompt because I don't think the Restore files exist anymore.

My current situation is:

Update won't start. This was true prior to running 4.4.0 the first time. Whenever I clicked Start, the start process would run for a second or two and a message that it wouldn't start appeared without a hint as to why. Services remained as previously set (auto or manual) whenever I reopened Services. Since running 4.4.0 I now get an error code: system error 1114 - a DLL initialization routine has failed. Whenever I open Services it has reset itself to "Disabled." 4.4.0/4.4.1 has changed something, whether for the better or not I can't say.

Restore System won't open. Prior to running 4.4.0/4.4.1 it would open, but no Restore Points were available. So, like Update, Restore did not work prior to running 4.4.0/4.4.1, but now I can't even open it, so something has changed with that also.

Windows Defender won't Start. Prior to running 4.4.0/4.4.1, it was working normally. At the moment I'm using SuperAntiSpyware to protect the system.

[Boggin]

All I can suggest for the moment is for you to perform the Reset option which preserves your personal stuff but it will remove any installed programs, so if you have any paid for ones, then you will need to make a note of their product keys.

It may also be advisable to make a note of the installed programs so that you don't miss any when reinstalling.

I have emailed Shane about WR still not releasing fully Safe Mode with a link to the thread which includes your post but will have to wait for him to get back to me.