Win10 21H2 recurring BSOD: BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO with SFC fail, DISM /Restorehealth error 0x800f0801

[SalvationSable]

Hi all,
(my first post here. In desperate need for help after 2 days/nights combing through forums and webpages in search for a solution. This seems a pretty competent forum here. My background is that I need to save that Windows install to work on my doctorate.)

I have a DELL XPS 15 9575 2in1 which ran Windows 10 Enterprise 64bit 21H2 Build 19044.2130 fine until last Wednesday (2022-10-19). This is when it was preparing Windows Updates in the background (if I recall correctly the version update to 22H2) when its system drive C:\ filled completely to 0MB left. I noticed and initiated a restart after which I was stuck with a recurring BSOD (bluescreen) with stopcode BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO.

Therefore I cannot boot into the Windows 10 installation, but can only launch the command prompt (cmd) of its Windows PE 10.0.19041.1 (Preinstallation Environment). I used this to free up some space on C:\ by copying some files to my only second partition D:\ on that laptop/drive. C:\ now has via cmd command "fsutil volume diskfree C:\" 1,3GB free.
I also made a bootable Win10 21H2 USB drive, from which I can also boot and launch in its WinPE cmd, copy log files to it to be read from my other desktop PC or serve as Windows Image source e.g. for DISM.

1. Along my internet research trying to figure out a solution I first suspected and checked the bootloader on the EFI partition. If needed, I can give more details on what I did there.
   
   
2. I proceeded to boot into the WinPE's cmd and first ran
   chkdsk which completed in 29.99 sec with
   "filesystem checked, no problems detected, no further actions neccessary" * and the
   error "The protocolled messages could not be transferrred to the event protocol. Status: 6" *
   
   * Since my Windows is in german I have roughly translated all error messages.
   
   
3. I proceeded with SFC:
   sfc /scannow which completed 100% but with the
   error "The Windows ressource protection could not execute the requested process" *
   
   
4. I proceeded with DISM:
   1. DISM.exe /Image:C:\ /ScratchDir:C:\Scratch\ /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
      ==> error: "The component database cannot be repaired." *
   2. DISM.exe /Image:C:\ /ScratchDir:C:\Scratch\ /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
      ==> Error: 1009 "The Database of the configuration registry is damaged." *
   3. DISM.exe /Image:C:\ /ScratchDir:C:\Scratch\ /Cleanup-Image /RevertPendingActions
      ==> Error: 1009 ...
      
      I then queried the vim index of Windows Enterprise on my bootable Win-USB-stick (E:\) to be 3 with:
      DISM.exe /get-wiminfo /wimfile:E:\sources\install.wim
      
      
   4. DISM.exe /Image:C:\ /ScratchDir:C:\Scratch\ /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:wim:E:\sources\install.wim:3 /limitaccess
      ==> Error: 0x800f0801
      "DISM error: No procedure has been executed. Further information in the log file under X:\windows\Logs\DISM\dism.log" *
      
      This DISM log file I then copied to my bootable USB-stick and you find attached below. It has several suspicious entries all having this file in common:
      
      2022-10-22 00:25:10, Info CSI 00000001 Shim considered [l:126]'\??\C:\Windows\Servicing\amd64_microsoft-windows-servicingstack_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.19041.1940_none_7dd80d767cb5c7b0\wcp.dll' : got STATUS_OBJECT_PATH_NOT_FOUND
      2022-10-22 00:25:10, Info CSI 00000002 Shim considered [l:123]'\??\C:\Windows\WinSxS\amd64_microsoft-windows-servicingstack_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.19041.1940_none_7dd80d767cb5c7b0\wcp.dll' : got STATUS_SUCCESS
      
      Is this maybe the troublemaker? How do I get rid of this?
      The X:\Windows\Logs\CBS folder was always empty.
      
      I also renamed the two folders to _.old, which was recommended somewhere, but didn't change any of the above errors:
      ren C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.old
      ren C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 Catroot2.old
      
5. I also proceeded to copy your ComponentsScanner.exe here from sysnative to C:\ and execute it in the WinPE cmd, but it only loads the registry hive from the WinPE (10.0.19041.1) under X:\Windows\System32\config\COMPONENTS not from C:\Windows (19044.2130). It found 1 corruption there: "Key Installers does not exist or could not be loaded". Log file also attached, but it is only of the WinPE. Are there cmd options to have it load the registry hive from C:\Windows?

Now I really would appreciate some further help from any of the experts here. If you need any further logs or info, let me know. Any help is really appreciated here!
Thank you!

 

[SalvationSable]

gentle push up.
Any sort of help, advice, review is highly appreciated.
Maybe I misleadingly typed in the thread name "BSOD: BAD_SYSTEM_COMFIG_INFO" but it is definitely caused by a Windows Update process (presumably to 22H2), whose already made changes could not be reverted upon restart because my system drive C:\ had filled completely. When I restarted the restart icon still only said normal "Restart" and not "Restart and apply updates", maybe this info helps.

Thanks in advance!

 

[x BlueRobot]

The first step I would strongly recommend is to create a Linux Live CD/USB and then create a backup of any personal files you don't want to lose. A corrupted COMPONENTS hive should not prevent the system from booting and therefore the main cause of the problem is going to lie elsewhere. Once you've booted from the Live CD/USB, then please provide the following files:

1. Your COMPONENTS hive from %systemroot%\system32\config
2. Your SYSTEM hive from %systemroot%\system32\config
3. The MEMORY.DMP file which should be available from %systemroot%, otherwise please check for .dmp files within %systemroot%\Minidump

 

[SalvationSable]

Hi x BlueRobot & thank you for your reply.

Attached you find the COMPONENTS and SYSTEM hive you asked for.
Neither in %systemroot% (standard C:\Windows in my case) nor in %systemroot%\Minidump I could find a MEMORY.DMP file. Any idea where else to look?
For backing up my needed personal files I had most stored on my second partition D:\ from the beginning and remaining files on C:\ like e.g. the files on my Desktop I moved to D:\ via the WinPE cmd.
I am not familiar how to create a Linux Live USB, so far I only know how to create a Win10 bootable USB stick using rufus and work with basic MS-DOS commands in the cmd.
I did run another extended diagnostics test of the DELL ePSA (pre-Boot System Assessment) and it verified all hardware components to be intact and functional.
Thx for the help!

 

[x BlueRobot]

It's going to be more difficult to diagnose the issue unfortunately without the dump files, however, we can still try and see what the matter is. Are you able to boot from the Windows DVD into the recovery environment (Safe Mode) and then access your disk from there? You can use method #6 from this tutorial to do so. I would then delete or move additional files until there is sufficient disk space for a dump file to be saved; 1.3GB isn't enough, you'll want at least 10-15GB free space. Your COMPONENTS hive appears to be okay though?