[SOLVED] Windows 7, huge datastore.edb hogging RAM

H

HenryFlower

Member
Joined
May 23, 2015
Posts
10
Hi Sysnative experts,

for at least two weeks now my PC running Windows 7 practically grinds to a halt whenever wuauserv searches for automatic updates; it seems to constantly read/write datastore.edb, which is now almost 600Mb large.
I've tried various things, like resetting windows update as per microsoft instructions, ran update readiness, sfc, and also sfcfix, but the problem continues.

This is what SFCfix reports:

SFCFix version 2.4.3.0 by niemiro.
Start time: 2015-05-23 20:54:21.550
Microsoft Windows 7 Service Pack 1 - amd64
Not using a script file.




AutoAnalysis::
WARNING: File C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-u..ed-telemetry-client_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.18839_none_fe0845bb1d97efda\utc.app.json was not backed up as that would replace the current backup.
FIXED: Corruption at C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-u..ed-telemetry-client_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.18839_none_fe0845bb1d97efda\utc.app.json has been successfully repaired from C:\Windows\winsxs\amd64_microsoft-windows-u..ed-telemetry-client_31bf3856ad364e35_6.1.7601.23040_none_fe7de82236c5fac8\utc.app.json.




SUMMARY: All detected corruptions were successfully repaired.
AutoAnalysis:: directive completed successfully.




Successfully processed all directives.
SFCFix version 2.4.3.0 by niemiro has completed.
Currently storing 2 datablocks.
Finish time: 2015-05-23 20:55:39.531
----------------------EOF-----------------------

I am also attaching a ZIP of CBS logfiles and would appreciate any hints on how to tackle this problem...
 

Attachments

Hi and welcome to Sysnative. Sorry for delay. Does this only happen when searching for Windows Updates? The reason I ask is that there is no corruption to be fixed. Your logs are clean. Please let me know.
 
Thanks for getting back to me. Yes, it only happens when automatic update is running on its own, or when i start the process via "look for updates now".
 
OK, thanks. Please do the following so I can gather some info.

FRST Scan
1. Please download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool and save it to your Desktop.
Note: You need to run the 64-bit Version so please ensure you download that one.
2. Right click to run as administrator. When the tool opens click Yes to disclaimer.
3. Please ensure you place a check mark in the Addition.txt check box at the bottom of the form before running (if not already).
4. Press Scan button.
5. It will produce a log called FRST.txt in the same directory the tool is run from (which should now be the desktop)
6. Please copy and paste log back here.
7. Another log (Addition.txt - also located in the same directory as FRST64.exe) will be generated Please also paste that along with the FRST.txt into your reply.
 
Sorry, for the delay. I was out of town unexpectedly...

Here are the two files.
I see that some of the messages are in German, presumably because my Win7 runs in German. If you have difficulties with these messages I'd be happy to assist of course.

Thanks.
 

Attachments

I see errors related to Kerio Personal Firewall that you used to have. Doesn't look like it was completely cleared out of your system. Other than that I see that you have the bare minimum as far as RAM goes. It doesn't seem sufficient to run your machine with the programs that you have installed.

To see if any of this has any relevance to the issue you are having, please do a Clean Boot of your machine and let me know if the symptoms still exist.
 
It's the same with a Clean Boot. As soon as wuauserv is getting started it reads/writes this huge datastore.edb file...
 
If you've tried anything I recommend just let me know. Let's do the following.

Step#1 - Run Windows Repairs
1. Download Windows Repair (All-in-One) Portable to your desktop.
2. Once the file is downloaded, right-click on the file on your desktop and choose Extract All...
Extract.JPG

3. Keep the defaults and click the Extract button.
4. A folder named tweaking.com_windows_repair_aio will be extracted to the desktop. Once the extraction is complete the folder will open.
5. Inside this folder, there is a folder named Tweaking.com - Windows Repair. Open this folder as well.
Capture.JPG



6. Double-click on Repair_Windows.exe to open.
7. When the program opens, click the Repairs tab and click the Open Repairs button.
8. A backup of your registry will be made. After a few moments you will have many options from which you can choose.
9. Please click the Unselect All button and then click to enable only the following ones:

03 - Reset Service Permissions
04 - Register System Files
05 - Repair WMI
10 - Remove Policies Set By Infection
17 - Repair Windows Updates
21 - Repair MSI (Windows Installer)


10. Ensure the Restart check box is selected and click the Start Repairs button in the lower right of the screen. This may take some time to run so be patient.
StartRepairsWithReboot.JPG

11. Once the fixes are complete you will be prompted to restart your machine. Answer Yes.
 
Ok, i ran Repair_Windows following your instructions and observed the following:

1. it deletes the complete SoftwareDistribution directory
2. after the reboot Windows re-creates the directory with its subdirectories, datastore.edb is about 8Mb large at this stage
3. then, when Windows Update runs for the first time, it seems to "rebuild" datastore.edb and blows it up to a size of almost 560Mb again, and hence my problem starts anew, every time wuauserv runs it crunches on this huge file and clogs up the system resources...
 
and blows it up to a size of almost 560Mb
Click to expand...

Just so you know, this size is absolutely normal. It shouldn't however cause the issues that you are seeing. At this point I'm going to have to check with my colleagues to see if they have any ideas. I'll be back soon.
 
They got back to me. Can you please zip/attach your c:\windows\windowsupdate.log file? If it's too big to attach, please upload to SendSpace and just provide me the link.

Thank you.
 
Very good, here is the windowsupdate.log.
The log may contain some abortive from the past days, as i sometimes had to stop windows update with net stop wuauserv when i needed the machine and could not wait for wuauserv to finish whatever it does.

However, the most recent section beginning with "2015-06-03 22:01:17:510 1000 a1c Misc =========== Logging initialized (build: 7.6.7601.18804, tz: +0200) ===========" and continuing until the end of the log represents the most recent and complete uninterrupted run of Windows Update.
 

Attachments

After discussing with my colleagues we are unfortunately out of options. The next step would be a repair install which should hopefully fix it. A repair install keeps your data and programs but is our last option. You have to have a Windows 7 with SP1 x64 DVD however. Do you happen to have one and are you willing to try the repair?
 
Uh, i suspected it might come to that. Yes, I have a Win 7 x64 DVD, altough I'm not sure if it is SP1, the case and print on the DVD say nothing about it, so probably not. I'm definitely willing to try the repair, as the whole issue is rather annoying...
 
First step is to make sure you have a backup of your data. Although I personally have never had an issue doing this, unforeseen issued can happen when doing a repair install. If you can't find or borrow a Windows 7 x64 DVD with SP1, your only option is to Uninstall SP1 from your machine before doing the repair. Information on uninstall SP1 as well as doing the repair is at the following link. Please review and let me know if you have any questions.

https://www.sysnative.com/forums/windows-7-windows-vista-tutorials/3900-place-upgrade-install-windows-windows-7-vista.html
 
I did the repair install, yet the problem still occurs.

I attach the update log of the first complete run of wuauserv after the repair install, maybe there is something helpful in it? Please note that even though the log shows practically no activity between 18:20 and 19:33 wuauserv occupied a large part of my RAM with datastore.edb for that time as well.
 

Attachments

The only thing I can think of is to add some RAM to your machine to see if the issue still exists. I don't know if that's an option for you or not. If you want to, let me know and I can assist. What I suggest at this point is to post an inquiry in our Windows 7 forum to see if they have any other advice. They may have seen this before and have other ideas. You can reference this thread and let them know that we determined that Windows Update appears healthy and at least they can see what was done already. Let me know what you decide as either way I'd like to follow this through. Thank you.
 
Microsoft brought out KB:3050265 about a week ago or so which addresses my problem; I installed it two days ago, and so far wuauserv behaves normal, RAM usage is much lower now when checking for updates (typically below 150MB, whereas before it would peak at about 1GB at some point).

Thanks for all your attention and suggestions, I consider this problem solved at the moment...
 
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