[SOLVED] Windows Update doesn't work anymore on Win10 Ent LTSC 1809

G

glsys

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Dec 11, 2021
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In mid-January I’ve installed Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC Version 1809 Build 17763.107 , while in October I’ve noticed that Windows Update is no longer applying updates. In fact the last updates installed date back to July 14 and are KB5004244 and KB5003541.

The procedure always ends with these errors:

2021-01 Update for Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based systems (KB4589208) - Error 0x80073712 Status: Some update files are missing or there are issues. Another attempt to download the update later will be automatically performed. Error Code: (0x80073712)​
​
2021-08 Cumulative Update of .NET Framework 3.5, 4.7.2 and 4.8 for Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64 (KB5004870) - Error 0x80073712 Status: Some files of the update are missing or there are issues. Another attempt to download the update later will be automatically performed. Error Code: (0x80073712)​
​
2021-10 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based systems (KB5006672) - Error 0xca00a000​

Below is a list of what I tried without solving anything

1) The following Dism commands:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth (result= "Component archive is recoverable")
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth DISM /Online /Cleanup-image /RestoreHealth DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:E:\Sources\install.wim DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:E:\Sources\install.wim /LimitAccess DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:wim:E:\Sources\install.wim:1 /LimitAccess Dism /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

All commands except the first one are showing the following: "Error: 14098 Corrupted Component Archive".

2) The .wim image contained inside the iso file of Win10 Ent LTSC 1809 Build 17763.107 has been updated slipstreaming the last update that in my pc has been correctly installed in July, so that both the installed os and the .wim image are updated to version 10.0.17763.2061. Nonetheless the restore attempt with the dism commands that specify the .wim file as source returns "Error: 14098 Component Archive corrupted".

3) sfc /scannow (result= "Windows Resource Protection: Unable to perform the requested operation")

4) chkdsk/f C: (result= no problem found)

5) I followed all the advice from the official Microsoft support on this page Windows Update - Additional resources - Windows Deployment . In the path shown in point 3 the qmgr*.dat files were not present. It is not possible to re-register many dll shown in point 6, an error is obtained

6) Attempting to manually install the latest Maintenance Stack update for Windows 10 Version 1809 (KB5005112) fails. In addition, any attempt to manually (downloading them from Microsoft Update Catalog) install the updates that Windows Update fails to install automatically, ends with a generic error.

7) Uninstalling the latest updates dating back to July 14 (KB5004244 and KB5003541) fails because you get an error.

8) Disk and RAM diagnostics performed with Samsung Magician 7, Crystal Disk 8 Info and Memtest86 Free 9.3 do not detect any problems.

9) November and December cumulative updates are subject to the same issue.

10) Windows Defender antivirus is updated regularly and not affected by the problem.

11) The CBS.log file contains errors such as:

Failed to run Detect and repair. [HRESULT = 0x80073712 - ERROR_SXS_COMPONENT_STORE_CORRUPT].



Other than the described Windows Update issue, the operating system and all applications are working as usual.

Has anyone experienced something similar or have any ideas about this ? Thank You.
 
Last edited:
Retrieve Components Hive
1. Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\Config and locate the COMPONENTS file.
2. Please copy this file to your desktop.
Note: If you receive an error that this file is in-use, simply reboot your computer and try again.
3. Right-click on this file on your desktop and select Send To...Compressed (zipped) folder. This will create a file named COMPONENTS.ZIP on your desktop.
4. The file will likely be too large to upload here so please upload to a file sharing service. Examples of services to upload to are Dropbox or OneDrive or Google Drive and then just provide the link in your reply.
 
Hello x BlueRobot and thank You for the quick reply !

The components file attached is only 8 KB in size.
 

Attachments

Your COMPONENTS hive is practically empty!

Rich (BB code): 
COMPONENTS hive is very small (<6MB). This could indicate major corruption & large missing sections of data
COMPONENTS hive contains no parsable registry values
Critical registry key "COMPONENTS\CanonicalData\Catalogs" does not exist or could not be loaded
Critical registry key "COMPONENTS\CanonicalData\Deployments" does not exist or could not be loaded
Critical registry key "COMPONENTS\DerivedData\Components" does not exist or could not be loaded
Critical registry key "COMPONENTS\DerivedData\VersionedIndex" does not exist or could not be loaded
Critical registry key "COMPONENTS\ServicingStackVersions" does not exist or could not be loaded
Critical registry key "COMPONENTS\Installers" does not exist or could not be loaded

Have you run any registry cleaning programs or "optimisation" programs? Unfortunately, the only way to fix this issue would be to perform a clean install of the operating system unless you have a backup image you can use?
 
x BlueRobot said:
Your COMPONENTS hive is practically empty!
Click to expand...

Comparing the COMPONENT file sizes of other users on this forum who have had similar problems, I had guessed that it was a serious problem ...

x BlueRobot said:
Have you run any registry cleaning programs or "optimisation" programs?
Click to expand...

No, I've never considered them, and I test all programs on VMware Workstation before installing them on my daily usage os.

x BlueRobot said:
Unfortunately, the only way to fix this issue would be to perform a clean install of the operating system unless you have a backup image you can use?
Click to expand...

I don't have a backup image but, as mentioned in point two of my first post, the .wim image contained within the Windows 10 Ent LTSC 1809 Build 17763.107 iso file has been updated with the Dism command to include the KB5004244 update, the last one that was properly installed in July before the problem occurred.

This way both the installed Os and the .wim image are updated to the same version, 10.0.17763.2061.

I could use the 50 MB COMPONENTS file contained inside this .wim image that is sharing the same patch level of my pc ...
 
To give you an idea of the differences between the .wim image and the operating system, I ran the command

Dism ... /Get-Packages (List all packages in the image)

The differences in the output can be seen here.

On the left there is the output of the .wim image, while on the right there is the output of the running Os.

As you can see the version of the image is the same, but I don't know if the different packages could have an effect in the restore attempt ...
 
You could try it, especially since the current COMPONENTS hive is pretty much empty. However, please ensure that you keep the original version too. The main problem with using the COMPONENTS hive from another system - albeit almost identical - is that you would need to ensure that both Component Stores (WinSxS) are the same as well.
 
Once I copy the COMPONENTS file from the .wim image, what should I do: run Windows Update directly or the Dism commands mentioned in step 1 ?

Shouldn't the Dism commands correct the discrepancies between the WinSxS folder and the COMPONENTS file ?
 
glsys said:
Shouldn't the Dism commands correct the discrepancies between the WinSxS folder and the COMPONENTS file ?
Click to expand...
Possibly, it'll give it a go using the DISM command below and then report back either way.

Rich (BB code): 
DISM /Online /Cleanup-image /RestoreHealth
 
I’ve updated the .wim image again by adding the packages KB4465065 KB4535680 KB5003711 KB5003541 KB5004244 and removing "Hello-Face-Migration" and got a near perfect match with the system in use.

The differences (visible here) are actually not significant: three packages have been replaced (the first and the last two), all the others are old versions of Servicing stack update for Windows 10.

The only package I could not integrate is Security update for "Adobe Flash KB4580325" because it is no longer present in the Microsoft Catalog.

I copied the COMPONENTS file from the .wim image replacing the one of the system in use and ran the command "DISM /Online /Cleanup-image /RestoreHealth" which ended successfully, although the WinSxS folder and the COMPONENTS file seems not to have been modified.

I tried running Windows Update and everything worked again and the missing updates were installed !

I have been testing for a few days now and everything works as before: there is no error in the event log or any other anomaly. Also, all the other commands mentioned in point 1 of the first post, sfc /scannow and the removal of updates with disk cleanup are successful.

Thank you for pointing out that the COMPONENTS file was the problem.
 
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Have you ever experienced other cases similar to the one described where the COMPONENTS file appeared empty ? What could be the cause ?
 
I've never seen a COMPONENTS hive that bad, to be honest, I was quite shocked. The COMPONENTS hive usually becomes corrupted because of:
  • Third-party cleanup programs such as registry cleaners and defrag tools
  • Failing hardware such as RAM or hard-disk
  • Power failures during an update
  • Back up programs not correctly creating shadow copies
 
x BlueRobot said:
I've never seen a COMPONENTS hive that bad, to be honest, I was quite shocked. The COMPONENTS hive usually becomes corrupted because of:
  • Third-party cleanup programs such as registry cleaners and defrag tools
Click to expand...

Never used

x BlueRobot said:
  • Failing hardware such as RAM or hard-disk
Click to expand...

Ram memory and SSD have been tested extensively. It must be said though that an old log of a test performed when the SSD had only 3 hours of life indicated "Failing LBA", although recent Samsung Magician extended tests detected nothing on the SSD, and Crystal Disk info indicates no reallocated sectors.

x BlueRobot said:
  • Power failures during an update
  • Back up programs not correctly creating shadow copies
Click to expand...

Never happened because I have a Ups.
Never used them and shadow copies are disabled.

However, for months I was using a 1 GB Ram Disk that contained the temporary files of the Windows user profile (%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp).

I don't know if this could be the cause of the problem, anyway I've restored the default settings ad disabled the ramdisk ... ;)
 
Interesting, just ensure that you have a backup image (or any form of backup) you can restore to if any problems arise again, hopefully they won't!
 
When I copied the COMPONENTS file from the .wim image to the system containing the empty file, it had a size of 54 MB, then increased to 63 MB after Windows Update had successfully applied the updates.

All subsequent DISM commands did not change its size.

Today I noticed that the COMPONENTS file size decreased to about 45 MB without doing anything.

Any explanation?
 
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