Windows update error 0x80071a91

T

tibormolnar

Member
Joined
May 12, 2020
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7
Location
Hungary
Hello,

I'd be grateful for any hint on how to solve the following issue.

HW: Acer Extensa 2511 notebook, Intel Core i5-5200U CPU, 8 GB DDR3 RAM
OS: Win 10 Home 64 bit, version: 1909, build: 18363.720, language: Hungarian, activated with digital signature

The HDD unexpectedly produced a number of bad sectors, this destroyed the EFI partition and several system files. The system crashed and did not boot. I had no rescue image and no previous system restoration point.

I replaced the HDD with an SSD and migrated the corrupted OS using a disk imaging software, then I recreated the EFI partition manually and since then Windows boots properly. I ran chkdsk and it fixed a lot of errors.

Soon I realized that Windows Update is not working, installing the cummulative update KB4549951 fails and returns the error code 0x80071a91. (Before the crash other updates were automatically installed.)
Also, I had various issues when trying to install other pieces of software (e.g. Avast Antivirus, Macrium Reflect, MalwareByte Antimalware, etc.) - some of these claimed missing DLL files.
  • "sfc /scannow" found errors that it was unable to fix. From CBS.log I learnt that a dozen system files are damaged and can't be fixed because they are corrupted in the component store too.
  • "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth" told me that the component store is "repairable".
  • "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth" was unable to fix the component store either by using Windows update or by using an ESD or WIM file that I extracted from a Win installer created with Media Creation Tool.
I created a clean startup by disabling all non-MS services and apps. This didn't change anything.

At last I manually fixed all corrupted system files, by examining CBS.log & dism.log to see what is missing/corrupt (both in System32, SysWow64 and in WinSxS), extracting the healthy version of these files from the fresh ESD file, and overwriting the corrupted version with them. I watched out for hard links and recreated all of them to match those in the ESD file. (All this was done with a .bat file that I ran from the Command Line after booting from the Windows installer media.)

The results:
  • "sfc /scannow" finds no corruption
  • "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth" finds no corruption.
  • "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth" quits with error 6801 (Transaction support within the specified resource manager is not started or was shut down due to an error.)
  • SFCFix doesn't find any issue (although it displays some error messages in runtime)
  • Macrium and Malwarebyte software installed properly and run without problem. (No virus infection is found.)
  • Windows update is still not working.
The Windows Update troubleshooter can't solve the issue.

I downloaded the standalone installer of KB4549951 but it too fails to install the update.

This is the rough English translation of the event log entries:
  • Can't install the Windows update due to en error: 2147942402, The file can't be found. (Command: "C:\Windows\system32\wusa.exe" Windows8-RT-KB2937636-x86 /quiet)
  • The update "Update for Windows (KB4549951) couldn't be installed due to an error: 2147949201, Transaction support within the specified resource manager is not started or was shut down due to an error. (Command: "C:\Windows\system32\wusa.exe" "D:\Users\Ilona\Desktop\windows10.0-kb4549951-x64_5411f88ea08bfc0ac98f388f5a3bdc8bcfea3261.msu" )
I tried resetting the Windows Update Components (tool from wureset.com), reregistering DLLs, reinitiating the Windows Update process, but it doesn't help.
"fsutil resource setautoreset true c:\" did not help either.

All 4 required services (wuauserv, cryptSvc, bits, msiserver) can be properly started. (I am able to stop/start them manually.)

I used the PowerShell command Get-WindowsUpdateLog to see the detailed log but couldn't find any reference to missing / corrupt system files that would cause the issue.

Thank you for your help!
Tibor
 

Attachments

Hi!

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 SendSpace and then just provide the link in your reply.
 
Hi,

thank you for getting back to me!

There is no COMPONENTS file in the system32\Config folder. What's more, there is absolutely no file in this folder. The "Journal", "RegBack" and "TxR" subfolders are also empty.

Should I copy the missing files here from my extracted ESD file (that I created with the Media Creation Tool)?

Thank you,
Tibor

component-missing.jpg
 
Is there no other way to restore the missing hive?
What kind of other problems can it cause that it's missing, besides the Windows update not working?
Thank you!
 
No, there is not as it is special on every system. Your system cannot function properly. SFC does not work. DISM does not work. Windows Update does not work and therefore your system cannot receive the latest security updates. You also cannot upgrade to the latest available Windows version (there is one coming in two weeks).
 
That doesn't sound promising. :( Thank you for the info anyway.
Would an in-place upgrade work (as in: fix the issue) in this scenario? Or do I need to do a complete fresh reinstall?
Do I loose my Windows licence if I do a complete re-install so that I have to buy a new licence?
 
I tried the In-Place Upgrade, both from Windows ISO image and from USB media but in both cases it failed already in the preparation phase with the error message "Failed to check if there is enough disk space for the installation". (There's at least 30 GB free on the system partition.)
 
I did a fresh install. It seems to be working fine now, although I still need to re-install many apps.

Is there a safe way to get rid of the Windows.old folder, without ruining the currently working Windows version?
I'm planning to create a disk image and prefer not to include this folder as it takes up some 50 GB.
Thank you!
 
Thanks. For all your help. It's much appreciated.
Although I am disappointed that I had to re-install the whole system, at least I learnt a few things about Win10.
 
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