Windows update not working and windows Installer Module stopped working.

System: Windows Vista

Hello,


In the past week I have been experiencing difficulty in updating windows. Sometime "Windows Installer Module stopped working" pops up and other times "windows hosts file stopped working." I have tried various fix-it solutions with no luck (i.e. Fixit, SFC /SCANNOW, start and restarting installer). I would appreciate help.

Thanks.

 

copy what's the Quote box below

now open Notepad and Paste the above into the text-field.
Save (file>save) this as All files, and name it repairmsi.bat
Note: the .bat part is very important. Make sure you aren't saving it as a .txt document.

Now run this .bat file and see if the problem persists.

 

Hello again,
I tried to update again, but it stopped at 50% and the "Windows Installer Module Stopped Working"

 

Try the FixIt tool here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058

Microsoft Fix it 50202
now try again, try Aggressive mode.

 

I did the Fix It in aggressive mode, and before asking to restart the computer. Two windows poped up--DNS client stopped working and Host process stopped working.

Thanks again for any help.

 

Are you using Comodo Firewall by chance?

 

Nope. I have AVG and I just installed Malwarebyte today incase it was a virus or malware causing the problem.

 

K i need some more details..

• Are you only having trouble installing win updates (NOT downloading them) ?
  • If the above is true, which updates are failing to install? example: KB392824
• When you're in services (services.msc), is Windows Installer set to Manual, Automatic, or Disabled?
• Do you have .NET framework installed? (programs and features)

Can you do the following to do some preliminary malware scanning

Go to the below link and follow the instructions for running TDSSKiller by Kaspersky

• 
  TDSSKiller - How to run
  Remember to attach your log from TDSSKiller (How to attach items to your post)

Please also download MBRCheck to your Desktop.
See the download links under this icon

• Double click MBRCheck.exe to run (Vista and Win7 right click and select Run as Administrator)
• It will show a Black screen with some information that will contain either the below line if no problem is found:
  • Done! Press ENTER to exit...
• Or you will see more information like below if a problem is found:
  • Found non-standard or infected MBR.
  • Enter 'Y' and hit ENTER for more options, or 'N' to exit:
• Either way, just choose to exit the program at this point since we want to see only the scan results to begin with.
• MBRCheck will create a log named similar to MBRCheck_07.16.10_00.32.33.txt which is random based on date and time.
• Attach this log to your next message. (How to attach items to your post)

 

Yes It has only been with updates, and when windows shuts off, many of times it tries to install updates. But there is no progress.

The current updates that are not working and making updates sluggish are:

Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool x64 - July 2011 (KB890830)
Update for Windows Vista for x64-based Systems (KB2533623)
Update for Windows Mail Junk E-mail Filter for x64-based Systems [July 2011] (KB905866)
Security Update for Windows Vista for x64-based Systems (KB2555917)
Security Update for Windows Vista for x64-based Systems (KB2507938)

When you're in services (services.msc), is Windows Installer set to Manual, Automatic, or Disabled? Startup type is Manual
I turned it on before, but it was off so I had to restart.

Microsoft.Net Framework 3.5 SP1
Microsoft.Net Framework 4 Client SP1

 

Thank you, now try the following:

Using explorer, go to your C:\windows\winsxs folder and delete any and all pending.xml files, some will may appear as pending.xml.xxxxxxx. (xxxxxxx = random numbers and letters)

Now put the following lines into NOTEPAD and once again, save it as a .bat file. Call it "resetvistaupdatehistory.bat"

Then reboot your PC. Retry now

 

Sorry, I'm an armature and I did the first step, but am not sure which ones to delete. There is a file containing Pending Renames, but am not sure what to delete.

 

Do you have view file extensions enabled? (How to view hidden, system files & folders!)

 

I did that step and found some files, but it would not let me delete them. It says I need permission to delete it

 

First open notepad and copy paste the following into the text-field. Save this one as unlock.bat

Code:

echo,Y|cacls "%WinDir%\winsxs\pending*" /G everyone:f
attrib -s -h -r "%WinDir%\winsxs\pending*"

now run unlock.bat (Right mouse click and select Run as Administrator)

Then try the following to delete the pending.xml files through command prompt:

Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt > Right mouse click and select Run as Administrator)
A box with a black background should pop up (this is the command prompt)
type in the following:

Code:

cd %windir%\winsxs

Press ENTER
Note: Your command prompt should now have a underscore blinking after C:\Windows\winsxs>_
Then type:

Code:

del /q/s pending*

Press ENTER
Let me know if you saw any Deleted file - C:\Windows\winsxs type messages from running that last command

 

amd64_microsoft-windows-mfgrl_31bf3856ad364e35_6.0.6000.16386_none_b34a9a869dd61e7c

The above pops up in the command box, followed by access denied

 

yeah you DON'T want to delete that. if you ran my commands correctly it shouldn't have even prompted you about that. hang on working on a all in one fix

 

Try this in the meantime: http://www.tipandtrick.net/2008/how...ol-permissions-of-files-and-folders-in-vista/

Then try deleting any files that start with pending in the winsxs folder

 

save as a .bat, run
i'm not familiar with taking ownership of a folder from command line, so if someone else wants to jump in please do

 

Hello I found the permission tutorial confusing. I did the run on the last a .bat and it ran in the command but ended with access denied

 

Try Unlocker to delete those pending.xml files

 

Hello I try to open the Unlocker.exe but It is not showing the program. An icon Unlocker assistant appears in my taskbar. There is no option to run it there. I'm sorry for driving you crazy. I know this exhausting to me, but I can't imagine what you may be going through.

 

It's quite alright. At this point, I would try deleting the files using another source, such as through Mini Windows from Hiren or Win Vista Recovery Console. You wouldn't be getting any type of permission issues then.

Then again, this may not even fix your problem. I'm still troubleshooting

 

Ok I managed to delete those two files that were pending

 

Ok good! By the way, what did you use to delete them?

Next step is to run this .bat:

Once you reboot, see if your update problems have cleared up

 

I deleted them with unlocker. It supposedly deleted them on reboot.

What should I call the name of the file?

 

Clearvistaupdatehistory.bat

Then once you get back into Windows after rebooting, select to "check for updates". it will process them again.

 

I checked for updates, I tried to install one of them it was at 0% for the longest time then the green progress bar just went to 100%, but the windows module installer stopped working appeared on task bar

Know it's just stuck on the installing update with a full green bar

 

Hrmm, sounds unique. i gotta get some sleep now. I'll be on tomorrow evening for more possible things you can try

 

Are you running server 2008? and not Windows Vista?

http://social.technet.microsoft.com.../thread/9a900063-60ff-49fe-9f6e-ad06f24a891e/

http://social.technet.microsoft.com.../thread/0ca90e27-251f-4ddb-9cc9-0484d9bace84/

Sorry I am running out of ideas.

 

Nope it is Vista. I did some searching into the event viewer log for windows and there was somethings related to my problem:

Faulting application TrustedInstaller.exe. I have attached the details from the log.

 

I have a strong feeling once you take permission over your drive, so it's not under TrustedInstaller's permission, things may end up going your way.

 

I have full checks beside TrustedInstaller? What do I do (remove all the check marks) I'm not sure what to do?

 

Tried to make a guide for you with pictures. Didn't want to flood the forum so they are thumbnails at the moment, click on them to enlarge.













note: press Continue / OK to any messages where it says "~couldn't take ownership of this file"





~the end~