Windows Update prompting for a restart even after a reboot

[nicholasr]

The title should describe my problem adequately. I'm also unable to actually run windows update so that I might check for updates, because it says that I need to reboot first. In addition, I have already searched for the pending.xml file, it is not located in winsxs. I also tried to run the microsoft windows update fixit application, but it will not run until after I have rebooted and installed the updates (hopefully you can see the problem there).

That has been quite frustrating, I hope someone can help. I really appreciate it!

*Note* The CBS folder was too big to attached in one zip folder; therefore, I put it into two zip files. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but it appeared necessary to me.
View attachment 5003
View attachment 5004

 

[niemiro]

Hello, and welcome to Sysnative :)

Really well done on managing to upload those logfiles. You did an excellent job of the split :) We are working on a method for easy large file upload, however, it is unfortunately not yet ready. Nevertheless, you excelled using what techniques were currently available to you.

This particular error is a curious one. It has many possible causes, and it's hard to know exactly which one applies to your computer. In the time it takes me to identify exactly which one applies to you (which takes lots of long and complicated steps), I could have just tried them all. So instead, the most efficient way is to try all of the fixes in decending order of likelihood, which is what I shall attempt here.

WARNING to other readers: These fixes absolutely must not be run on a computer which is not experiencing the problem at hand. In particular, these fixes will cause great damage to a computer whose Windows Update is working normally - these techniques are not to be used to attempt to cancel an inconvenient restart, only when Windows Update is repeatedly forcing a restart.

So, first, please start an Elevated Command Prompt: https://www.sysnative.com/forums/wi...-prompt-window-windows-windows-vista-7-a.html
and copy and paste in the following:

fsutil resource setautoreset true %SystemDrive%\

attrib -r -s -h %SystemRoot%\System32\Config\TxR\*
del %SystemRoot%\System32\Config\TxR\*

attrib -r -s -h %SystemRoot%\System32\SMI\Store\Machine\*
del %SystemRoot%\System32\SMI\Store\Machine\*.tm*
del %SystemRoot%\System32\SMI\Store\Machine\*.blf
del %SystemRoot%\System32\SMI\Store\Machine\*.regtrans-ms

pressing Enter after the final line if necessary. Do not be concerned if there are any failures with "Could not find...{x}", as they are normal.

Please let me know if that resolves your problem.

Thank you!

Richard

 

[nicholasr]

I followed your directions, and they didn't seem to help (yet). There were some particularly strange errors with the line"del %SystemRoot%\System32\Config\TxR\*". First, it asked me if I was "sure" (I said yes); after that, it said "the process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process."

I took some screenshots and zipped them just to make sure I followed the directions correctly and so that you might see the error first hand.

EDIT: Also, I didn't mention in my first post, but I have done some system restores to try to restore before the problem and that hasn't worked either. I have no idea if that is relevant.

 

[niemiro]

Hello again :)

I am so sorry for the delay in responding.

Please click on Start > search for regedit > then inside the new window which opens, File > Export > Selected Range, give it a name and sensible location, for each of:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing

Then zip up the two .reg files and upload.

Thank you!

Richard

 

[nicholasr]

You should find the files you wanted me to upload in the attachment. Thank you.

P.S. If it isn't too much trouble, could you explain what we're doing at the moment? It isn't that big of a deal if it would take too much time, I'm sure you're very busy. I'm just very curious as to what is causing the problem. Thanks.

 

[niemiro]

Thank you very much :)

I am so glad that you have asked! I absolutely never mind explaining what I'm doing! If the below explanation doesn't make complete sense, please do quiz me on it - I positively encourage you to ask questions about it :)

Right, we're looking at a repeated reboot scenario. Something somewhere's gone wrong: fact. First, let us think about an overview of the Windows Update mechanism for an update which needs a reboot.

Windows Update detects and downloads update.
Initial extraction and installation occurs.
Reboot required flag set.
Windows Update asks for a reboot.
User reboots.
Reboot notices the flag, performs latter part of pended installation, and unsets the reboot flag.

Done :)

But what if something went wrong and the reboot flag was never unset? Well, the reboot would repeatedly occur. The reasons why it doesn't just get unset on the next reboot are complicated and vary greatly case to case. For example, if one part of the pended installation got stuck, it could also flag a reboot even without the reboot flag being set. And as it's "stuck", it's repeated.

Well, as it happens, there are many, many files and registry keys/values which can cause a reboot to be demanded. And the point is, things aren't quite in order: this is not a case of everything being set properly, this is a case of one flag being stuck.

But the problem is, I don't know which one it is. So I have to keep looking in different registry locations until I find it.

The first set of commands I set were to clear out any stuck fragment of a larger installation. These did no good, so this isn't a case of a stuck fragment: instead, we have a registry flag which is stuck at set.

So I took exports of two common flags to see if they were set, and I came across something rather curious. Yours is not the simple case (alas, computers can never be simple, it seems!): you don't have a single stuck reboot flag. You have a positive explosion of pended tasks and reboots flags.

I will need some more time to consider this. Care must be taken here, and a hasty move should not be made. I must consider carefully what is going on, and I may need to take some additional registry exports to see how deeply rooted the problem really is.

What are your questions?

Richard

 

[nicholasr]

Well, my only other question is how might this happen? I've heard talk of corrupted files in other posts, but I don't know how this sort of thing might even happen in the first place.

And as always, please let me know if you need me to get any additional information.

 

[nicholasr]

Could I please get an update on this issue?

 

[nicholasr]

Bump